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[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Later life"
]
| C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_0 | Where did Hoyt play in his later years? | 1 | Where did Hoyt Wilhelm play in his later years? | Hoyt Wilhelm | After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61-66 record, then had a 33-33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres. Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter. He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams | James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida | true | [
"Charles Hale Hoyt (July 26, 1859 – November 20, 1900) was an American dramatist.\n\nBiography\nHoyt was born in Concord, New Hampshire. He had a difficult childhood, as his mother died when he was ten years old. He graduated at the Boston Latin School and, after being engaged in the cattle business in Colorado for a time, took up newspaper work, first with the Saint Albans, Vermont, Advertiser, and later becoming musical and dramatic critic of The Boston Post.\n\nBeginning in 1883, Hoyt turned playwright and wrote a series of 20 farcical comedies (roughly one per year until his death) and a comic opera. Hoyt's plays emphasized individualized characters drawn from the everyday experiences of ordinary people. His 10th play, A Trip to Chinatown (1891), with its hit tune \"The Bowery\" and its then-record 657 performance run, and his 1883 play, A Milk-White Flag, were the most successful. Both were performed at Hoyt's Madison Square Theatre in New York, often called simply \"Hoyt's Theatre\" during the seven years he ran it. He was a highly popular playwright and producer, and was very financially successful, thanks in part to the assistance of his business partners, Charles W. Thomas and Frank McKee. A Parlor Match (1884), adapted from a vaudeville act, was another popular Hoyt play.\n\nHoyt was the 19th-century playwright who did the most to combine baseball with his love for the theatre. Besides having covered Boston Beaneater baseball for The Boston Post, he was a member of the Boston Elks lodge, whose members included fellow theatrical-sports buff Nat Goodwin. In early 1888, Hoyt was responsible for the stage debut of Boston Elk-Boston Beaneater Mike \"King\" Kelly in his A Rag Baby, and for the first-ever star billing given to a ballplayer on the stage. The latter took place in 1895, with longtime Chicago diamond star Cap Anson drawing the distinction through his A Runaway Colt.\n\nHoyt was also responsible for two of Kelly and Anson's lesser roles: At the end of the 1888 season, he gave Anson a bit part one day in the role of Monk in one of his new pieces; Anson wore \"old gray whiskers and an old man’s wig\" and stalked forth and shouted, \"Good marnin, me min; I want yez to git that hole complaited [completed] to-day.\" Those were all of his lines, and New York and Chicago players were present. Around Christmas that year, and then New Year’s Day of 1889 in New York, Kelly played a \"tough baggage-smasher\" in Hoyt’s A Tin Soldier. Kelly was dressed as a tramp, and some of his lines concerned a character named Rats. When someone said to him, \"Do have that Rats licked. I’ll give $10 to have that Rats licked,\" Kelly replied, \"Make it $15 and I’ll lick him.\" Later, when someone said, \"Do it well and I’ll make it [$]25,\" Kelly replied, \"Young feller, I’ll blot him off the earth.\"\n\nHoyt, once considered one of the most famous citizens of Charlestown, New Hampshire, was twice a member of the New Hampshire Legislature and was Democratic candidate for Speaker.\n\nBoth his first wife, actress Flora Walsh, and his second wife, actress Caroline Miskel, died after only a few years of marriage. The death of his second wife in 1898 led to Hoyt's being committed to an insane asylum in 1900. Although his stay was brief, he returned to his home in Charlestown, New Hampshire, and died four months later.\n\nPlays\nNew York debut year otherwise indicated.\n Gifford's Luck (Boston 1881)\n Cezalia (Boston 1882)\n A Bunch of Keys (1883)\n A Rag Baby (1883, Broadway 1884)\n A Parlor Match (1884)\n A Tin Soldier (1886)\n The Maid and the Moonshiner (1886)\n A Hole in the Ground (1887)\n A Brass Monkey (1888)\n A Midnight Bell (play) (1889)\n A Texas Steer (1890)\n A Trip to Chinatown (1891)\n A Temperance Town (1893)\n A Milk White Flag (1894)\n A Runaway Colt (1895)\n A Black Sheep (1896)\n A Contented Woman (1897)\n A Stranger in New York (1897)\n A Day and Night in New York (1898)\n A Dog in the Manger (Washington, D.C., 1899)\n\nReferences\n\nExtensive biography on Hoyt with numerous images\n \n \n Howard W. Rosenberg, Cap Anson 2: The Theatrical and Kingly Mike Kelly: U.S. Team Sport's First Media Sensation and Baseball's Original Casey at the Bat (Arlington, Virginia: Tile Books, 2004). Rosenberg subsequently re-read one of his sources, the Chicago Daily News of October 6, 1888, and discovered that Anson's bit part in 1888 was not in Hoyt's A Bunch of Keys, as appears in his book, but in the role of Monk in what the Daily News merely described as one of Hoyt's \"new pieces.\"\n\nExternal links\n\n \n \n\nBoston Latin School alumni\nMembers of the New Hampshire General Court\n1859 births\n1900 deaths\nPeople from Concord, New Hampshire\nPeople from Charlestown, New Hampshire\n19th-century American dramatists and playwrights\n19th-century American politicians",
"Francis Southack Hoyt (November 5, 1822 – January 21, 1912) was an American educator from the state of Vermont. A minister and the son of a minister, he served as the first President of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, where he and his wife were also teachers. Hoyt also taught at Ohio Wesleyan University and Baldwin University, and served as editor of several publications.\n\nEarly life\nFrancis Hoyt was born in Lyndon, Vermont, on November 5, 1822. He was the son of Lucinda Hoyt (née Freeman) and Benjamin Ray Hoyt (1789–1872). His father was a minister and a founder of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The younger Hoyt's early education came at Newbury Seminary in Vermont before he attended Wesleyan where he graduated in 1844. Hoyt then served as the principal at Newbury. On December 24, 1848, he married Phebe M. Dyar, and they had six children.\n\nWillamette University\nIn 1850, Hoyt was hired by the Oregon Institute to replace Rev. Nehemiah Doane as principal of the schools. He was the school’s third principal and also taught classes along with his wife. Hoyt became president of the institution in 1853 when the school was chartered by the state as Wallamet University. He had helped get the Oregon Legislature to approve the new charter, and was then one of the original board members of the renamed school. In March 1855, he tendered his resignation, but did not leave the school.\n\nWhile under his tenure the school changed to a three-term academic calendar and extended the curriculum to a four-year program for the college department. In early 1860 he was elected again to the board of trustees, but resigned as president in September of that year. Hoyt had accepted a position at Ohio Wesleyan University, though he did not leave until the end of the year. Overall, he served as president of Willamette from 1853 to 1860, with Thomas Milton Gatch replacing him as president.\n\nLater years\nHoyt left to become chairperson of the Theology department at Wesleyan. In 1872, Hoyt was hired as the editor of the Cincinnati based Western Christian Advocate. He was then hired at Baldwin University in Berea, Ohio, remaining until he retired in 1908. He had received a Doctor of Divinity from the school in 1869, and in 1873 the same degree from Wesleyan. Hoyt was active in the Methodist Church as well, serving as a delegate to several conferences over his lifetime. In 1868, he edited the Bible Hand Book. Francis S. Hoyt died on January 21, 1912, in Craftsbury, Vermont.\n\nReferences\n\n1822 births\n1912 deaths\nPresidents of Willamette University\nWesleyan University alumni\nOhio Wesleyan University people\nBaldwin Wallace University faculty\nPeople from Caledonia County, Vermont\nPeople from Craftsbury, Vermont"
]
|
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Later life",
"Where did Hoyt play in his later years?",
"After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams"
]
| C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_0 | Did he still play baseball? | 2 | Did Hoyt Wilhelm still play baseball after his retirement? | Hoyt Wilhelm | After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61-66 record, then had a 33-33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres. Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter. He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | After his retirement | James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida | true | [
"Clarence Perkins \"Pat\" Parker (May 22, 1893 – March 21, 1967) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder who played for the St. Louis Browns in . He did not play much in the majors, only playing in three games in 1915. He made six plate appearances, going 1-6 (.167), with three strikeouts. He did not make an error in his three games.\n\nHe is in a selected group of players to play at Wahconah Park and go on to play in the Majors.\n\nExternal links\nBaseball Reference.com\n\n1893 births\n1967 deaths\nSt. Louis Browns players\nBaseball players from Massachusetts\nMajor League Baseball right fielders\nPittsfield Electrics players\nLowell Grays players\nSt. Croix Downeasters players",
"Slade Cecconi (born June 24, 1999) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.\n\nAmateur career\nCecconi attended Trinity Preparatory School in Winter Park, Florida, where he played baseball. As a junior in 2017, he went 6–1 with a 0.70 ERA and seventy strikeouts over forty innings. That summer, he was selected to play in the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game at Wrigley Field. In 2018, his senior year, he batted .388 with six home runs. He was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 38th round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign, instead enrolling at the University of Miami where he played college baseball.\n\nIn 2019, Cecconi's freshman year at Miami, he appeared in 17 games (13 starts) in which he went 5–4 with a 4.16 ERA, striking out 89 batters over eighty innings. He was selected to play in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Wareham Gatemen but did not participate. As a sophomore in 2020, he started four games and posted a 2–1 record with a 3.80 ERA over innings before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\nProfessional career\nCecconi was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 33rd overall pick in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft. On July 10, 2020, Cecconi signed with the Diamondbacks for a $2.4 million bonus. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the pandemic. \n\nTo begin the 2021 season, Cecconi was assigned to the Hillsboro Hops of the High-A West. He was on the injured list with a wrist injury to begin the year, but began play in mid-May. On August 1, he was placed back on the injured list with an elbow injury, and, on August 5, was transferred to the 60-day injured list, effectively ending his season. Over 12 starts for the year, Cecconi went 4-2 with a 4.12 ERA, striking out 63 and walking twenty over 59 innings. He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Salt River Rafters after the season.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nMiami Hurricanes bio\n\n1999 births\nLiving people\nBaseball players from Florida\nBaseball pitchers\nMiami Hurricanes baseball players\nWareham Gatemen players\nHillsboro Hops players\nSalt River Rafters players"
]
|
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Later life",
"Where did Hoyt play in his later years?",
"After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams",
"Did he still play baseball?",
"After his retirement"
]
| C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_0 | What teams did he manage? | 3 | What baseball teams did Hoyt Wilhelm manage? | Hoyt Wilhelm | After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61-66 record, then had a 33-33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres. Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter. He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League | James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida | true | [
"Victor Jacobus Hermans (born 17 March 1953 in Maastricht) is a Dutch futsal coach who has managed 6 different national teams and guided 3 teams to the world cup, Victor Hermans had only two unsuccessful campaign with national teams for the world cup.\n\nCareer\nHermans started his career by playing outdoor football for his hometown when he was a teenager. He later moved to Belgium to play for Tongres. After he left Belgium, he moved back into his own country to play for Caesar Beek. He represented his country 50 times and participated in four international tournaments, including the 1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship where his team was runner-up, losing at the final to Brazil.\n\nIn 1989, he decided to retire once the world cup had finished in 1990, he joined the Oranje as an assistant coach for two years. After Hermans thought that he was fit to take charge of a team, he was appointed as the Hong Kong manager. He managed Hong Kong in their first world cup as a host nation. Although Hong Kong was a small country but that did not stop them dreaming, thinking they were going to defeat Nigeria and Poland there were many expectations for him to take the team to the next level but they eventually lost in the group stage. \nHe later went to manage Malaysia for one year. He left the team after they lost all of their matches in the 1996 World Cup.\n\nAfter leaving Malaysia he went back to be assistant coach of the Oranje once again, and he did so for three years. He then left and became the head coach of Iran for one year, he managed the team and made Iran with a 100 percent win with the team for seven matches, he made them champions of Asia in 2001 Asian Championship, he then resigned as the manager to manage his native national team. He managed the team for six years, despite the fact he failed to take Netherlands to any world cup but he did take them in to the European championship and one Grand Prix tournament in Brazil after having disappointing results in both tournaments he was sacked as the head coach position in 2007. He later joined Malta as the head coach for two years, but he did not even manage 10 games as the managers, which was a big problem for Hermans and after having to manage getting only 3 points he left the Malta.\n\nHermans in 2020 reportedly agreed to become the Philippine Football Federation's technical consultant for futsal, helping create a groundwork for the Philippine futsal program including the grassroots level.\n\nAchievements\n\nManager\n Iran\nAFC Futsal Championship: 2001\n\n Thailand\nAFC Futsal Championship: Runner-up 2012, third place 2016.\nAsian Indoor and Martial Arts Games: Bronze medal 2013.\nAFF Futsal Championship: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.\nSEA Games: Gold medal 2013.\n\nReferences\n\n1953 births\nLiving people\nDutch footballers\nDutch men's futsal players\nMVV Maastricht players\nIran national futsal team managers\nFutsal coaches\nThailand national futsal team managers\nAssociation footballers not categorized by position\nDutch football managers\nFootballers from Maastricht",
"The 1968 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University during the 1968 NCAA University Division football season. The Bulldogs finished winless on the year, although they did manage to tie two teams that finished with winning records, including archrival Ole Miss, led by star quarterback Archie Manning.\n\nSchedule\n\nReferences\n\nMississippi State\nMississippi State Bulldogs football seasons\nMississippi State Bulldogs football"
]
|
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Later life",
"Where did Hoyt play in his later years?",
"After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams",
"Did he still play baseball?",
"After his retirement",
"What teams did he manage?",
"He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League"
]
| C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_0 | What is the other team he worked with? | 4 | What is the other team Hoyt Wilhelm worked with other than the Greenwood Braves? | Hoyt Wilhelm | After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61-66 record, then had a 33-33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres. Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter. He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. | James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida | true | [
"Bradley Ian Robinson (born March 14, 1975), known as Brad Robinson, is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who played for the Mashonaland cricket team from 1995 to 2000. He is a sports physiotherapist.\n\nRobinson was born in Salisbury in what was then Rhodesia in 1975. He is the son of former Test cricket umpire Ian Robinson. He played in 10 first-class cricket matches for Mashonaland and for a Zimbabwe Board XI as a wicket-keeper. He represented Zimbabwe Young Cricketers and Zimbabwe Schools and played one List A cricket match for Zimbabwe A in the 1997/98 Standard Bank Cup. After graduating from the University of Zimbabwe in 1998 and qualifying as a physiotherapist, Robinson worked with the Zimbabwe national cricket team from 2000 to 2004.\n\nIn 2005 he left Zimbabwe and moved to England where he worked in private practice in Kent, working with Kent County Cricket Club at the St Lawrence Clinic based at the St Lawrence Ground at Canterbury from 2006. Between 2014 and 2016 he worked with the Pakistan team.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1975 births\nLiving people\nZimbabwean cricketers\nSportspeople from Harare\nMashonaland cricketers\nZimbabwean emigrants to the United Kingdom\nZimbabwean expatriates in Pakistan\nWicket-keepers",
"Danish Sait (born 1 July 1988) is an Indian stand-up comedian, television host, radio jockey, actor, and writer who works in Kannada cinema.\n\nCareer \nDanish Sait worked as a radio jockey for Supari on Fever 104 FM in 2013. On the channel, he made several prank calls and enacted an array of fictional roles including Asgar, Chacko, Nagesh and Nograj. He is also a stand-up comedian and is a part of the Bengaluru-based comedy group The Improv. Starting in 2014, he hosted several sports shows including Pro Kabaddi League and the Cricket World Cup in 2015 before hosting Neevu Bhale Khiladi, a reality television show on Star Suvarna. He made his film debut with the Kannada movie Humble Politician Nograj in 2018 and portrayed the titular character in the film in addition to co-writing the film with director Saad Khan. The film released to positive reviews with one critic stating that \"Danish Sait never fails to draw the audience, irrespective of where and how he plans to entertain. What is appealing is that he remains true to the character of Nograj \". In 2020, he starred in the Hindi-language web series Afsos as a tourist in Mumbai. That same year, he starred in the comedy French Biriyani as an auto driver along with Sal Yusuf, whom he worked with in The Improv. In the film, he reprised the role of Asgar from his prank calls. He is set to star in 777 Charlie alongside Rakshit Shetty.\n\nHe has worked with the Bengaluru based team Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League as an anchor and mascot for the team, he also plays as Mr. Nags on the RCB Insider Show.\n\nHe also has a YouTube Channel of his name where there he plays the role of several characters like Rammurthy Avre, Jaya Didi, and many other characters in parody videos, where he as different characters converse with each other on daily happenings.\n\nPersonal life \nHis sister Kubbra Sait is an actress while his uncle Tanveer Sait is a politician. His grandfather, Azeez Sait, was a minister in Karnataka. He married Anya Rangaswamy, a graphic designer.\n\nFilmography \n\nAll films are in Kannada, unless otherwise noted.\n\nTelevision\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\nLiving people\nIndian stand-up comedians\nMale actors in Kannada cinema\nIndian male film actors\nIndian male television actors\nIndian television presenters\nIndian radio presenters\nIndian Muslims\n1987 births"
]
|
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Later life",
"Where did Hoyt play in his later years?",
"After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams",
"Did he still play baseball?",
"After his retirement",
"What teams did he manage?",
"He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League",
"What is the other team he worked with?",
"1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League."
]
| C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_0 | Did he ever become a coach? | 5 | Did Hoyt Wilhelm ever become a baseball coach? | Hoyt Wilhelm | After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61-66 record, then had a 33-33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres. Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter. He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | As a coach, | James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida | true | [
"Ed Hodgkiss (born October 23, 1970) is a former Arena Football League coach for the Los Angeles Avengers.\n\nIn 2001, Hodgkiss was hired from the Albany/Indiana Firebirds, where he served as their Offensive Coordinator, to become the head coach of the Avengers. In his first season as head coach, Hodgkiss lead the Avengers to their first ever playoff berth. He was fired in June 2008.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nEd Hodgkiss at ArenaFan Online\nLos Angeles Avengers bio page\n\n1970 births\nLiving people\nPeople from Laurel, Maryland\nAmerican football wide receivers\nFairmont State Fighting Falcons football players\nIndiana Firebirds coaches\nPlayers of American football from Maryland\nLos Angeles Avengers coaches",
"Fede Álvarez (born July 31, 1974 in Mexico City) graduated with honors in 2010 from the National Coaching School, run by the Mexican Football Federation (FEMEXFUT).\n\nCoaching career\nHe is known for his coaching work done in Santos Laguna youth development as head coach of U17 and U20 teams. During his coaching time at Santos Laguna, the team was successful at tournaments in Italy, Sweden, and in his hometown in Mexico. While studying to become a pro license coach, he has become the only student ever to be invited to a FIFA Futuro III Course for Coaches Instructors, sharing his knowledge and ideas with already successful coaches from the national and international scene. In 2011, he gave an Innovation Course for future Pro Coaches as part of the National Coaching School program of the Mexican Football Federation (FEMEXFUT) in Mexico city. Between 2012 and 2014 he worked for Santos Laguna, first as an Assistant Coach - U20's for one season, and then as Head Coach - U17's for three seasons.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Fede Álvarez CV \n Fede Álvarez Website \n\nLiving people\n1974 births\nMexican football managers\nSportspeople from Mexico City"
]
|
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Later life",
"Where did Hoyt play in his later years?",
"After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams",
"Did he still play baseball?",
"After his retirement",
"What teams did he manage?",
"He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League",
"What is the other team he worked with?",
"1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League.",
"Did he ever become a coach?",
"As a coach,"
]
| C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_0 | Did he enjoying his job coaching? | 6 | Did Hoyt Wilhelm enjoy his job coaching baseball? | Hoyt Wilhelm | After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61-66 record, then had a 33-33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres. Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter. He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida | false | [
"Morgan Hout is an American football coach best known for his stint as head coach of Liberty University in the 1980s. A graduate of Tennessee Temple University, Hout has coached for over 35 years on the collegiate and prep levels.\n\nCoaching career\nMorgan Hout began his college coaching career working for three years as an unpaid assistant for head coach Jerry Claiborne at the University of Maryland, College Park. After a total of six years at Maryland, Hout spent several years as an assistant coach at University of Richmond.\n\nIn 1984, he was offered the head coaching job at Liberty University. He hired strength and conditioning coach Dave Williams from Texas A&M and directed the transition of the program to the Division I-AA level. He coached a number of players who went on to National Football League (NFL), including Fred Banks, Kelvin Edwards and pro bowlers Eric Green and Wayne Haddix.\n\nIn 1988, Hout posted his best ever record of 8–3, with all three losses by a combined total of five points. As a result of this breakthrough season, Hout was named Virginia Division I Coach of the Year. However, in a move that was widely questioned and criticized, Hout was \"promoted\" to assistant athletic director to make room for former NFL head coach Sam Rutigliano. Hout declined the \"promotion\" and instead accepted a position at Baylor. Considering the success the Flames were enjoying on the field, Hout's removal caused a bit of controversy at the school.\n\nHead coaching record\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nBaylor Bears football coaches\nLiberty Flames football coaches\nMaryland Terrapins football coaches\nRichmond Spiders football coaches\nTennessee Temple University alumni",
"Shawn Bell is an American football coach and former quarterback who is currently the quarterbacks coach at Baylor University. He was previously was the head coach at multiple Texas high schools.\n\nPlaying career\n\nHigh School\nBell played high school football under his father at China Spring High School and finished his prep career with 8,437 passing yards.\n\nBaylor\nBell enrolled at Baylor University in 2002. After enjoying a red shirt year, Bell served as the Bears’ quarterback from 2003 to 2006.\n\nCoaching career\n\nHigh School\nBell began his coaching in 2007 at Stony Point High School where he coached the wide receivers. In 2008 he went to his high school alma mater and worked as an assistant under his father. In 2009 he got his first head coaching job when he worked as the head coach for Clifton High School. From 2010 to 2015 he served as the head coach for Magnolia West High School. There he led the Mustangs to the postseason every season and compiled a record of 44–27. In 2016 he went to Cedar Ridge High School where he compiled an 11–1 record.\n\nBaylor\nBell became a part of Matt Rhule’s Baylor staff in December 2016. In 2017 he served as an offensive analyst. In March of 2018 he was promoted to the team's offensive line coach. In 2020 he was retained and moved to tight ends coach under new Baylor head coach Dave Aranda. In January 2021 he switched positions once more and was named quarterbacks coach.\n\nPersonal life\nShawn and his wife Hali are the parents of three children, Cannon, Braxton, and Saydi.\n\nReferences\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nPeople from McLennan County, Texas\nPlayers of American football from Texas\nAmerican football quarterbacks\nBaylor Bears football players\nCoaches of American football from Texas\nHigh school football coaches in Texas\nBaylor Bears football coaches"
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[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Later life",
"Where did Hoyt play in his later years?",
"After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams",
"Did he still play baseball?",
"After his retirement",
"What teams did he manage?",
"He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League",
"What is the other team he worked with?",
"1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League.",
"Did he ever become a coach?",
"As a coach,",
"Did he enjoying his job coaching?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_0 | Did he receive any recognition or awards? | 7 | Did Hoyt Wilhelm receive any recognition or awards for playing or coaching baseball? | Hoyt Wilhelm | After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61-66 record, then had a 33-33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres. Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter. He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. | James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida | true | [
"The Air Force Recognition Ribbon is a military award of the United States Air Force which was first created in October 1980. The ribbon is intended to recognize those who have received \"non-portable\" awards for accomplishment and excellence while serving on active duty in the United States Air Force.\n\nTo receive the Air Force Recognition Ribbon, a service member must receive a designated trophy, plaque, or other award (such as the Sijan Leadership Award) through an achievement as specified by Air Force regulations. The ribbon is thus intended to recognize awards which cannot otherwise be displayed on a military uniform; as such, this award is typically presented in combination with an Air Force level annual award.\n\nAdditional awards of the Air Force Recognition Ribbon are denoted by oak leaf clusters.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAir Force Personnel Center Air Force Recognition Ribbon\n\nAwards and decorations of the United States Air Force\nAwards established in 1980\nMilitary ribbons of the United States",
"The IEEE Corporate Innovation Recognition was established by the IEEE Board of Directors in 1985. This award is presented for outstanding and exemplary contributions by an industrial entity, governmental, or academic organization, or other corporate body.\n\nRecipients of this award will receive a certificate and crystal sculpture.\n\nRecipients \nSource\n\nReferences\n\nCorporate Innovation Recognition\nIEEE awards\nAwards established in 1985\n1985 establishments in the United States"
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[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Later life",
"Where did Hoyt play in his later years?",
"After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams",
"Did he still play baseball?",
"After his retirement",
"What teams did he manage?",
"He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League",
"What is the other team he worked with?",
"1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League.",
"Did he ever become a coach?",
"As a coach,",
"Did he enjoying his job coaching?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he receive any recognition or awards?",
"Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985."
]
| C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_0 | Did any other interesting things happen in his life? | 8 | Did any other interesting things happen in Hoyt Wilhelm life other than being inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985? | Hoyt Wilhelm | After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61-66 record, then had a 33-33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres. Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter. He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres. | James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida | true | [
"Mookajjiya Kanasugalu (English: Dreams of Mookajji) is a 1968 Kannada epic novel written by K. Shivaram Karanth. It won the Jnanpith Award in the year 1977. The novel is about the thoughts of human being of today's generation. It deals with the beliefs, the origin of tradition etc.\n\nThe name of the novel itself is interesting as when translated, it says \"Dreams of Silent Granny\". Although the author does not want to mention any of the character as lead characters, its Granny and her grandson who are two main lead characters of this novel. Grandson represents every human being who has doubts about the origin of superstitious beliefs and tradition. Grandma in this novel has got a strength of seeing the things which are going to happen and which are happened before in the form of dreams. Mookajji represents our beliefs in this book. She tries to reveal our true beliefs.\n\nPlot summary\nSet in village called \"Mooduru\", the novel revolves around two main characters: Mookajji and her grandson Subbraya. Subbraya represents the doubts raised in human beings about the god and other traditions. Mookajji is a widow aged about 80, who lost her husband at the age of ten years. The character of grandmother in this book has got some supernatural powers of telling the truth about the things that are going to happen and those which are happened already. Though other characters are present, the author used them (Mookajji and her grandson) effectively to convey his theme.\n\nBackground\nSubbraya always loves to listen to the stories told by his grandmother, instead of reading novels which fails in portraying reality. He feels that the stories told by his grandmother are much more interesting than those novels. He takes every matter to his Grandmother to know reality of them and he feels that Mookajji's answer appealing and real. Although incidents happen in a village, the author makes Subbraya to ask questions regarding god, culture, belief, evolution and other social issues.\n\nTranslations\nThe novel has been translated in many languages such as English, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Oriya and Malayalam.\n\nIn Malayalam, the story is known by the name Mookambikayude Swapnangal.\n\nMovie\nMookajjiya Kanasugalu is made into a film in Kannada language with the same name as title of the movie.\n\nAwards\nThe novel received the Jnanpith Award in 1977.\n\nReferences\n\nKannada novels\nJnanpith Award-winning works\nIndian novels adapted into films",
"Q&A is an interview series on the C-SPAN network that typically airs every Sunday night. It is hosted by C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb. Its stated purpose is to feature discussions with \"interesting people who are making things happen in politics, the media, education, and science & technology in hour-long conversations about their lives and their work.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n2007\nQandA"
]
|
[
"Hoyt Wilhelm",
"Later life",
"Where did Hoyt play in his later years?",
"After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams",
"Did he still play baseball?",
"After his retirement",
"What teams did he manage?",
"He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League",
"What is the other team he worked with?",
"1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League.",
"Did he ever become a coach?",
"As a coach,",
"Did he enjoying his job coaching?",
"I don't know.",
"Did he receive any recognition or awards?",
"Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.",
"Did any other interesting things happen in his life?",
"The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres."
]
| C_27501c0f3d3c4169a037abccda765e47_0 | Why did they have to give him permission? | 9 | Why did the Yankees have to give Hoyt Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich? | Hoyt Wilhelm | After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61-66 record, then had a 33-33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres. Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter. He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Wilhelm grew up in North Carolina, fought in World War II, and then spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his major league career at the age of 29. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but pitched mainly as a reliever. Wilhelm won 124 games in relief, which is still the major league record. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves, and the first to appear in 1,000 games.
Wilhelm was nearly 30 years old when he entered the major leagues, and pitched until he was nearly 50. He retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages, 2.52, in baseball history. After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, for many years, and died there in 2002.
Early life
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923. He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina. He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard. He practiced honing it with a tennis ball, hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.
Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle. Wilhem carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.
After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it. The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947, and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.
Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He also spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League, and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, where he was the starting pitcher in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.
Major league career
Early years
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a National League (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager Leo Durocher did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.
Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a hit and two walks while only recording one out. On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.
Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished 4th in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers. Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950, and Ellis Kinder had finished 7th in the AL voting in 1951, so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 strikeouts. Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager Charlie Dressen did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball. The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.
In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship. He pitched 111 innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA. During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher Ray Katt committed four passed balls in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice. When Stan Musial set a record by hitting five home runs in a doubleheader that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs. The 1954 World Series represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play. He pitched innings over two games, earning a save in the third game. The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.
Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in innings. Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher Wes Westrum, writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."
Middle career
On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ... He'll help us where we need help the most." In 40 games with the Cardinals that season, he earned 11 saves but finished with a 1–4 record and his highest ERA to that point in his career (4.25). The Cardinals placed him on waivers in September and he was claimed by the Cleveland Indians, who used him in two games that year.
In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958. In Baltimore, Wilhelm lived near the home of third baseman Brooks Robinson and their families became close friends. On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight. The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul. The no-hitter was the first in the franchise's Baltimore history; the Orioles had moved from St. Louis after the 1953 season.
Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls. During one April game, catcher Gus Triandos had four passed balls while catching for Wilhelm and he described the game as "the roughest day I ever put in during my life." Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination." Triandos once said, "Heaven is a place where no one throws a knuckleball."
Despite the passed balls, Wilhelm won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball. Richards was well equipped with starting pitchers during that year. By the middle of the season, he said that eight of his pitchers could serve as starters. Wilhelm started 11 of the 41 games in which he appeared. He earned an 11–8 record, a 3.31 ERA and seven saves. He started only one game the following year, but he was an All-Star, registered 18 saves and had a 2.30 ERA.
In 1962, Wilhelm had his fourth All-Star season, finishing with a 7–10 record, a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves. On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith. Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent. He said that Wilhelm was "worth more than a 20-game winner, and he works with so little effort that he probably can last as long as Satchel Paige." He registered 21 saves and a 2.64 ERA.
In 1964, Wilhelm finished with career highs in both saves (27) and games pitched (73). His ERA decreased to 1.99 that season; it remained less than 2.00 through the 1968 season. In 1965, Wilhelm contributed to another passed balls record when Chicago catcher J. C. Martin allowed 33 of them in one season. That total set a modern single-season baseball record for the category. Wilhelm's career-low ERA (1.31) came in 1967, when he earned an 8–3 record for the White Sox with 12 saves.
In the 1968 season, Wilhelm was getting close to breaking the all-time games pitched record belonging to Cy Young (906 games). Chicago manager Eddie Stanky began to think about using Wilhelm as a starting pitcher for game number 907. However, the White Sox fired Stanky before the record came up. Wilhelm later broke the record as a relief pitcher. He also set MLB records for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher, career victories in relief, games finished and innings pitched in relief. Despite Wilhelm's success, the White Sox, who had won at least 83 games per season in the 1960s, performed poorly. They finished 1968 with a 67–95 record.
Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade. Wood sometimes threw a knuckleball upon his arrival in Chicago, but Wilhelm encouraged him to throw it full-time. By 1968, Wood won 13 games, saved 16 games and earned a 1.87 ERA. He credited Wilhelm with helping him to master the knuckleball, as the White Sox coaches did not know much about how to throw it. Between 1968 and 1970, Wood pitched in more games (241) than any other pitcher and more innings――than any other relief pitcher.
After the 1968 season, MLB expanded and an expansion draft was conducted in which the new teams could select certain players from the established teams. The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher. On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke.
Later career
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the 1969 California Angels and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.
On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, for whom he appeared in three games. He was traded back to the Braves for Hal Breeden on November 30, 1970. As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction, and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.
Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in innings. He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the Spokane Indians. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.
Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.
At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games. He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.
Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.
Later life
After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons. He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61–66 record, then had a 33–33 record with the 1975 Kingsport Braves of the Appalachian League. He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years. As a coach, Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball, believing that people had to be born with a knack for throwing it. He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro. The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey Lolich in 1979 even though Lolich pitched for the San Diego Padres.
Wilhelm was on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame for eight years before he was elected. After Wilhelm failed to garner enough votes for induction in 1983, sportswriter Jim Murray criticized the voters, saying that while Wilhelm never had the look of a baseball player, he was "the best player in history at what he does." He fell short by 13 votes in 1984. Wilhelm was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.
He and his wife Peggy lived in Sarasota, Florida. They raised three children together: Patti, Pam, and Jim. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Legacy
Wilhelm was known as a "relief ace", and his teams used him in a new way that became a trend. Rather than bringing in a relief pitcher only when the starting pitcher had begun to struggle, teams increasingly called upon their relief pitchers toward the end of any close game. Wilhelm was the first relief pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He is also remembered as one of the most successful and "probably the most famous 'old' player in history." Although, due largely to his military service, Wilhelm did not debut in the major leagues until he was already 29 years old, he nonetheless managed to appear in 21 major league seasons. He earned the nickname "Old Folks" while he still had more than a decade left in his playing career. He was the oldest player in Major League Baseball for each of his final seven seasons.
Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw. You never knew what Hoyt's pitch would do. I don't think he did either." Baseball executive Roland Hemond agreed, saying, "Wilhelm's knuckleball did more than anyone else's ... There was so much action on it."
Before Wilhelm, the knuckleball was primarily mixed in to older pitchers' repertoires at the end of their careers to offset their slowing fastballs and to reduce stress on their arms, thereby extending their careers. Wilhelm broke with tradition when he began throwing the pitch as a teenager and threw it nearly every pitch. The New York Times linked his knuckleball with that of modern pitcher R. A. Dickey, as Wilhelm taught pitcher Charlie Hough the knuckleball in 1971, and Hough taught it to Dickey while coaching with the Texas Rangers.
See also
List of knuckleball pitchers
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished
List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
Notes
References
External links
Baseball Library
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (1 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
Hoyt Wilhelm Oral History Interview (2 of 2) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
1922 births
2002 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from North Carolina
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
Atlanta Braves players
Baltimore Orioles players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
New York Giants (NL) players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Jacksonville Tars players
Knoxville Smokies players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Mooresville Moors players
Spokane Indians players
People from Huntersville, North Carolina
Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida
Knuckleball pitchers
United States Army soldiers
United States Army personnel of World War II
Burials in Florida | false | [
"Sexred, or Sexræd (d. 626?), was a king of the East Saxons.\n\nSexred was the son of Sæberht (d. 616?) the first Christian king of the East Saxons, whom he succeeded, reigning jointly with his two brothers, Saeward and another, said on no good authority to have been named Sigebert (Bromton, ap. Decem SS. col. 743) but perhaps the unplaced Seaxbald, father of Swithhelm. Sexred refused to accept Christianity, openly practised paganism and gave permission to his subjects to worship their idols.\n\nWhen he and his brothers saw Mellitus (d. 624), bishop of London, giving the eucharist to the people in church, it was commonly believed in the Venerable Bede's time that they said to him, \"Why do you not offer us the white bread that you used to give to our father Saba, for so they called him, and which you still give to the people?\" Mellitus answered that if they would be washed in the font they should have it, but that otherwise it would do them no good. But they said that they would not enter the font, for they did not need washing but refreshment. The matter was often explained to them by the bishop, who persisted in refusing their request. At last they grew angry and banished him from their kingdom. Not long afterwards they went out to fight with the West Saxons, and were slain, their army being almost wholly destroyed (Bede, Hist. Eccl. ii. c. 5). This battle was fought against Cynegils and Cwichelm of Wessex, the West Saxon kings who invaded their territory with a larger force than the East Saxons could muster in or about 626. They were succeeded by Sigeberht the Little.\n\nIn popular culture \nThe first series of BBC Four drama Detectorists follows a group of characters searching for Sexred's lost burial place, in the hope of uncovering a Saxon hoard.\n\nReferences \n\nAttribution\n\nYear of birth unknown\n626 deaths\nEast Saxon monarchs\nAnglo-Saxon warriors\nAnglo-Saxons killed in battle\n7th-century English monarchs\nAnglo-Saxon pagans\nMonarchs killed in action",
"\"The Indian Hunter\" is a song based on a poem by Eliza Cook. Music was added by Henry Russell and published in 1842. In the poem, a lament, the hunter is questioning what the white man wants with him and his home.\n\nCook's poem\n\"The Indian Hunter, as written by Eliza Cook:\n\nOh! why does the white man follow my path,\nLike the hound on the tiger's track?\nDoes the blush on my dark cheek waken he wrath?\nDoe he covet the bow on my back?\nHe has rivers and seas, where the billows and breeze\nBear riches for him alone;\nAnd the sons of the wood never plunge in the flood\nWhich the white man calls his own.\n\nWhy then should he come to the streams where none\nBut the red-skin dare to swim?\nWhy, why should he wrong the hunter-one,\nWho never did harm to him?\nThe Father above thought fit to give\nTo the white man corn and wine;\nThere are golden fields, where they may live,\nBut the forest shades are mine.\n\nThe eagle hath its place of rest,\nThe wild horse where to dwell;\nAn the Spirit that gave the bird its nest,\nMade me a home as well.\nThen back, go back from the red man's track,\nFor the hunter's eyes grow dim,\nTo find that the white man wrongs the one\nWho never did harm to him.\n\nReferences\n\nSheet Music on IMSLP\n\nBibliography\nCook, Eliza. The Poetical Works of Eliza Cook. Philadelphia: John Ball (1850)\nCook, Eliza (w.); Russell, Henry (m.). \"The Indian Hunter\" (Sheet music). New York: Firth, Hall & Pond (c. 1842).\n\nBritish poems\nSongs based on poems\n1842 songs\nSongs with music by Henry Russell (musician)"
]
|
[
"Jim Jones (rapper)",
"2010-present: Capo, Dipset reunion and Vampire Life series"
]
| C_7113d140a94847bbbb7d86476d3cf1da_0 | What did Jim Jones do in 2012? | 1 | What did Jim Jones do in 2012? | Jim Jones (rapper) | The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. On June 26, 2010 Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled "Salute", marking the return of The Diplomats. They have begun working on an album together, and have been reportedly working with Dr. Dre. In 2010 it was confirmed that Jones had started up a new record label imprint with Damon Dash entitled Splash Records. On April 5, 2011 Jones' released his fifth studio album, Capo, on E1. On November 3, Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website. The lead single off Capo, "Perfect Day" featuring Chink Santana and LOGiC, was released on iTunes December 7, 2010. The album is the first to feature Cam'ron since Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). Other guest appearances include rappers Game, Lloyd Banks, Prodigy, Raekwon and R&B singers Rell and Ashanti among others, and features notable production from longtime collaborator Chink Santana, Aaron LaCrate, Wyclef Jean, Drumma Boy and Lamont "LOGiC" Coleman. The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 21,000 copies in its first week, making Capo his lowest charting album to date. On October 1, 2011 when Funkmaster Flex premiered a song on New York City's Hot 97 titled "It Ain't My Fault" featuring rappers T-Rex, Boogie Black and Sen City, it was revealed that it was the first offering from Webstar and Jones' upcoming second collaborative effort The Rooftop 2. In the summer of 2011, he was featured on Randyn Julius "Party Tonight" with Teyana Taylor and fellow Dispet member Cam'ron. On October 30, 2011, for the Halloween holiday, Jones released a mixtape titled Vampire Life: We Own the Night. The tape features twenty-four songs, including bonus tracks, freestyles and guest appearances from Meek Mill, J.R. Writer, Chink Santana, 2 Chainz, Maino, Yo Gotti, Jadakiss and Danny!, among others. On May 1, 2012 Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it went on to be downloaded over 300,000 times on mixtape-sharing website DatPiff. On March 11, 2013, Jones announced he was working on two new mixtapes V3 (Vampire Life 3) and The Ghost Of Rich Porter 2. Vampire Life 3 was released on August 13, 2013. On December 3, 2013, Jim Jones released an extended play (EP), titled We Own the Night. The EP was supported by the single "Nasty Girl", featuring American singer Jeremih. On June 24, 2014, Jones released a single titled "Wit the Shit", featuring American singer Trey Songz. In July 2014, Jones revealed he would be releasing another EP, titled We Own The Night Pt. 2: Memoirs of a Hustler; it was released on September 9. On January 1, 2015 well known DJ Funkmaster Flex announced via Instagram that he had spoken to fellow Diplomat members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana about an upcoming Diplomats mixtape which included fellow member Freekey Zeekey. He also stated that he would be hosting the mixtape along with DJs/producers DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz and DJ Mustard. CANNOTANSWER | On May 1, 2012 Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it | Joseph Guillermo Jones II (born July 15, 1976), better known by his stage name Jim Jones (formerly Jimmy Jones), is an American rapper and record executive. He is an original member of the hip hop collective the Diplomats (also known as Dipset), alongside longtime friend and fellow Harlem native, Cam'ron.
In 2004, he released his debut solo album On My Way to Church. The release of his second album, Harlem: Diary of a Summer in 2005, coincided with Jones landing an executive position in A&R at Entertainment One Music. A year later he was on his third album Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (2006), which spawned his biggest single to date, "We Fly High". The song reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Jones' first major-label album Pray IV Reign was released in March 2009 by Columbia Records. The album spawned the hit single "Pop Champagne". In April 2011, Jones released his fifth album, Capo, which was supported by the lead single, "Perfect Day". He returned in May 2019, for his sixth album titled El Capo.
Early life
Jones, son of an Aruban mother and Puerto Rican father, was raised in Harlem mainly by his maternal grandmother.
Music career
2004–05: On My Way to Church and Harlem: Diary of a Summer
On My Way to Church is Jones' debut album. The album spawned two singles that made the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: "Certified Gangstas" (featuring Cam'ron, Bezel and The Game), which reached number 80, and "Crunk Muzik" (featuring his Dipset cohorts Cam'ron and Juelz Santana), which reached number 84. The album peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard 200 chart, number three on Billboard's Independent Albums chart, and number four on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Harlem: Diary of a Summer, Jones' second album, reached number five on the Billboard 200 and topped the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Independent Albums charts, selling 350,000 copies. Three of its singles placed on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: "Baby Girl", which reached number 58; "Summer Wit' Miami", which reached number 78; and "What You Been Drankin' On?" (featuring Diddy, Paul Wall, and Jha Jha), which reached number 106.
2006–09: Hustler's P.O.M.E., Pray IV Reign and The Rooftop
Jones' third album Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment), was more commercial and once again featured Dipset members along with Lil Wayne. The album spawned Jones' biggest single to date, "We Fly High". Jones introduced a signature dance move in the "We Fly High" video, throwing up a fake jump shot every time the ad-lib "Ballin!'" was stated in the song. This dance move became so popular that it inspired Michael Strahan and Plaxico Burress to do the dance move after big plays during a Monday Night Football game in 2006.
From 2006 to 2008, Jones released a collaborative album with his rap group ByrdGang, titled M.O.B.: The Album, which peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200, selling 16,000 the first week in stores and eventually selling 65,000 units. He has two Christmas compilation albums, A Dipset X-Mas and A Tribute To Bad Santa Starring Mike Epps, and a load of mixtapes, including Harlem's American Gangster, which peaked at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart and spawned his single "Love Me No More".
Jones' fourth studio album, Pray IV Reign, released March 24, 2009, was his major record label debut. The album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart. On July 8, Jones released a promotional single titled "The Good Stuff" featuring NOE. The album features "Pop Champagne", producer Ron Browz, and Juelz Santana. A bonus track on the album is "Jackin' Swagga From Us" with Twista, NOE, and Lil Wayne, which takes shots at T.I. and Jay-Z for allegedly stealing their styles and mocking their song "Swagga Like Us". It is his first solo album under Columbia Records. In 2009, Jim Jones became Vice President of Urban A&R at Koch Records, which is now E1 Music. On June 11, Jim Jones appeared on BET's 106 & Park along with DJ Webstar and announced that they will be releasing an album together titled The Rooftop. He also announced that his documentary, This Is Jim Jones, will be released June 30, 2009. The first single from the album is "Dancin on Me", featuring Juelz Santana. It was officially released via iTunes on April 28. On September 22, hip hop website, RapRuckus, stated the album was scheduled for an October 6, 2009 release. The second single is titled "She Can Get It". In late 2009, Jones left Columbia. According to XXLMag.com, Jones signed a deal to release his next solo album on E1, as well as a mixtape.
2010–present: Capo, Dipset reunion and Vampire Life series
The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. On June 26, 2010, Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled "Salute", marking the return of the Diplomats. They have begun working on an album together, and have been reportedly working with Dr. Dre. In 2010 it was confirmed that Jones had started up a new record label imprint with Damon Dash entitled Splash Records. On April 5, 2011, Jones' released his fifth studio album, Capo, on E1. On November 3, Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website. The lead single off Capo, "Perfect Day" featuring Chink Santana and LOGiC, was released on iTunes December 7, 2010. The album is the first to feature Cam'ron since Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). Other guest appearances include rappers Game, Lloyd Banks, Prodigy, Raekwon and R&B singers Rell and Ashanti among others, and features notable production from longtime collaborator Chink Santana, Aaron LaCrate, Wyclef Jean, Drumma Boy and Lamont "LOGiC" Coleman. The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 21,000 copies in its first week, making Capo his lowest charting album to date.
On October 1, 2011, when Funkmaster Flex premiered a song on New York City's Hot 97 titled "It Ain't My Fault" featuring rappers T-Rex, Boogie Black and Sen City, it was revealed that it was the first offering from Webstar and Jones' upcoming second collaborative effort The Rooftop 2. In the summer of 2011, he was featured on Randyn Julius "Party Tonight" with Teyana Taylor and fellow Dispet member Cam'ron. On October 30, 2011, for the Halloween holiday, Jones released a mixtape titled Vampire Life: We Own the Night. The tape features twenty-four songs, including bonus tracks, freestyles and guest appearances from Meek Mill, J.R. Writer, Chink Santana, 2 Chainz, Maino, Yo Gotti and Jadakiss among others.
On May 1, 2012, Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it went on to be downloaded over 300,000 times on mixtape-sharing website DatPiff.
On March 11, 2013, Jones announced he was working on two new mixtapes V3 (Vampire Life 3) and The Ghost Of Rich Porter 2. Vampire Life 3 was released on August 13, 2013. On December 3, 2013, Jim Jones released an extended play (EP), titled We Own the Night. The EP was supported by the single "Nasty Girl", featuring American singer Jeremih. On June 24, 2014, Jones released a single titled "Wit the Shit", featuring American singer Trey Songz. In July 2014, Jones revealed he would be releasing another EP, titled We Own the Night Pt. 2: Memoirs of a Hustler; it was released on September 9.
On January 1, 2015, DJ Funkmaster Flex announced via Instagram that he had spoken to fellow Diplomat members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana about an upcoming Diplomats mixtape which included fellow member Freekey Zeekey. He also stated that he would be hosting the mixtape along with DJs/producers DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz and DJ Mustard.
Other ventures
Byrd Gang
Jones introduced Byrd Gang in 2008. The group released their debut album, M.O.B.: The Album on Asylum Records.
Fashion designing
Jones and Damon Dash co-own "Vampire Life Clothing".
Acting career
Jones made his acting debut in the film State Property 2.He also appeared on the show Crash: The Series. Along with releasing the album Capo, Jones headlined in an off-Broadway musical called Hip-Hop Monologues: Inside the Life and Mind of Jim Jones, produced by Damon Dash and Footage Entertainment.
Reality television
Jones also appears in seasons 1 and 2 of the VH1 show Love & Hip Hop: New York (which premiered March 14, 2011 and November 11, 2011, respectively); the show loosely follows events in his personal life and that of his fiancée, Chrissy Lampkin. Jones also stars in season 1 of the VH1 show Chrissy & Mr. Jones; the show follows him and Lampkin, focusing on their personal lives.
Sports management
In December 2017, he became part owner of the Richmond Roughriders of the American Arena League.
Controversies
Tru Life
In a 2006 interview Tru Life, responding to rumors, called Dipset bosses Cam'ron and Jim Jones "bitches." Jones responded by challenging Tru Life to fisticuffs, with a US$50,000 wager. Tru Life responded by stealing Jones' necklaces and taunting him on the 2007 mixtape Tru York, which featured "a Photoshopped Jim Jones in a Borat-style thong and Cam'ron as a Seventh Avenue transsexual hooker" as the cover. The Diplomats retaliated by hacking Tru Life's MySpace page, replacing the faces on the Tru York cover with True Life's and Jay-Z's.
GUCCI
In February 2022 Jones posted an Instagram video in which he detailed his experience of being racially profiled as a result of receiving poor customer service . He expressed his disappointment in Gucci’s employees by claiming that “These black people are more racist than white people when they get they job”. He goes on to further detail the event that left him a victim by explaining “I still ain’t get no sparkling water, I still ain’t get no champagne. I still ain’t get nothing.”
Jay Z
Jim Jones has criticized Jay Z's performance as president of Def Jam Recordings. Jay Z responded with a "diss" track called "Brooklyn High" over the beat from Jones' "We Fly High".
On December 22, 2008, Jones punched and kicked a "friend and colleague" of Jay Z at a Manhattan Louis Vuitton store; he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault the following November.
ASAP Mob
In a 2014 interview Jim Jones characterized ASAP Mob's style as "not street": "[T]hey're artistic, but they're not from the street... We got bonafide swag and the definition of get fly... Price point and high fashion don't really make it cool." ASAP Mob member ASAP Rocky responded in his solo single "Multiply" by criticizing that characterization as a disingenuous ploy to sell overpriced branded merchandise.
Azealia Banks
In July 2012, a social media-related conflict between Jim Jones and rapper Azealia Banks had started after Banks dissed the rapper for getting more credit for her phrase "Vamp", as in Jones' mixtape series and label of the same name, Vampire Life, or his track "Vamp Life". Enraged, Banks dissed Jim Jones again via a track titled "Succubi".
Discography
Solo albums
On My Way to Church (2004)
Harlem: Diary of a Summer (2005)
Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (2006)
Pray IV Reign (2009)
Capo (2011)
Wasted Talent (2018)
El Capo (2019)
Collaboration albums
The Rooftop (with DJ Webstar) (2009)
The Fraud Department (with Harry Fraud) (2021)
Zooo York Giants (with Champ Da General) (2021)
Gangsta Grillz: We Set The Trends (with DJ Drama) (2022)
Lobby Boyz (with Maino) (2022)
Filmography
Awards and honors
"Pop Champagne" was nominated for Best Collaboration at the 2009 Urban Music Awards.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
The Diplomats
References
External links
Official website
1976 births
American rappers of Caribbean descent
American music industry executives
American music video directors
American people of Aruban descent
American people of Puerto Rican descent
Businesspeople from New York City
Columbia Records artists
MNRK Music Group artists
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
Hispanic and Latino American rappers
Living people
People from Harlem
The Diplomats members
Rappers from the Bronx
Rappers from Manhattan
Gangsta rappers
Participants in American reality television series
African-American male rappers
21st-century American rappers | false | [
"\"Pop Champagne\" is a song by American hip hop recording artists Ron Browz and Jim Jones, featuring fellow American rapper and Dipset member Juelz Santana. It was officially released on September 4, 2008 through Columbia and Universal Motown Records as the lead single from Jim Jones' fourth album Pray IV Reign (2009). The song proved to be Jones' second most successful single to date, behind his 2006 hit \"We Fly High\". This instrumental was sampled in \"Too Easy\" by Tyrese featuring Ludacris.\n\nBackground\n\"Pop Champagne\" featuring Jim Jones and Juelz Santana is actually a remix. The original is solely the producer of the song, Ron Browz. \"I was going home one day, and DJ Jazzy Joyce — at 4:30 in the morning — was playing the [song],\" Jim Jones recalled of the first time he heard \"Pop Champagne.\" \"And I know how much Ron wanted to become an artist and break into the game. ... So when I heard it, I was like, 'Damn, it got a good sound.' ... I was just being courteous, as he did so many hot beats for me. ... So, I jumped on the track, like, 'Let's see what it do.' It started to sound a little bit crazy, and I said, 'Well, let's see if we put Juelz Santana on it how crazy could it get. And I called Young Hub, and Hub was like, 'Aiight, on the strength of you, I'll jump on it for you.\"\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was directed by Dale Resteghini (a.k.a. Rage) and Jim Jones (a.k.a. Capo). It features cameo appearances by Dame Dash, Busta Rhymes, Mike Epps and Jessica Rich (a.k.a. \"Rabbit\") from Real Chance of Love.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nEnd of year charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nJim Jones - Pop Champagne (Feat. Ron Browz & Juelz Santana) Behind The Scenes\n\nJim Jones (rapper) songs\nJuelz Santana songs\nRon Browz songs\nSong recordings produced by Ron Browz\n2008 debut singles\nSongs written by Jim Jones (rapper)\n2008 songs\nUniversal Motown Records singles\nSongs written by Ron Browz\nSongs written by Juelz Santana\nMNRK Music Group singles\nMusic videos directed by Dale Resteghini",
"\"Perfect Day\" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Jim Jones released as the lead single from his fifth studio album Capo. The song features American rappers-producers Chink Santana and Lamont \"LOGiC\" Coleman, the latter of whom also happened to produce the record. The song was released as a digital download on December 7, 2010. The song is a notable departure from Jones' traditional style of rap, and instead features him singing—similar to likes of pop-rap contemporaries Wiz Khalifa and Kid Cudi.\n\nBackground \nIn an interview with Artistdirect, when asked what's the story behind \"Perfect Day?\" What does that song mean to you? Jones responded\n\nMusic video \nDirected by Zeus Morand and Jim Jones the video was released on Jim Jones VEVO on March 18, 2011. The video is set in various places including a hospital and features sign language for the hearing impaired. Jones' motivation for the innovative music video came from someone close to him: The mother of one of his close friends is deaf. \"She asked, 'Why don't people in the music industry ever have people doing sign language in their videos because they love music, too?' They can feel the beat like anybody else,\" Jones told the Daily News in an interview at Empire Studio in the Flatiron District. Jones decided \"Perfect Day\" would be the ideal song to incorporate sign language - and he wanted to learn it as well. Jones dedicated the video to cancer patients or anyone affected by cancer, and to the soldiers at war right now.\n\nCharts\n\nRelease Information\n\nPurchasable Release\n\nReferences\n\n2010 singles\nJim Jones (rapper) songs\n2010 songs\nSongs written by Jim Jones (rapper)\nSongs written by Chink Santana"
]
|
[
"Jim Jones (rapper)",
"2010-present: Capo, Dipset reunion and Vampire Life series",
"What did Jim Jones do in 2012?",
"On May 1, 2012 Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it"
]
| C_7113d140a94847bbbb7d86476d3cf1da_0 | What did Jim Jones do accomplish in 2010? | 2 | What did Jim Jones do accomplish in 2010? | Jim Jones (rapper) | The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. On June 26, 2010 Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled "Salute", marking the return of The Diplomats. They have begun working on an album together, and have been reportedly working with Dr. Dre. In 2010 it was confirmed that Jones had started up a new record label imprint with Damon Dash entitled Splash Records. On April 5, 2011 Jones' released his fifth studio album, Capo, on E1. On November 3, Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website. The lead single off Capo, "Perfect Day" featuring Chink Santana and LOGiC, was released on iTunes December 7, 2010. The album is the first to feature Cam'ron since Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). Other guest appearances include rappers Game, Lloyd Banks, Prodigy, Raekwon and R&B singers Rell and Ashanti among others, and features notable production from longtime collaborator Chink Santana, Aaron LaCrate, Wyclef Jean, Drumma Boy and Lamont "LOGiC" Coleman. The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 21,000 copies in its first week, making Capo his lowest charting album to date. On October 1, 2011 when Funkmaster Flex premiered a song on New York City's Hot 97 titled "It Ain't My Fault" featuring rappers T-Rex, Boogie Black and Sen City, it was revealed that it was the first offering from Webstar and Jones' upcoming second collaborative effort The Rooftop 2. In the summer of 2011, he was featured on Randyn Julius "Party Tonight" with Teyana Taylor and fellow Dispet member Cam'ron. On October 30, 2011, for the Halloween holiday, Jones released a mixtape titled Vampire Life: We Own the Night. The tape features twenty-four songs, including bonus tracks, freestyles and guest appearances from Meek Mill, J.R. Writer, Chink Santana, 2 Chainz, Maino, Yo Gotti, Jadakiss and Danny!, among others. On May 1, 2012 Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it went on to be downloaded over 300,000 times on mixtape-sharing website DatPiff. On March 11, 2013, Jones announced he was working on two new mixtapes V3 (Vampire Life 3) and The Ghost Of Rich Porter 2. Vampire Life 3 was released on August 13, 2013. On December 3, 2013, Jim Jones released an extended play (EP), titled We Own the Night. The EP was supported by the single "Nasty Girl", featuring American singer Jeremih. On June 24, 2014, Jones released a single titled "Wit the Shit", featuring American singer Trey Songz. In July 2014, Jones revealed he would be releasing another EP, titled We Own The Night Pt. 2: Memoirs of a Hustler; it was released on September 9. On January 1, 2015 well known DJ Funkmaster Flex announced via Instagram that he had spoken to fellow Diplomat members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana about an upcoming Diplomats mixtape which included fellow member Freekey Zeekey. He also stated that he would be hosting the mixtape along with DJs/producers DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz and DJ Mustard. CANNOTANSWER | The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. | Joseph Guillermo Jones II (born July 15, 1976), better known by his stage name Jim Jones (formerly Jimmy Jones), is an American rapper and record executive. He is an original member of the hip hop collective the Diplomats (also known as Dipset), alongside longtime friend and fellow Harlem native, Cam'ron.
In 2004, he released his debut solo album On My Way to Church. The release of his second album, Harlem: Diary of a Summer in 2005, coincided with Jones landing an executive position in A&R at Entertainment One Music. A year later he was on his third album Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (2006), which spawned his biggest single to date, "We Fly High". The song reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Jones' first major-label album Pray IV Reign was released in March 2009 by Columbia Records. The album spawned the hit single "Pop Champagne". In April 2011, Jones released his fifth album, Capo, which was supported by the lead single, "Perfect Day". He returned in May 2019, for his sixth album titled El Capo.
Early life
Jones, son of an Aruban mother and Puerto Rican father, was raised in Harlem mainly by his maternal grandmother.
Music career
2004–05: On My Way to Church and Harlem: Diary of a Summer
On My Way to Church is Jones' debut album. The album spawned two singles that made the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: "Certified Gangstas" (featuring Cam'ron, Bezel and The Game), which reached number 80, and "Crunk Muzik" (featuring his Dipset cohorts Cam'ron and Juelz Santana), which reached number 84. The album peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard 200 chart, number three on Billboard's Independent Albums chart, and number four on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Harlem: Diary of a Summer, Jones' second album, reached number five on the Billboard 200 and topped the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Independent Albums charts, selling 350,000 copies. Three of its singles placed on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: "Baby Girl", which reached number 58; "Summer Wit' Miami", which reached number 78; and "What You Been Drankin' On?" (featuring Diddy, Paul Wall, and Jha Jha), which reached number 106.
2006–09: Hustler's P.O.M.E., Pray IV Reign and The Rooftop
Jones' third album Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment), was more commercial and once again featured Dipset members along with Lil Wayne. The album spawned Jones' biggest single to date, "We Fly High". Jones introduced a signature dance move in the "We Fly High" video, throwing up a fake jump shot every time the ad-lib "Ballin!'" was stated in the song. This dance move became so popular that it inspired Michael Strahan and Plaxico Burress to do the dance move after big plays during a Monday Night Football game in 2006.
From 2006 to 2008, Jones released a collaborative album with his rap group ByrdGang, titled M.O.B.: The Album, which peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200, selling 16,000 the first week in stores and eventually selling 65,000 units. He has two Christmas compilation albums, A Dipset X-Mas and A Tribute To Bad Santa Starring Mike Epps, and a load of mixtapes, including Harlem's American Gangster, which peaked at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart and spawned his single "Love Me No More".
Jones' fourth studio album, Pray IV Reign, released March 24, 2009, was his major record label debut. The album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart. On July 8, Jones released a promotional single titled "The Good Stuff" featuring NOE. The album features "Pop Champagne", producer Ron Browz, and Juelz Santana. A bonus track on the album is "Jackin' Swagga From Us" with Twista, NOE, and Lil Wayne, which takes shots at T.I. and Jay-Z for allegedly stealing their styles and mocking their song "Swagga Like Us". It is his first solo album under Columbia Records. In 2009, Jim Jones became Vice President of Urban A&R at Koch Records, which is now E1 Music. On June 11, Jim Jones appeared on BET's 106 & Park along with DJ Webstar and announced that they will be releasing an album together titled The Rooftop. He also announced that his documentary, This Is Jim Jones, will be released June 30, 2009. The first single from the album is "Dancin on Me", featuring Juelz Santana. It was officially released via iTunes on April 28. On September 22, hip hop website, RapRuckus, stated the album was scheduled for an October 6, 2009 release. The second single is titled "She Can Get It". In late 2009, Jones left Columbia. According to XXLMag.com, Jones signed a deal to release his next solo album on E1, as well as a mixtape.
2010–present: Capo, Dipset reunion and Vampire Life series
The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. On June 26, 2010, Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled "Salute", marking the return of the Diplomats. They have begun working on an album together, and have been reportedly working with Dr. Dre. In 2010 it was confirmed that Jones had started up a new record label imprint with Damon Dash entitled Splash Records. On April 5, 2011, Jones' released his fifth studio album, Capo, on E1. On November 3, Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website. The lead single off Capo, "Perfect Day" featuring Chink Santana and LOGiC, was released on iTunes December 7, 2010. The album is the first to feature Cam'ron since Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). Other guest appearances include rappers Game, Lloyd Banks, Prodigy, Raekwon and R&B singers Rell and Ashanti among others, and features notable production from longtime collaborator Chink Santana, Aaron LaCrate, Wyclef Jean, Drumma Boy and Lamont "LOGiC" Coleman. The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 21,000 copies in its first week, making Capo his lowest charting album to date.
On October 1, 2011, when Funkmaster Flex premiered a song on New York City's Hot 97 titled "It Ain't My Fault" featuring rappers T-Rex, Boogie Black and Sen City, it was revealed that it was the first offering from Webstar and Jones' upcoming second collaborative effort The Rooftop 2. In the summer of 2011, he was featured on Randyn Julius "Party Tonight" with Teyana Taylor and fellow Dispet member Cam'ron. On October 30, 2011, for the Halloween holiday, Jones released a mixtape titled Vampire Life: We Own the Night. The tape features twenty-four songs, including bonus tracks, freestyles and guest appearances from Meek Mill, J.R. Writer, Chink Santana, 2 Chainz, Maino, Yo Gotti and Jadakiss among others.
On May 1, 2012, Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it went on to be downloaded over 300,000 times on mixtape-sharing website DatPiff.
On March 11, 2013, Jones announced he was working on two new mixtapes V3 (Vampire Life 3) and The Ghost Of Rich Porter 2. Vampire Life 3 was released on August 13, 2013. On December 3, 2013, Jim Jones released an extended play (EP), titled We Own the Night. The EP was supported by the single "Nasty Girl", featuring American singer Jeremih. On June 24, 2014, Jones released a single titled "Wit the Shit", featuring American singer Trey Songz. In July 2014, Jones revealed he would be releasing another EP, titled We Own the Night Pt. 2: Memoirs of a Hustler; it was released on September 9.
On January 1, 2015, DJ Funkmaster Flex announced via Instagram that he had spoken to fellow Diplomat members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana about an upcoming Diplomats mixtape which included fellow member Freekey Zeekey. He also stated that he would be hosting the mixtape along with DJs/producers DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz and DJ Mustard.
Other ventures
Byrd Gang
Jones introduced Byrd Gang in 2008. The group released their debut album, M.O.B.: The Album on Asylum Records.
Fashion designing
Jones and Damon Dash co-own "Vampire Life Clothing".
Acting career
Jones made his acting debut in the film State Property 2.He also appeared on the show Crash: The Series. Along with releasing the album Capo, Jones headlined in an off-Broadway musical called Hip-Hop Monologues: Inside the Life and Mind of Jim Jones, produced by Damon Dash and Footage Entertainment.
Reality television
Jones also appears in seasons 1 and 2 of the VH1 show Love & Hip Hop: New York (which premiered March 14, 2011 and November 11, 2011, respectively); the show loosely follows events in his personal life and that of his fiancée, Chrissy Lampkin. Jones also stars in season 1 of the VH1 show Chrissy & Mr. Jones; the show follows him and Lampkin, focusing on their personal lives.
Sports management
In December 2017, he became part owner of the Richmond Roughriders of the American Arena League.
Controversies
Tru Life
In a 2006 interview Tru Life, responding to rumors, called Dipset bosses Cam'ron and Jim Jones "bitches." Jones responded by challenging Tru Life to fisticuffs, with a US$50,000 wager. Tru Life responded by stealing Jones' necklaces and taunting him on the 2007 mixtape Tru York, which featured "a Photoshopped Jim Jones in a Borat-style thong and Cam'ron as a Seventh Avenue transsexual hooker" as the cover. The Diplomats retaliated by hacking Tru Life's MySpace page, replacing the faces on the Tru York cover with True Life's and Jay-Z's.
GUCCI
In February 2022 Jones posted an Instagram video in which he detailed his experience of being racially profiled as a result of receiving poor customer service . He expressed his disappointment in Gucci’s employees by claiming that “These black people are more racist than white people when they get they job”. He goes on to further detail the event that left him a victim by explaining “I still ain’t get no sparkling water, I still ain’t get no champagne. I still ain’t get nothing.”
Jay Z
Jim Jones has criticized Jay Z's performance as president of Def Jam Recordings. Jay Z responded with a "diss" track called "Brooklyn High" over the beat from Jones' "We Fly High".
On December 22, 2008, Jones punched and kicked a "friend and colleague" of Jay Z at a Manhattan Louis Vuitton store; he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault the following November.
ASAP Mob
In a 2014 interview Jim Jones characterized ASAP Mob's style as "not street": "[T]hey're artistic, but they're not from the street... We got bonafide swag and the definition of get fly... Price point and high fashion don't really make it cool." ASAP Mob member ASAP Rocky responded in his solo single "Multiply" by criticizing that characterization as a disingenuous ploy to sell overpriced branded merchandise.
Azealia Banks
In July 2012, a social media-related conflict between Jim Jones and rapper Azealia Banks had started after Banks dissed the rapper for getting more credit for her phrase "Vamp", as in Jones' mixtape series and label of the same name, Vampire Life, or his track "Vamp Life". Enraged, Banks dissed Jim Jones again via a track titled "Succubi".
Discography
Solo albums
On My Way to Church (2004)
Harlem: Diary of a Summer (2005)
Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (2006)
Pray IV Reign (2009)
Capo (2011)
Wasted Talent (2018)
El Capo (2019)
Collaboration albums
The Rooftop (with DJ Webstar) (2009)
The Fraud Department (with Harry Fraud) (2021)
Zooo York Giants (with Champ Da General) (2021)
Gangsta Grillz: We Set The Trends (with DJ Drama) (2022)
Lobby Boyz (with Maino) (2022)
Filmography
Awards and honors
"Pop Champagne" was nominated for Best Collaboration at the 2009 Urban Music Awards.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
The Diplomats
References
External links
Official website
1976 births
American rappers of Caribbean descent
American music industry executives
American music video directors
American people of Aruban descent
American people of Puerto Rican descent
Businesspeople from New York City
Columbia Records artists
MNRK Music Group artists
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
Hispanic and Latino American rappers
Living people
People from Harlem
The Diplomats members
Rappers from the Bronx
Rappers from Manhattan
Gangsta rappers
Participants in American reality television series
African-American male rappers
21st-century American rappers | true | [
"\"Pop Champagne\" is a song by American hip hop recording artists Ron Browz and Jim Jones, featuring fellow American rapper and Dipset member Juelz Santana. It was officially released on September 4, 2008 through Columbia and Universal Motown Records as the lead single from Jim Jones' fourth album Pray IV Reign (2009). The song proved to be Jones' second most successful single to date, behind his 2006 hit \"We Fly High\". This instrumental was sampled in \"Too Easy\" by Tyrese featuring Ludacris.\n\nBackground\n\"Pop Champagne\" featuring Jim Jones and Juelz Santana is actually a remix. The original is solely the producer of the song, Ron Browz. \"I was going home one day, and DJ Jazzy Joyce — at 4:30 in the morning — was playing the [song],\" Jim Jones recalled of the first time he heard \"Pop Champagne.\" \"And I know how much Ron wanted to become an artist and break into the game. ... So when I heard it, I was like, 'Damn, it got a good sound.' ... I was just being courteous, as he did so many hot beats for me. ... So, I jumped on the track, like, 'Let's see what it do.' It started to sound a little bit crazy, and I said, 'Well, let's see if we put Juelz Santana on it how crazy could it get. And I called Young Hub, and Hub was like, 'Aiight, on the strength of you, I'll jump on it for you.\"\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was directed by Dale Resteghini (a.k.a. Rage) and Jim Jones (a.k.a. Capo). It features cameo appearances by Dame Dash, Busta Rhymes, Mike Epps and Jessica Rich (a.k.a. \"Rabbit\") from Real Chance of Love.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nEnd of year charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nJim Jones - Pop Champagne (Feat. Ron Browz & Juelz Santana) Behind The Scenes\n\nJim Jones (rapper) songs\nJuelz Santana songs\nRon Browz songs\nSong recordings produced by Ron Browz\n2008 debut singles\nSongs written by Jim Jones (rapper)\n2008 songs\nUniversal Motown Records singles\nSongs written by Ron Browz\nSongs written by Juelz Santana\nMNRK Music Group singles\nMusic videos directed by Dale Resteghini",
"\"Perfect Day\" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Jim Jones released as the lead single from his fifth studio album Capo. The song features American rappers-producers Chink Santana and Lamont \"LOGiC\" Coleman, the latter of whom also happened to produce the record. The song was released as a digital download on December 7, 2010. The song is a notable departure from Jones' traditional style of rap, and instead features him singing—similar to likes of pop-rap contemporaries Wiz Khalifa and Kid Cudi.\n\nBackground \nIn an interview with Artistdirect, when asked what's the story behind \"Perfect Day?\" What does that song mean to you? Jones responded\n\nMusic video \nDirected by Zeus Morand and Jim Jones the video was released on Jim Jones VEVO on March 18, 2011. The video is set in various places including a hospital and features sign language for the hearing impaired. Jones' motivation for the innovative music video came from someone close to him: The mother of one of his close friends is deaf. \"She asked, 'Why don't people in the music industry ever have people doing sign language in their videos because they love music, too?' They can feel the beat like anybody else,\" Jones told the Daily News in an interview at Empire Studio in the Flatiron District. Jones decided \"Perfect Day\" would be the ideal song to incorporate sign language - and he wanted to learn it as well. Jones dedicated the video to cancer patients or anyone affected by cancer, and to the soldiers at war right now.\n\nCharts\n\nRelease Information\n\nPurchasable Release\n\nReferences\n\n2010 singles\nJim Jones (rapper) songs\n2010 songs\nSongs written by Jim Jones (rapper)\nSongs written by Chink Santana"
]
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[
"Jim Jones (rapper)",
"2010-present: Capo, Dipset reunion and Vampire Life series",
"What did Jim Jones do in 2012?",
"On May 1, 2012 Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it",
"What did Jim Jones do accomplish in 2010?",
"The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud."
]
| C_7113d140a94847bbbb7d86476d3cf1da_0 | Did they make any music together after ending their feud? | 3 | Did Cam'ron and Jim Jones make any music together after ending their feud? | Jim Jones (rapper) | The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. On June 26, 2010 Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled "Salute", marking the return of The Diplomats. They have begun working on an album together, and have been reportedly working with Dr. Dre. In 2010 it was confirmed that Jones had started up a new record label imprint with Damon Dash entitled Splash Records. On April 5, 2011 Jones' released his fifth studio album, Capo, on E1. On November 3, Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website. The lead single off Capo, "Perfect Day" featuring Chink Santana and LOGiC, was released on iTunes December 7, 2010. The album is the first to feature Cam'ron since Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). Other guest appearances include rappers Game, Lloyd Banks, Prodigy, Raekwon and R&B singers Rell and Ashanti among others, and features notable production from longtime collaborator Chink Santana, Aaron LaCrate, Wyclef Jean, Drumma Boy and Lamont "LOGiC" Coleman. The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 21,000 copies in its first week, making Capo his lowest charting album to date. On October 1, 2011 when Funkmaster Flex premiered a song on New York City's Hot 97 titled "It Ain't My Fault" featuring rappers T-Rex, Boogie Black and Sen City, it was revealed that it was the first offering from Webstar and Jones' upcoming second collaborative effort The Rooftop 2. In the summer of 2011, he was featured on Randyn Julius "Party Tonight" with Teyana Taylor and fellow Dispet member Cam'ron. On October 30, 2011, for the Halloween holiday, Jones released a mixtape titled Vampire Life: We Own the Night. The tape features twenty-four songs, including bonus tracks, freestyles and guest appearances from Meek Mill, J.R. Writer, Chink Santana, 2 Chainz, Maino, Yo Gotti, Jadakiss and Danny!, among others. On May 1, 2012 Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it went on to be downloaded over 300,000 times on mixtape-sharing website DatPiff. On March 11, 2013, Jones announced he was working on two new mixtapes V3 (Vampire Life 3) and The Ghost Of Rich Porter 2. Vampire Life 3 was released on August 13, 2013. On December 3, 2013, Jim Jones released an extended play (EP), titled We Own the Night. The EP was supported by the single "Nasty Girl", featuring American singer Jeremih. On June 24, 2014, Jones released a single titled "Wit the Shit", featuring American singer Trey Songz. In July 2014, Jones revealed he would be releasing another EP, titled We Own The Night Pt. 2: Memoirs of a Hustler; it was released on September 9. On January 1, 2015 well known DJ Funkmaster Flex announced via Instagram that he had spoken to fellow Diplomat members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana about an upcoming Diplomats mixtape which included fellow member Freekey Zeekey. He also stated that he would be hosting the mixtape along with DJs/producers DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz and DJ Mustard. CANNOTANSWER | On June 26, 2010 Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled "Salute", marking the return of The Diplomats. | Joseph Guillermo Jones II (born July 15, 1976), better known by his stage name Jim Jones (formerly Jimmy Jones), is an American rapper and record executive. He is an original member of the hip hop collective the Diplomats (also known as Dipset), alongside longtime friend and fellow Harlem native, Cam'ron.
In 2004, he released his debut solo album On My Way to Church. The release of his second album, Harlem: Diary of a Summer in 2005, coincided with Jones landing an executive position in A&R at Entertainment One Music. A year later he was on his third album Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (2006), which spawned his biggest single to date, "We Fly High". The song reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Jones' first major-label album Pray IV Reign was released in March 2009 by Columbia Records. The album spawned the hit single "Pop Champagne". In April 2011, Jones released his fifth album, Capo, which was supported by the lead single, "Perfect Day". He returned in May 2019, for his sixth album titled El Capo.
Early life
Jones, son of an Aruban mother and Puerto Rican father, was raised in Harlem mainly by his maternal grandmother.
Music career
2004–05: On My Way to Church and Harlem: Diary of a Summer
On My Way to Church is Jones' debut album. The album spawned two singles that made the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: "Certified Gangstas" (featuring Cam'ron, Bezel and The Game), which reached number 80, and "Crunk Muzik" (featuring his Dipset cohorts Cam'ron and Juelz Santana), which reached number 84. The album peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard 200 chart, number three on Billboard's Independent Albums chart, and number four on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Harlem: Diary of a Summer, Jones' second album, reached number five on the Billboard 200 and topped the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Independent Albums charts, selling 350,000 copies. Three of its singles placed on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: "Baby Girl", which reached number 58; "Summer Wit' Miami", which reached number 78; and "What You Been Drankin' On?" (featuring Diddy, Paul Wall, and Jha Jha), which reached number 106.
2006–09: Hustler's P.O.M.E., Pray IV Reign and The Rooftop
Jones' third album Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment), was more commercial and once again featured Dipset members along with Lil Wayne. The album spawned Jones' biggest single to date, "We Fly High". Jones introduced a signature dance move in the "We Fly High" video, throwing up a fake jump shot every time the ad-lib "Ballin!'" was stated in the song. This dance move became so popular that it inspired Michael Strahan and Plaxico Burress to do the dance move after big plays during a Monday Night Football game in 2006.
From 2006 to 2008, Jones released a collaborative album with his rap group ByrdGang, titled M.O.B.: The Album, which peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200, selling 16,000 the first week in stores and eventually selling 65,000 units. He has two Christmas compilation albums, A Dipset X-Mas and A Tribute To Bad Santa Starring Mike Epps, and a load of mixtapes, including Harlem's American Gangster, which peaked at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart and spawned his single "Love Me No More".
Jones' fourth studio album, Pray IV Reign, released March 24, 2009, was his major record label debut. The album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart. On July 8, Jones released a promotional single titled "The Good Stuff" featuring NOE. The album features "Pop Champagne", producer Ron Browz, and Juelz Santana. A bonus track on the album is "Jackin' Swagga From Us" with Twista, NOE, and Lil Wayne, which takes shots at T.I. and Jay-Z for allegedly stealing their styles and mocking their song "Swagga Like Us". It is his first solo album under Columbia Records. In 2009, Jim Jones became Vice President of Urban A&R at Koch Records, which is now E1 Music. On June 11, Jim Jones appeared on BET's 106 & Park along with DJ Webstar and announced that they will be releasing an album together titled The Rooftop. He also announced that his documentary, This Is Jim Jones, will be released June 30, 2009. The first single from the album is "Dancin on Me", featuring Juelz Santana. It was officially released via iTunes on April 28. On September 22, hip hop website, RapRuckus, stated the album was scheduled for an October 6, 2009 release. The second single is titled "She Can Get It". In late 2009, Jones left Columbia. According to XXLMag.com, Jones signed a deal to release his next solo album on E1, as well as a mixtape.
2010–present: Capo, Dipset reunion and Vampire Life series
The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. On June 26, 2010, Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled "Salute", marking the return of the Diplomats. They have begun working on an album together, and have been reportedly working with Dr. Dre. In 2010 it was confirmed that Jones had started up a new record label imprint with Damon Dash entitled Splash Records. On April 5, 2011, Jones' released his fifth studio album, Capo, on E1. On November 3, Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website. The lead single off Capo, "Perfect Day" featuring Chink Santana and LOGiC, was released on iTunes December 7, 2010. The album is the first to feature Cam'ron since Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). Other guest appearances include rappers Game, Lloyd Banks, Prodigy, Raekwon and R&B singers Rell and Ashanti among others, and features notable production from longtime collaborator Chink Santana, Aaron LaCrate, Wyclef Jean, Drumma Boy and Lamont "LOGiC" Coleman. The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 21,000 copies in its first week, making Capo his lowest charting album to date.
On October 1, 2011, when Funkmaster Flex premiered a song on New York City's Hot 97 titled "It Ain't My Fault" featuring rappers T-Rex, Boogie Black and Sen City, it was revealed that it was the first offering from Webstar and Jones' upcoming second collaborative effort The Rooftop 2. In the summer of 2011, he was featured on Randyn Julius "Party Tonight" with Teyana Taylor and fellow Dispet member Cam'ron. On October 30, 2011, for the Halloween holiday, Jones released a mixtape titled Vampire Life: We Own the Night. The tape features twenty-four songs, including bonus tracks, freestyles and guest appearances from Meek Mill, J.R. Writer, Chink Santana, 2 Chainz, Maino, Yo Gotti and Jadakiss among others.
On May 1, 2012, Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it went on to be downloaded over 300,000 times on mixtape-sharing website DatPiff.
On March 11, 2013, Jones announced he was working on two new mixtapes V3 (Vampire Life 3) and The Ghost Of Rich Porter 2. Vampire Life 3 was released on August 13, 2013. On December 3, 2013, Jim Jones released an extended play (EP), titled We Own the Night. The EP was supported by the single "Nasty Girl", featuring American singer Jeremih. On June 24, 2014, Jones released a single titled "Wit the Shit", featuring American singer Trey Songz. In July 2014, Jones revealed he would be releasing another EP, titled We Own the Night Pt. 2: Memoirs of a Hustler; it was released on September 9.
On January 1, 2015, DJ Funkmaster Flex announced via Instagram that he had spoken to fellow Diplomat members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana about an upcoming Diplomats mixtape which included fellow member Freekey Zeekey. He also stated that he would be hosting the mixtape along with DJs/producers DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz and DJ Mustard.
Other ventures
Byrd Gang
Jones introduced Byrd Gang in 2008. The group released their debut album, M.O.B.: The Album on Asylum Records.
Fashion designing
Jones and Damon Dash co-own "Vampire Life Clothing".
Acting career
Jones made his acting debut in the film State Property 2.He also appeared on the show Crash: The Series. Along with releasing the album Capo, Jones headlined in an off-Broadway musical called Hip-Hop Monologues: Inside the Life and Mind of Jim Jones, produced by Damon Dash and Footage Entertainment.
Reality television
Jones also appears in seasons 1 and 2 of the VH1 show Love & Hip Hop: New York (which premiered March 14, 2011 and November 11, 2011, respectively); the show loosely follows events in his personal life and that of his fiancée, Chrissy Lampkin. Jones also stars in season 1 of the VH1 show Chrissy & Mr. Jones; the show follows him and Lampkin, focusing on their personal lives.
Sports management
In December 2017, he became part owner of the Richmond Roughriders of the American Arena League.
Controversies
Tru Life
In a 2006 interview Tru Life, responding to rumors, called Dipset bosses Cam'ron and Jim Jones "bitches." Jones responded by challenging Tru Life to fisticuffs, with a US$50,000 wager. Tru Life responded by stealing Jones' necklaces and taunting him on the 2007 mixtape Tru York, which featured "a Photoshopped Jim Jones in a Borat-style thong and Cam'ron as a Seventh Avenue transsexual hooker" as the cover. The Diplomats retaliated by hacking Tru Life's MySpace page, replacing the faces on the Tru York cover with True Life's and Jay-Z's.
GUCCI
In February 2022 Jones posted an Instagram video in which he detailed his experience of being racially profiled as a result of receiving poor customer service . He expressed his disappointment in Gucci’s employees by claiming that “These black people are more racist than white people when they get they job”. He goes on to further detail the event that left him a victim by explaining “I still ain’t get no sparkling water, I still ain’t get no champagne. I still ain’t get nothing.”
Jay Z
Jim Jones has criticized Jay Z's performance as president of Def Jam Recordings. Jay Z responded with a "diss" track called "Brooklyn High" over the beat from Jones' "We Fly High".
On December 22, 2008, Jones punched and kicked a "friend and colleague" of Jay Z at a Manhattan Louis Vuitton store; he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault the following November.
ASAP Mob
In a 2014 interview Jim Jones characterized ASAP Mob's style as "not street": "[T]hey're artistic, but they're not from the street... We got bonafide swag and the definition of get fly... Price point and high fashion don't really make it cool." ASAP Mob member ASAP Rocky responded in his solo single "Multiply" by criticizing that characterization as a disingenuous ploy to sell overpriced branded merchandise.
Azealia Banks
In July 2012, a social media-related conflict between Jim Jones and rapper Azealia Banks had started after Banks dissed the rapper for getting more credit for her phrase "Vamp", as in Jones' mixtape series and label of the same name, Vampire Life, or his track "Vamp Life". Enraged, Banks dissed Jim Jones again via a track titled "Succubi".
Discography
Solo albums
On My Way to Church (2004)
Harlem: Diary of a Summer (2005)
Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (2006)
Pray IV Reign (2009)
Capo (2011)
Wasted Talent (2018)
El Capo (2019)
Collaboration albums
The Rooftop (with DJ Webstar) (2009)
The Fraud Department (with Harry Fraud) (2021)
Zooo York Giants (with Champ Da General) (2021)
Gangsta Grillz: We Set The Trends (with DJ Drama) (2022)
Lobby Boyz (with Maino) (2022)
Filmography
Awards and honors
"Pop Champagne" was nominated for Best Collaboration at the 2009 Urban Music Awards.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
The Diplomats
References
External links
Official website
1976 births
American rappers of Caribbean descent
American music industry executives
American music video directors
American people of Aruban descent
American people of Puerto Rican descent
Businesspeople from New York City
Columbia Records artists
MNRK Music Group artists
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
Hispanic and Latino American rappers
Living people
People from Harlem
The Diplomats members
Rappers from the Bronx
Rappers from Manhattan
Gangsta rappers
Participants in American reality television series
African-American male rappers
21st-century American rappers | false | [
", better known by his stage name , is a Japanese record producer and businessman. He is the founder and former CEO of the one of the largest music labels Avex Group. He is known mainly for discovering and developing new artists into stars (most notably Ayumi Hamasaki), as well as for reviving Ami Suzuki's career after she was released by her previous record label.\n\nRadio program\nHis weekly radio program, , started on September 5, 2009, and it is broadcast every Sunday, 1:00–1:30 am, on Nippon Broadcasting System.\n\nControversies\n\nIn 2004, Matsuura was the subject of some controversy when he considered leaving Avex Music Group due to a feud with Tom Yoda. Many artists, including Ayumi Hamasaki, said that they would also move in the event that he did so. Thus, stocks for Avex Trax plunged and Yoda ended up resigning, ending the feud.\n\nIn March 2009, Matsuura helped Tetsuya Komuro in the latter's fraud case. Matsuura paid the plaintiff ¥648,000,000 (¥500,000,000 for the exact amount, ¥100,000,000 for compensations and ¥48,000,000 for delay damages).\n\nOn July 17, 2011, Matsuura closed his Twitter account due to an intense feud with fans of Korean pop group JYJ.\n\nPersonal life\nMatsuura lives in Denenchofu, Tokyo.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Personal website \n Max Matsuura at mixi\n Max Matsuura at Ameba Blog\n (TEMPORARILY CLOSED SINCE 2011.7.17)\n \n\nAvex Group people\nJapanese record producers\nJapanese music industry executives\nJapanese radio personalities\nPeople from Yokohama\n1964 births\nLiving people\nNihon University alumni",
"A diocesan feud () is either a warlike conflict between two contenders for the election of a prince-bishop, ruler of a bishopric or archbishopric in the Holy Roman Empire, or an armed conflict between two parties within such a territory. The introduction of the Imperial Church System in the 10th century had intended the position of prince-bishops to be non-hereditary, as all Catholic clergymen were required to be celibate and thus could not produce legitimate offspring to inherit their possessions. Instead, the Holy Roman Emperor would appoint one of his confidants as prince-bishop, upon whose death he could choose a successor himself. However, after the decline of imperial authority over clerical appointments due to the Investiture Controversy (1076–1122), ending with the Concordat of Worms, the cathedral chapters started electing the bishops, and their choice had to be confirmed by the metropolitan bishop. In the 14th century, the Holy See began to reserve the appointment of certain bishops to itself, after which the pope (himself the bishop of Rome) gradually laid claim to the exclusive right to appoint all bishops everywhere.\n\nIn practice, all candidates to succeed a deceased prince-bishop, as well as the members of the cathedral chapters which were entitled to vote for these candidates, were either part of powerful aristocratic dynasties or, more commonly, the lesser German nobility (by and large families of Imperial Knights) which sought to de facto add these prince-bishoprics to their Hausmacht. In some cases, especially in the late Middle Ages (between 1300 and 1500), the result of the election did not satisfy one of the contending parties, and military conflicts ensued, which have become known as diocesan feuds, that bear a lot of similarities to wars of succession.\n\nThe best known examples in the Holy Roman Empire were the:\n\n Bremen Diocesan Feud (1258–59)\n Cologne Diocesan Feud (1473–1480)\n Hildesheim Diocesan Feud (1519–1523)\n Mainz Diocesan Feud (1461–62)\n Münster Diocesan Feud (1450–1457)\n Strasbourg Bishops' War (1592–1604)\n Utrecht Schism (1423–1449)\n Utrecht war (1456–1458)\n Utrecht war of 1481–83 ()\n\nReferences \n\nWars of succession involving the states and peoples of Europe\nPrince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire"
]
|
[
"Jim Jones (rapper)",
"2010-present: Capo, Dipset reunion and Vampire Life series",
"What did Jim Jones do in 2012?",
"On May 1, 2012 Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it",
"What did Jim Jones do accomplish in 2010?",
"The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud.",
"Did they make any music together after ending their feud?",
"On June 26, 2010 Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled \"Salute\", marking the return of The Diplomats."
]
| C_7113d140a94847bbbb7d86476d3cf1da_0 | What is some name of Jones singles he released during those years? | 4 | What is some name of Jones singles released during 2010? | Jim Jones (rapper) | The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. On June 26, 2010 Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled "Salute", marking the return of The Diplomats. They have begun working on an album together, and have been reportedly working with Dr. Dre. In 2010 it was confirmed that Jones had started up a new record label imprint with Damon Dash entitled Splash Records. On April 5, 2011 Jones' released his fifth studio album, Capo, on E1. On November 3, Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website. The lead single off Capo, "Perfect Day" featuring Chink Santana and LOGiC, was released on iTunes December 7, 2010. The album is the first to feature Cam'ron since Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). Other guest appearances include rappers Game, Lloyd Banks, Prodigy, Raekwon and R&B singers Rell and Ashanti among others, and features notable production from longtime collaborator Chink Santana, Aaron LaCrate, Wyclef Jean, Drumma Boy and Lamont "LOGiC" Coleman. The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 21,000 copies in its first week, making Capo his lowest charting album to date. On October 1, 2011 when Funkmaster Flex premiered a song on New York City's Hot 97 titled "It Ain't My Fault" featuring rappers T-Rex, Boogie Black and Sen City, it was revealed that it was the first offering from Webstar and Jones' upcoming second collaborative effort The Rooftop 2. In the summer of 2011, he was featured on Randyn Julius "Party Tonight" with Teyana Taylor and fellow Dispet member Cam'ron. On October 30, 2011, for the Halloween holiday, Jones released a mixtape titled Vampire Life: We Own the Night. The tape features twenty-four songs, including bonus tracks, freestyles and guest appearances from Meek Mill, J.R. Writer, Chink Santana, 2 Chainz, Maino, Yo Gotti, Jadakiss and Danny!, among others. On May 1, 2012 Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it went on to be downloaded over 300,000 times on mixtape-sharing website DatPiff. On March 11, 2013, Jones announced he was working on two new mixtapes V3 (Vampire Life 3) and The Ghost Of Rich Porter 2. Vampire Life 3 was released on August 13, 2013. On December 3, 2013, Jim Jones released an extended play (EP), titled We Own the Night. The EP was supported by the single "Nasty Girl", featuring American singer Jeremih. On June 24, 2014, Jones released a single titled "Wit the Shit", featuring American singer Trey Songz. In July 2014, Jones revealed he would be releasing another EP, titled We Own The Night Pt. 2: Memoirs of a Hustler; it was released on September 9. On January 1, 2015 well known DJ Funkmaster Flex announced via Instagram that he had spoken to fellow Diplomat members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana about an upcoming Diplomats mixtape which included fellow member Freekey Zeekey. He also stated that he would be hosting the mixtape along with DJs/producers DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz and DJ Mustard. CANNOTANSWER | "Perfect Day" | Joseph Guillermo Jones II (born July 15, 1976), better known by his stage name Jim Jones (formerly Jimmy Jones), is an American rapper and record executive. He is an original member of the hip hop collective the Diplomats (also known as Dipset), alongside longtime friend and fellow Harlem native, Cam'ron.
In 2004, he released his debut solo album On My Way to Church. The release of his second album, Harlem: Diary of a Summer in 2005, coincided with Jones landing an executive position in A&R at Entertainment One Music. A year later he was on his third album Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (2006), which spawned his biggest single to date, "We Fly High". The song reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Jones' first major-label album Pray IV Reign was released in March 2009 by Columbia Records. The album spawned the hit single "Pop Champagne". In April 2011, Jones released his fifth album, Capo, which was supported by the lead single, "Perfect Day". He returned in May 2019, for his sixth album titled El Capo.
Early life
Jones, son of an Aruban mother and Puerto Rican father, was raised in Harlem mainly by his maternal grandmother.
Music career
2004–05: On My Way to Church and Harlem: Diary of a Summer
On My Way to Church is Jones' debut album. The album spawned two singles that made the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: "Certified Gangstas" (featuring Cam'ron, Bezel and The Game), which reached number 80, and "Crunk Muzik" (featuring his Dipset cohorts Cam'ron and Juelz Santana), which reached number 84. The album peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard 200 chart, number three on Billboard's Independent Albums chart, and number four on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Harlem: Diary of a Summer, Jones' second album, reached number five on the Billboard 200 and topped the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Independent Albums charts, selling 350,000 copies. Three of its singles placed on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: "Baby Girl", which reached number 58; "Summer Wit' Miami", which reached number 78; and "What You Been Drankin' On?" (featuring Diddy, Paul Wall, and Jha Jha), which reached number 106.
2006–09: Hustler's P.O.M.E., Pray IV Reign and The Rooftop
Jones' third album Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment), was more commercial and once again featured Dipset members along with Lil Wayne. The album spawned Jones' biggest single to date, "We Fly High". Jones introduced a signature dance move in the "We Fly High" video, throwing up a fake jump shot every time the ad-lib "Ballin!'" was stated in the song. This dance move became so popular that it inspired Michael Strahan and Plaxico Burress to do the dance move after big plays during a Monday Night Football game in 2006.
From 2006 to 2008, Jones released a collaborative album with his rap group ByrdGang, titled M.O.B.: The Album, which peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200, selling 16,000 the first week in stores and eventually selling 65,000 units. He has two Christmas compilation albums, A Dipset X-Mas and A Tribute To Bad Santa Starring Mike Epps, and a load of mixtapes, including Harlem's American Gangster, which peaked at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart and spawned his single "Love Me No More".
Jones' fourth studio album, Pray IV Reign, released March 24, 2009, was his major record label debut. The album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart. On July 8, Jones released a promotional single titled "The Good Stuff" featuring NOE. The album features "Pop Champagne", producer Ron Browz, and Juelz Santana. A bonus track on the album is "Jackin' Swagga From Us" with Twista, NOE, and Lil Wayne, which takes shots at T.I. and Jay-Z for allegedly stealing their styles and mocking their song "Swagga Like Us". It is his first solo album under Columbia Records. In 2009, Jim Jones became Vice President of Urban A&R at Koch Records, which is now E1 Music. On June 11, Jim Jones appeared on BET's 106 & Park along with DJ Webstar and announced that they will be releasing an album together titled The Rooftop. He also announced that his documentary, This Is Jim Jones, will be released June 30, 2009. The first single from the album is "Dancin on Me", featuring Juelz Santana. It was officially released via iTunes on April 28. On September 22, hip hop website, RapRuckus, stated the album was scheduled for an October 6, 2009 release. The second single is titled "She Can Get It". In late 2009, Jones left Columbia. According to XXLMag.com, Jones signed a deal to release his next solo album on E1, as well as a mixtape.
2010–present: Capo, Dipset reunion and Vampire Life series
The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. On June 26, 2010, Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled "Salute", marking the return of the Diplomats. They have begun working on an album together, and have been reportedly working with Dr. Dre. In 2010 it was confirmed that Jones had started up a new record label imprint with Damon Dash entitled Splash Records. On April 5, 2011, Jones' released his fifth studio album, Capo, on E1. On November 3, Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website. The lead single off Capo, "Perfect Day" featuring Chink Santana and LOGiC, was released on iTunes December 7, 2010. The album is the first to feature Cam'ron since Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). Other guest appearances include rappers Game, Lloyd Banks, Prodigy, Raekwon and R&B singers Rell and Ashanti among others, and features notable production from longtime collaborator Chink Santana, Aaron LaCrate, Wyclef Jean, Drumma Boy and Lamont "LOGiC" Coleman. The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 21,000 copies in its first week, making Capo his lowest charting album to date.
On October 1, 2011, when Funkmaster Flex premiered a song on New York City's Hot 97 titled "It Ain't My Fault" featuring rappers T-Rex, Boogie Black and Sen City, it was revealed that it was the first offering from Webstar and Jones' upcoming second collaborative effort The Rooftop 2. In the summer of 2011, he was featured on Randyn Julius "Party Tonight" with Teyana Taylor and fellow Dispet member Cam'ron. On October 30, 2011, for the Halloween holiday, Jones released a mixtape titled Vampire Life: We Own the Night. The tape features twenty-four songs, including bonus tracks, freestyles and guest appearances from Meek Mill, J.R. Writer, Chink Santana, 2 Chainz, Maino, Yo Gotti and Jadakiss among others.
On May 1, 2012, Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it went on to be downloaded over 300,000 times on mixtape-sharing website DatPiff.
On March 11, 2013, Jones announced he was working on two new mixtapes V3 (Vampire Life 3) and The Ghost Of Rich Porter 2. Vampire Life 3 was released on August 13, 2013. On December 3, 2013, Jim Jones released an extended play (EP), titled We Own the Night. The EP was supported by the single "Nasty Girl", featuring American singer Jeremih. On June 24, 2014, Jones released a single titled "Wit the Shit", featuring American singer Trey Songz. In July 2014, Jones revealed he would be releasing another EP, titled We Own the Night Pt. 2: Memoirs of a Hustler; it was released on September 9.
On January 1, 2015, DJ Funkmaster Flex announced via Instagram that he had spoken to fellow Diplomat members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana about an upcoming Diplomats mixtape which included fellow member Freekey Zeekey. He also stated that he would be hosting the mixtape along with DJs/producers DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz and DJ Mustard.
Other ventures
Byrd Gang
Jones introduced Byrd Gang in 2008. The group released their debut album, M.O.B.: The Album on Asylum Records.
Fashion designing
Jones and Damon Dash co-own "Vampire Life Clothing".
Acting career
Jones made his acting debut in the film State Property 2.He also appeared on the show Crash: The Series. Along with releasing the album Capo, Jones headlined in an off-Broadway musical called Hip-Hop Monologues: Inside the Life and Mind of Jim Jones, produced by Damon Dash and Footage Entertainment.
Reality television
Jones also appears in seasons 1 and 2 of the VH1 show Love & Hip Hop: New York (which premiered March 14, 2011 and November 11, 2011, respectively); the show loosely follows events in his personal life and that of his fiancée, Chrissy Lampkin. Jones also stars in season 1 of the VH1 show Chrissy & Mr. Jones; the show follows him and Lampkin, focusing on their personal lives.
Sports management
In December 2017, he became part owner of the Richmond Roughriders of the American Arena League.
Controversies
Tru Life
In a 2006 interview Tru Life, responding to rumors, called Dipset bosses Cam'ron and Jim Jones "bitches." Jones responded by challenging Tru Life to fisticuffs, with a US$50,000 wager. Tru Life responded by stealing Jones' necklaces and taunting him on the 2007 mixtape Tru York, which featured "a Photoshopped Jim Jones in a Borat-style thong and Cam'ron as a Seventh Avenue transsexual hooker" as the cover. The Diplomats retaliated by hacking Tru Life's MySpace page, replacing the faces on the Tru York cover with True Life's and Jay-Z's.
GUCCI
In February 2022 Jones posted an Instagram video in which he detailed his experience of being racially profiled as a result of receiving poor customer service . He expressed his disappointment in Gucci’s employees by claiming that “These black people are more racist than white people when they get they job”. He goes on to further detail the event that left him a victim by explaining “I still ain’t get no sparkling water, I still ain’t get no champagne. I still ain’t get nothing.”
Jay Z
Jim Jones has criticized Jay Z's performance as president of Def Jam Recordings. Jay Z responded with a "diss" track called "Brooklyn High" over the beat from Jones' "We Fly High".
On December 22, 2008, Jones punched and kicked a "friend and colleague" of Jay Z at a Manhattan Louis Vuitton store; he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault the following November.
ASAP Mob
In a 2014 interview Jim Jones characterized ASAP Mob's style as "not street": "[T]hey're artistic, but they're not from the street... We got bonafide swag and the definition of get fly... Price point and high fashion don't really make it cool." ASAP Mob member ASAP Rocky responded in his solo single "Multiply" by criticizing that characterization as a disingenuous ploy to sell overpriced branded merchandise.
Azealia Banks
In July 2012, a social media-related conflict between Jim Jones and rapper Azealia Banks had started after Banks dissed the rapper for getting more credit for her phrase "Vamp", as in Jones' mixtape series and label of the same name, Vampire Life, or his track "Vamp Life". Enraged, Banks dissed Jim Jones again via a track titled "Succubi".
Discography
Solo albums
On My Way to Church (2004)
Harlem: Diary of a Summer (2005)
Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (2006)
Pray IV Reign (2009)
Capo (2011)
Wasted Talent (2018)
El Capo (2019)
Collaboration albums
The Rooftop (with DJ Webstar) (2009)
The Fraud Department (with Harry Fraud) (2021)
Zooo York Giants (with Champ Da General) (2021)
Gangsta Grillz: We Set The Trends (with DJ Drama) (2022)
Lobby Boyz (with Maino) (2022)
Filmography
Awards and honors
"Pop Champagne" was nominated for Best Collaboration at the 2009 Urban Music Awards.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
The Diplomats
References
External links
Official website
1976 births
American rappers of Caribbean descent
American music industry executives
American music video directors
American people of Aruban descent
American people of Puerto Rican descent
Businesspeople from New York City
Columbia Records artists
MNRK Music Group artists
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
Hispanic and Latino American rappers
Living people
People from Harlem
The Diplomats members
Rappers from the Bronx
Rappers from Manhattan
Gangsta rappers
Participants in American reality television series
African-American male rappers
21st-century American rappers | true | [
"\"What Am I Worth\" is a 1956 country music song released by George Jones, co-written by Jones and Darrell Edwards. The song was released on January 14, 1956 and was one of the fourteen songs included on Jones' debut album with Starday Records in 1957.\n\nComposition\n\"What Am I Worth\" was written by Jones and Darrell Edwards, who had also collaborated on Jones previous single \"Why Baby Why,\" which became the singer's first national chart hit. According to Bob Allen's book George Jones: The Life and Times of a Honky Tonk Legend, Edwards had grown up just across the road from Jones near Saratoga, Texas, and, after a stint in the Coast Guard, tracked Jones down after a show in Beaumont and showed him several poems he had written, instigating a songwriting partnership. Jones and Edwards would collaborate on some of George's biggest early hits, including his second #1 hit \"Tender Years.\" \"What Am I Worth\" peaked at #7 on the country singles chart. Years later, Jones would recut the song again during his tenure with the Musicor label.\n\nDiscography\n\nReferences\n\n1956 singles\nGeorge Jones songs\nSongs written by George Jones\n1956 songs\nSong recordings produced by Pappy Daily",
"\"H.\" is a song by the American rock band Tool. The song was released as the second single from their second album, Ænima on March 19, 1997. \"H.\" reached number 23 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.\n\nThe working title for the song was \"Half Empty\", and thus \"H.\" most likely stands for that or \"Half Full\". During several tours, the lead singer of Tool, Maynard James Keenan, has referenced his son, whose middle name is H, just before performances of this song.\n\nHowever, on several occasions, specifically on November 23, 1996 during a show at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Maynard James Keenan does grant some insight into another meaning of the song, saying:\n\"So, any of you ever watched those Warner Bros. cartoons? Sometimes there's that one where that guy is having a tough time trying to make a decision. He's got an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. Seems pretty obvious, right? Usually it's the angel who is kind of the one trying to give him the good advice while the devil is trying to get him to do what's bad for him. It's not always that simple though. Most times they're not really angels or devils. They're just friends giving you advice, looking out for your best interest but not really understanding what's going to be best for you. So it kind of comes down to you. You have to make the decision yourself... This song is called H.\"\n\nTrack listing\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n1996 songs\n1997 singles\nTool (band) songs\nVolcano Entertainment singles\nSongs written by Maynard James Keenan\nSongs written by Danny Carey\nSongs written by Justin Chancellor\nSongs written by Adam Jones (musician)"
]
|
[
"Jim Jones (rapper)",
"2010-present: Capo, Dipset reunion and Vampire Life series",
"What did Jim Jones do in 2012?",
"On May 1, 2012 Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it",
"What did Jim Jones do accomplish in 2010?",
"The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud.",
"Did they make any music together after ending their feud?",
"On June 26, 2010 Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled \"Salute\", marking the return of The Diplomats.",
"What is some name of Jones singles he released during those years?",
"\"Perfect Day\""
]
| C_7113d140a94847bbbb7d86476d3cf1da_0 | Did he release any other albums? | 5 | Did Jim Jones release any other albums besides Vampire Life 2? | Jim Jones (rapper) | The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. On June 26, 2010 Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled "Salute", marking the return of The Diplomats. They have begun working on an album together, and have been reportedly working with Dr. Dre. In 2010 it was confirmed that Jones had started up a new record label imprint with Damon Dash entitled Splash Records. On April 5, 2011 Jones' released his fifth studio album, Capo, on E1. On November 3, Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website. The lead single off Capo, "Perfect Day" featuring Chink Santana and LOGiC, was released on iTunes December 7, 2010. The album is the first to feature Cam'ron since Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). Other guest appearances include rappers Game, Lloyd Banks, Prodigy, Raekwon and R&B singers Rell and Ashanti among others, and features notable production from longtime collaborator Chink Santana, Aaron LaCrate, Wyclef Jean, Drumma Boy and Lamont "LOGiC" Coleman. The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 21,000 copies in its first week, making Capo his lowest charting album to date. On October 1, 2011 when Funkmaster Flex premiered a song on New York City's Hot 97 titled "It Ain't My Fault" featuring rappers T-Rex, Boogie Black and Sen City, it was revealed that it was the first offering from Webstar and Jones' upcoming second collaborative effort The Rooftop 2. In the summer of 2011, he was featured on Randyn Julius "Party Tonight" with Teyana Taylor and fellow Dispet member Cam'ron. On October 30, 2011, for the Halloween holiday, Jones released a mixtape titled Vampire Life: We Own the Night. The tape features twenty-four songs, including bonus tracks, freestyles and guest appearances from Meek Mill, J.R. Writer, Chink Santana, 2 Chainz, Maino, Yo Gotti, Jadakiss and Danny!, among others. On May 1, 2012 Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it went on to be downloaded over 300,000 times on mixtape-sharing website DatPiff. On March 11, 2013, Jones announced he was working on two new mixtapes V3 (Vampire Life 3) and The Ghost Of Rich Porter 2. Vampire Life 3 was released on August 13, 2013. On December 3, 2013, Jim Jones released an extended play (EP), titled We Own the Night. The EP was supported by the single "Nasty Girl", featuring American singer Jeremih. On June 24, 2014, Jones released a single titled "Wit the Shit", featuring American singer Trey Songz. In July 2014, Jones revealed he would be releasing another EP, titled We Own The Night Pt. 2: Memoirs of a Hustler; it was released on September 9. On January 1, 2015 well known DJ Funkmaster Flex announced via Instagram that he had spoken to fellow Diplomat members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana about an upcoming Diplomats mixtape which included fellow member Freekey Zeekey. He also stated that he would be hosting the mixtape along with DJs/producers DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz and DJ Mustard. CANNOTANSWER | Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website. | Joseph Guillermo Jones II (born July 15, 1976), better known by his stage name Jim Jones (formerly Jimmy Jones), is an American rapper and record executive. He is an original member of the hip hop collective the Diplomats (also known as Dipset), alongside longtime friend and fellow Harlem native, Cam'ron.
In 2004, he released his debut solo album On My Way to Church. The release of his second album, Harlem: Diary of a Summer in 2005, coincided with Jones landing an executive position in A&R at Entertainment One Music. A year later he was on his third album Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (2006), which spawned his biggest single to date, "We Fly High". The song reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Jones' first major-label album Pray IV Reign was released in March 2009 by Columbia Records. The album spawned the hit single "Pop Champagne". In April 2011, Jones released his fifth album, Capo, which was supported by the lead single, "Perfect Day". He returned in May 2019, for his sixth album titled El Capo.
Early life
Jones, son of an Aruban mother and Puerto Rican father, was raised in Harlem mainly by his maternal grandmother.
Music career
2004–05: On My Way to Church and Harlem: Diary of a Summer
On My Way to Church is Jones' debut album. The album spawned two singles that made the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: "Certified Gangstas" (featuring Cam'ron, Bezel and The Game), which reached number 80, and "Crunk Muzik" (featuring his Dipset cohorts Cam'ron and Juelz Santana), which reached number 84. The album peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard 200 chart, number three on Billboard's Independent Albums chart, and number four on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Harlem: Diary of a Summer, Jones' second album, reached number five on the Billboard 200 and topped the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Independent Albums charts, selling 350,000 copies. Three of its singles placed on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: "Baby Girl", which reached number 58; "Summer Wit' Miami", which reached number 78; and "What You Been Drankin' On?" (featuring Diddy, Paul Wall, and Jha Jha), which reached number 106.
2006–09: Hustler's P.O.M.E., Pray IV Reign and The Rooftop
Jones' third album Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment), was more commercial and once again featured Dipset members along with Lil Wayne. The album spawned Jones' biggest single to date, "We Fly High". Jones introduced a signature dance move in the "We Fly High" video, throwing up a fake jump shot every time the ad-lib "Ballin!'" was stated in the song. This dance move became so popular that it inspired Michael Strahan and Plaxico Burress to do the dance move after big plays during a Monday Night Football game in 2006.
From 2006 to 2008, Jones released a collaborative album with his rap group ByrdGang, titled M.O.B.: The Album, which peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200, selling 16,000 the first week in stores and eventually selling 65,000 units. He has two Christmas compilation albums, A Dipset X-Mas and A Tribute To Bad Santa Starring Mike Epps, and a load of mixtapes, including Harlem's American Gangster, which peaked at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart and spawned his single "Love Me No More".
Jones' fourth studio album, Pray IV Reign, released March 24, 2009, was his major record label debut. The album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart. On July 8, Jones released a promotional single titled "The Good Stuff" featuring NOE. The album features "Pop Champagne", producer Ron Browz, and Juelz Santana. A bonus track on the album is "Jackin' Swagga From Us" with Twista, NOE, and Lil Wayne, which takes shots at T.I. and Jay-Z for allegedly stealing their styles and mocking their song "Swagga Like Us". It is his first solo album under Columbia Records. In 2009, Jim Jones became Vice President of Urban A&R at Koch Records, which is now E1 Music. On June 11, Jim Jones appeared on BET's 106 & Park along with DJ Webstar and announced that they will be releasing an album together titled The Rooftop. He also announced that his documentary, This Is Jim Jones, will be released June 30, 2009. The first single from the album is "Dancin on Me", featuring Juelz Santana. It was officially released via iTunes on April 28. On September 22, hip hop website, RapRuckus, stated the album was scheduled for an October 6, 2009 release. The second single is titled "She Can Get It". In late 2009, Jones left Columbia. According to XXLMag.com, Jones signed a deal to release his next solo album on E1, as well as a mixtape.
2010–present: Capo, Dipset reunion and Vampire Life series
The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. On June 26, 2010, Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled "Salute", marking the return of the Diplomats. They have begun working on an album together, and have been reportedly working with Dr. Dre. In 2010 it was confirmed that Jones had started up a new record label imprint with Damon Dash entitled Splash Records. On April 5, 2011, Jones' released his fifth studio album, Capo, on E1. On November 3, Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website. The lead single off Capo, "Perfect Day" featuring Chink Santana and LOGiC, was released on iTunes December 7, 2010. The album is the first to feature Cam'ron since Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). Other guest appearances include rappers Game, Lloyd Banks, Prodigy, Raekwon and R&B singers Rell and Ashanti among others, and features notable production from longtime collaborator Chink Santana, Aaron LaCrate, Wyclef Jean, Drumma Boy and Lamont "LOGiC" Coleman. The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 21,000 copies in its first week, making Capo his lowest charting album to date.
On October 1, 2011, when Funkmaster Flex premiered a song on New York City's Hot 97 titled "It Ain't My Fault" featuring rappers T-Rex, Boogie Black and Sen City, it was revealed that it was the first offering from Webstar and Jones' upcoming second collaborative effort The Rooftop 2. In the summer of 2011, he was featured on Randyn Julius "Party Tonight" with Teyana Taylor and fellow Dispet member Cam'ron. On October 30, 2011, for the Halloween holiday, Jones released a mixtape titled Vampire Life: We Own the Night. The tape features twenty-four songs, including bonus tracks, freestyles and guest appearances from Meek Mill, J.R. Writer, Chink Santana, 2 Chainz, Maino, Yo Gotti and Jadakiss among others.
On May 1, 2012, Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it went on to be downloaded over 300,000 times on mixtape-sharing website DatPiff.
On March 11, 2013, Jones announced he was working on two new mixtapes V3 (Vampire Life 3) and The Ghost Of Rich Porter 2. Vampire Life 3 was released on August 13, 2013. On December 3, 2013, Jim Jones released an extended play (EP), titled We Own the Night. The EP was supported by the single "Nasty Girl", featuring American singer Jeremih. On June 24, 2014, Jones released a single titled "Wit the Shit", featuring American singer Trey Songz. In July 2014, Jones revealed he would be releasing another EP, titled We Own the Night Pt. 2: Memoirs of a Hustler; it was released on September 9.
On January 1, 2015, DJ Funkmaster Flex announced via Instagram that he had spoken to fellow Diplomat members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana about an upcoming Diplomats mixtape which included fellow member Freekey Zeekey. He also stated that he would be hosting the mixtape along with DJs/producers DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz and DJ Mustard.
Other ventures
Byrd Gang
Jones introduced Byrd Gang in 2008. The group released their debut album, M.O.B.: The Album on Asylum Records.
Fashion designing
Jones and Damon Dash co-own "Vampire Life Clothing".
Acting career
Jones made his acting debut in the film State Property 2.He also appeared on the show Crash: The Series. Along with releasing the album Capo, Jones headlined in an off-Broadway musical called Hip-Hop Monologues: Inside the Life and Mind of Jim Jones, produced by Damon Dash and Footage Entertainment.
Reality television
Jones also appears in seasons 1 and 2 of the VH1 show Love & Hip Hop: New York (which premiered March 14, 2011 and November 11, 2011, respectively); the show loosely follows events in his personal life and that of his fiancée, Chrissy Lampkin. Jones also stars in season 1 of the VH1 show Chrissy & Mr. Jones; the show follows him and Lampkin, focusing on their personal lives.
Sports management
In December 2017, he became part owner of the Richmond Roughriders of the American Arena League.
Controversies
Tru Life
In a 2006 interview Tru Life, responding to rumors, called Dipset bosses Cam'ron and Jim Jones "bitches." Jones responded by challenging Tru Life to fisticuffs, with a US$50,000 wager. Tru Life responded by stealing Jones' necklaces and taunting him on the 2007 mixtape Tru York, which featured "a Photoshopped Jim Jones in a Borat-style thong and Cam'ron as a Seventh Avenue transsexual hooker" as the cover. The Diplomats retaliated by hacking Tru Life's MySpace page, replacing the faces on the Tru York cover with True Life's and Jay-Z's.
GUCCI
In February 2022 Jones posted an Instagram video in which he detailed his experience of being racially profiled as a result of receiving poor customer service . He expressed his disappointment in Gucci’s employees by claiming that “These black people are more racist than white people when they get they job”. He goes on to further detail the event that left him a victim by explaining “I still ain’t get no sparkling water, I still ain’t get no champagne. I still ain’t get nothing.”
Jay Z
Jim Jones has criticized Jay Z's performance as president of Def Jam Recordings. Jay Z responded with a "diss" track called "Brooklyn High" over the beat from Jones' "We Fly High".
On December 22, 2008, Jones punched and kicked a "friend and colleague" of Jay Z at a Manhattan Louis Vuitton store; he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault the following November.
ASAP Mob
In a 2014 interview Jim Jones characterized ASAP Mob's style as "not street": "[T]hey're artistic, but they're not from the street... We got bonafide swag and the definition of get fly... Price point and high fashion don't really make it cool." ASAP Mob member ASAP Rocky responded in his solo single "Multiply" by criticizing that characterization as a disingenuous ploy to sell overpriced branded merchandise.
Azealia Banks
In July 2012, a social media-related conflict between Jim Jones and rapper Azealia Banks had started after Banks dissed the rapper for getting more credit for her phrase "Vamp", as in Jones' mixtape series and label of the same name, Vampire Life, or his track "Vamp Life". Enraged, Banks dissed Jim Jones again via a track titled "Succubi".
Discography
Solo albums
On My Way to Church (2004)
Harlem: Diary of a Summer (2005)
Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (2006)
Pray IV Reign (2009)
Capo (2011)
Wasted Talent (2018)
El Capo (2019)
Collaboration albums
The Rooftop (with DJ Webstar) (2009)
The Fraud Department (with Harry Fraud) (2021)
Zooo York Giants (with Champ Da General) (2021)
Gangsta Grillz: We Set The Trends (with DJ Drama) (2022)
Lobby Boyz (with Maino) (2022)
Filmography
Awards and honors
"Pop Champagne" was nominated for Best Collaboration at the 2009 Urban Music Awards.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
The Diplomats
References
External links
Official website
1976 births
American rappers of Caribbean descent
American music industry executives
American music video directors
American people of Aruban descent
American people of Puerto Rican descent
Businesspeople from New York City
Columbia Records artists
MNRK Music Group artists
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
Hispanic and Latino American rappers
Living people
People from Harlem
The Diplomats members
Rappers from the Bronx
Rappers from Manhattan
Gangsta rappers
Participants in American reality television series
African-American male rappers
21st-century American rappers | true | [
"West Coast Bad Boyz, Vol. 1: Anotha Level of the Game is the first compilation album released by No Limit Records. It was originally released on August 9, 1994, but was later re-released on July 22, 1997. Due to it being a re-release, the album couldn't make it to the Billboard 200 or any other regular charts, but it did make it to #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Catalog Albums. Due to a beef between Master P and King George, Two songs that featured George [Locked Up and Peace 2 Da Streets] were not included on the 1997 re-release.\n\nTrack listing \nWest Coast Bad Boyz, Vol. 1: Anotha Level of the Game\n\nReferences\n\nHip hop compilation albums\n1994 compilation albums\nNo Limit Records compilation albums\nPriority Records compilation albums\nGangsta rap compilation albums",
"World Famous Classics: 1993–1998 is the first of three greatest hits albums by hip hop group The Beatnuts. It was released by Sony BMG in 1999 two weeks after the release of The Beatnuts' most commercially successful album, A Musical Massacre. It contains songs from The Beatnuts' first three albums, as well as its two EPs. The album does not feature any exclusive songs. World Famous Classics did not chart upon release, and is currently out of print.\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\nThe Beatnuts albums\n1999 greatest hits albums"
]
|
[
"Jim Jones (rapper)",
"2010-present: Capo, Dipset reunion and Vampire Life series",
"What did Jim Jones do in 2012?",
"On May 1, 2012 Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it",
"What did Jim Jones do accomplish in 2010?",
"The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud.",
"Did they make any music together after ending their feud?",
"On June 26, 2010 Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled \"Salute\", marking the return of The Diplomats.",
"What is some name of Jones singles he released during those years?",
"\"Perfect Day\"",
"Did he release any other albums?",
"Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website."
]
| C_7113d140a94847bbbb7d86476d3cf1da_0 | Was any of his albums top charters? | 6 | Was any of Jim Jones' albums top charters? | Jim Jones (rapper) | The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. On June 26, 2010 Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled "Salute", marking the return of The Diplomats. They have begun working on an album together, and have been reportedly working with Dr. Dre. In 2010 it was confirmed that Jones had started up a new record label imprint with Damon Dash entitled Splash Records. On April 5, 2011 Jones' released his fifth studio album, Capo, on E1. On November 3, Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website. The lead single off Capo, "Perfect Day" featuring Chink Santana and LOGiC, was released on iTunes December 7, 2010. The album is the first to feature Cam'ron since Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). Other guest appearances include rappers Game, Lloyd Banks, Prodigy, Raekwon and R&B singers Rell and Ashanti among others, and features notable production from longtime collaborator Chink Santana, Aaron LaCrate, Wyclef Jean, Drumma Boy and Lamont "LOGiC" Coleman. The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 21,000 copies in its first week, making Capo his lowest charting album to date. On October 1, 2011 when Funkmaster Flex premiered a song on New York City's Hot 97 titled "It Ain't My Fault" featuring rappers T-Rex, Boogie Black and Sen City, it was revealed that it was the first offering from Webstar and Jones' upcoming second collaborative effort The Rooftop 2. In the summer of 2011, he was featured on Randyn Julius "Party Tonight" with Teyana Taylor and fellow Dispet member Cam'ron. On October 30, 2011, for the Halloween holiday, Jones released a mixtape titled Vampire Life: We Own the Night. The tape features twenty-four songs, including bonus tracks, freestyles and guest appearances from Meek Mill, J.R. Writer, Chink Santana, 2 Chainz, Maino, Yo Gotti, Jadakiss and Danny!, among others. On May 1, 2012 Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it went on to be downloaded over 300,000 times on mixtape-sharing website DatPiff. On March 11, 2013, Jones announced he was working on two new mixtapes V3 (Vampire Life 3) and The Ghost Of Rich Porter 2. Vampire Life 3 was released on August 13, 2013. On December 3, 2013, Jim Jones released an extended play (EP), titled We Own the Night. The EP was supported by the single "Nasty Girl", featuring American singer Jeremih. On June 24, 2014, Jones released a single titled "Wit the Shit", featuring American singer Trey Songz. In July 2014, Jones revealed he would be releasing another EP, titled We Own The Night Pt. 2: Memoirs of a Hustler; it was released on September 9. On January 1, 2015 well known DJ Funkmaster Flex announced via Instagram that he had spoken to fellow Diplomat members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana about an upcoming Diplomats mixtape which included fellow member Freekey Zeekey. He also stated that he would be hosting the mixtape along with DJs/producers DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz and DJ Mustard. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Joseph Guillermo Jones II (born July 15, 1976), better known by his stage name Jim Jones (formerly Jimmy Jones), is an American rapper and record executive. He is an original member of the hip hop collective the Diplomats (also known as Dipset), alongside longtime friend and fellow Harlem native, Cam'ron.
In 2004, he released his debut solo album On My Way to Church. The release of his second album, Harlem: Diary of a Summer in 2005, coincided with Jones landing an executive position in A&R at Entertainment One Music. A year later he was on his third album Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (2006), which spawned his biggest single to date, "We Fly High". The song reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Jones' first major-label album Pray IV Reign was released in March 2009 by Columbia Records. The album spawned the hit single "Pop Champagne". In April 2011, Jones released his fifth album, Capo, which was supported by the lead single, "Perfect Day". He returned in May 2019, for his sixth album titled El Capo.
Early life
Jones, son of an Aruban mother and Puerto Rican father, was raised in Harlem mainly by his maternal grandmother.
Music career
2004–05: On My Way to Church and Harlem: Diary of a Summer
On My Way to Church is Jones' debut album. The album spawned two singles that made the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: "Certified Gangstas" (featuring Cam'ron, Bezel and The Game), which reached number 80, and "Crunk Muzik" (featuring his Dipset cohorts Cam'ron and Juelz Santana), which reached number 84. The album peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard 200 chart, number three on Billboard's Independent Albums chart, and number four on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Harlem: Diary of a Summer, Jones' second album, reached number five on the Billboard 200 and topped the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Independent Albums charts, selling 350,000 copies. Three of its singles placed on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: "Baby Girl", which reached number 58; "Summer Wit' Miami", which reached number 78; and "What You Been Drankin' On?" (featuring Diddy, Paul Wall, and Jha Jha), which reached number 106.
2006–09: Hustler's P.O.M.E., Pray IV Reign and The Rooftop
Jones' third album Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment), was more commercial and once again featured Dipset members along with Lil Wayne. The album spawned Jones' biggest single to date, "We Fly High". Jones introduced a signature dance move in the "We Fly High" video, throwing up a fake jump shot every time the ad-lib "Ballin!'" was stated in the song. This dance move became so popular that it inspired Michael Strahan and Plaxico Burress to do the dance move after big plays during a Monday Night Football game in 2006.
From 2006 to 2008, Jones released a collaborative album with his rap group ByrdGang, titled M.O.B.: The Album, which peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200, selling 16,000 the first week in stores and eventually selling 65,000 units. He has two Christmas compilation albums, A Dipset X-Mas and A Tribute To Bad Santa Starring Mike Epps, and a load of mixtapes, including Harlem's American Gangster, which peaked at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart and spawned his single "Love Me No More".
Jones' fourth studio album, Pray IV Reign, released March 24, 2009, was his major record label debut. The album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart. On July 8, Jones released a promotional single titled "The Good Stuff" featuring NOE. The album features "Pop Champagne", producer Ron Browz, and Juelz Santana. A bonus track on the album is "Jackin' Swagga From Us" with Twista, NOE, and Lil Wayne, which takes shots at T.I. and Jay-Z for allegedly stealing their styles and mocking their song "Swagga Like Us". It is his first solo album under Columbia Records. In 2009, Jim Jones became Vice President of Urban A&R at Koch Records, which is now E1 Music. On June 11, Jim Jones appeared on BET's 106 & Park along with DJ Webstar and announced that they will be releasing an album together titled The Rooftop. He also announced that his documentary, This Is Jim Jones, will be released June 30, 2009. The first single from the album is "Dancin on Me", featuring Juelz Santana. It was officially released via iTunes on April 28. On September 22, hip hop website, RapRuckus, stated the album was scheduled for an October 6, 2009 release. The second single is titled "She Can Get It". In late 2009, Jones left Columbia. According to XXLMag.com, Jones signed a deal to release his next solo album on E1, as well as a mixtape.
2010–present: Capo, Dipset reunion and Vampire Life series
The mixtape, titled The Ghost of Rich Porter, was released March 23, 2010. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones announced they ended their feud. On June 26, 2010, Jones reunited with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on a track titled "Salute", marking the return of the Diplomats. They have begun working on an album together, and have been reportedly working with Dr. Dre. In 2010 it was confirmed that Jones had started up a new record label imprint with Damon Dash entitled Splash Records. On April 5, 2011, Jones' released his fifth studio album, Capo, on E1. On November 3, Jones released a mixtape, titled Capo Life, to promote the album and celebrate the launch of his new website. The lead single off Capo, "Perfect Day" featuring Chink Santana and LOGiC, was released on iTunes December 7, 2010. The album is the first to feature Cam'ron since Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). Other guest appearances include rappers Game, Lloyd Banks, Prodigy, Raekwon and R&B singers Rell and Ashanti among others, and features notable production from longtime collaborator Chink Santana, Aaron LaCrate, Wyclef Jean, Drumma Boy and Lamont "LOGiC" Coleman. The album peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 21,000 copies in its first week, making Capo his lowest charting album to date.
On October 1, 2011, when Funkmaster Flex premiered a song on New York City's Hot 97 titled "It Ain't My Fault" featuring rappers T-Rex, Boogie Black and Sen City, it was revealed that it was the first offering from Webstar and Jones' upcoming second collaborative effort The Rooftop 2. In the summer of 2011, he was featured on Randyn Julius "Party Tonight" with Teyana Taylor and fellow Dispet member Cam'ron. On October 30, 2011, for the Halloween holiday, Jones released a mixtape titled Vampire Life: We Own the Night. The tape features twenty-four songs, including bonus tracks, freestyles and guest appearances from Meek Mill, J.R. Writer, Chink Santana, 2 Chainz, Maino, Yo Gotti and Jadakiss among others.
On May 1, 2012, Jones released the second installment of his Vampire Life series entitled Vampire Life 2, it went on to be downloaded over 300,000 times on mixtape-sharing website DatPiff.
On March 11, 2013, Jones announced he was working on two new mixtapes V3 (Vampire Life 3) and The Ghost Of Rich Porter 2. Vampire Life 3 was released on August 13, 2013. On December 3, 2013, Jim Jones released an extended play (EP), titled We Own the Night. The EP was supported by the single "Nasty Girl", featuring American singer Jeremih. On June 24, 2014, Jones released a single titled "Wit the Shit", featuring American singer Trey Songz. In July 2014, Jones revealed he would be releasing another EP, titled We Own the Night Pt. 2: Memoirs of a Hustler; it was released on September 9.
On January 1, 2015, DJ Funkmaster Flex announced via Instagram that he had spoken to fellow Diplomat members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana about an upcoming Diplomats mixtape which included fellow member Freekey Zeekey. He also stated that he would be hosting the mixtape along with DJs/producers DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz and DJ Mustard.
Other ventures
Byrd Gang
Jones introduced Byrd Gang in 2008. The group released their debut album, M.O.B.: The Album on Asylum Records.
Fashion designing
Jones and Damon Dash co-own "Vampire Life Clothing".
Acting career
Jones made his acting debut in the film State Property 2.He also appeared on the show Crash: The Series. Along with releasing the album Capo, Jones headlined in an off-Broadway musical called Hip-Hop Monologues: Inside the Life and Mind of Jim Jones, produced by Damon Dash and Footage Entertainment.
Reality television
Jones also appears in seasons 1 and 2 of the VH1 show Love & Hip Hop: New York (which premiered March 14, 2011 and November 11, 2011, respectively); the show loosely follows events in his personal life and that of his fiancée, Chrissy Lampkin. Jones also stars in season 1 of the VH1 show Chrissy & Mr. Jones; the show follows him and Lampkin, focusing on their personal lives.
Sports management
In December 2017, he became part owner of the Richmond Roughriders of the American Arena League.
Controversies
Tru Life
In a 2006 interview Tru Life, responding to rumors, called Dipset bosses Cam'ron and Jim Jones "bitches." Jones responded by challenging Tru Life to fisticuffs, with a US$50,000 wager. Tru Life responded by stealing Jones' necklaces and taunting him on the 2007 mixtape Tru York, which featured "a Photoshopped Jim Jones in a Borat-style thong and Cam'ron as a Seventh Avenue transsexual hooker" as the cover. The Diplomats retaliated by hacking Tru Life's MySpace page, replacing the faces on the Tru York cover with True Life's and Jay-Z's.
GUCCI
In February 2022 Jones posted an Instagram video in which he detailed his experience of being racially profiled as a result of receiving poor customer service . He expressed his disappointment in Gucci’s employees by claiming that “These black people are more racist than white people when they get they job”. He goes on to further detail the event that left him a victim by explaining “I still ain’t get no sparkling water, I still ain’t get no champagne. I still ain’t get nothing.”
Jay Z
Jim Jones has criticized Jay Z's performance as president of Def Jam Recordings. Jay Z responded with a "diss" track called "Brooklyn High" over the beat from Jones' "We Fly High".
On December 22, 2008, Jones punched and kicked a "friend and colleague" of Jay Z at a Manhattan Louis Vuitton store; he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault the following November.
ASAP Mob
In a 2014 interview Jim Jones characterized ASAP Mob's style as "not street": "[T]hey're artistic, but they're not from the street... We got bonafide swag and the definition of get fly... Price point and high fashion don't really make it cool." ASAP Mob member ASAP Rocky responded in his solo single "Multiply" by criticizing that characterization as a disingenuous ploy to sell overpriced branded merchandise.
Azealia Banks
In July 2012, a social media-related conflict between Jim Jones and rapper Azealia Banks had started after Banks dissed the rapper for getting more credit for her phrase "Vamp", as in Jones' mixtape series and label of the same name, Vampire Life, or his track "Vamp Life". Enraged, Banks dissed Jim Jones again via a track titled "Succubi".
Discography
Solo albums
On My Way to Church (2004)
Harlem: Diary of a Summer (2005)
Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (2006)
Pray IV Reign (2009)
Capo (2011)
Wasted Talent (2018)
El Capo (2019)
Collaboration albums
The Rooftop (with DJ Webstar) (2009)
The Fraud Department (with Harry Fraud) (2021)
Zooo York Giants (with Champ Da General) (2021)
Gangsta Grillz: We Set The Trends (with DJ Drama) (2022)
Lobby Boyz (with Maino) (2022)
Filmography
Awards and honors
"Pop Champagne" was nominated for Best Collaboration at the 2009 Urban Music Awards.
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
The Diplomats
References
External links
Official website
1976 births
American rappers of Caribbean descent
American music industry executives
American music video directors
American people of Aruban descent
American people of Puerto Rican descent
Businesspeople from New York City
Columbia Records artists
MNRK Music Group artists
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
Hispanic and Latino American rappers
Living people
People from Harlem
The Diplomats members
Rappers from the Bronx
Rappers from Manhattan
Gangsta rappers
Participants in American reality television series
African-American male rappers
21st-century American rappers | false | [
"Lightnin' Hopkins (re-released as The Roots of Lightnin' Hopkins) is an album by blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in 1959 and released on the Folkways label. The album was first released around the time that the book The Country Blues came out and was an instant success. It gave Hopkin's career a new lease on life.\n\nReception\n\nAllMusic reviewer Thom Owens stated: \"Upon its initial release, it was a pivotal part of the blues revival and helped re-spark interest in Hopkins. Before it was recorded, the bluesman had disappeared from sight; after a great deal of searching, Sam Charters found Hopkins in a rented one-room apartment in Houston. Persuading Lightnin' with a bottle of gin, Charters convinced Hopkins to record ten songs in that room, using only one microphone. The resulting record was one of the greatest albums in Hopkins' catalog, a skeletal record that is absolutely naked in its loneliness and haunting in its despair. These unvarnished performances arguably capture the essence of Lightnin' Hopkins better than any of his other recordings, and it is certainly one of the landmarks of the late-'50s/early-'60s blues revival\".\nThe Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings awarded the album three stars stating \"'Exciting' may not be the word everyone would choose to describe this intimate, unplugged performance, but it was greeted on its original release with considerable enthusiasm, a response moulded by interpretation of the blues as folk music, suspicion of electric guitars, and other views current in the '50s and '60s among the sort of people who bought Folkways albums. It remains an estimable record\".\n\nRe-release\n\nThe album was released in the UK by Verve Folkways as VLP 5003 (mono) and SVLP 5003 (stereo) in 1965 as The Roots of Lightnin' Hopkins and re-released in 1972 by Transatlantic Records (XTRA 1127). In 1990, it was re-released on CD under the title Lightnin' Hopkins by Smithsonian/Folkways (SF 40019), and distributed by Rounder Records. The CD was produced by Matt Walters, remastered by Doug Sax and Alan Yoshida at The Mastering Lab in Hollywood, California, and printed in Canada. As cover design the original Folkways LP's artwork by Ronald Clyne with a photograph taken by Samuel B. Charters was used. Charters also wrote the sleeve notes for the CD at the Mansfield Centre, Conn. 1990.\n\nTrack listing\nAll compositions by Sam \"Lightnin'\" Hopkins except where noted\n \"Penitentiary Blues\" (Traditional) – 2:45\n \"Bad Luck and Trouble\" (Hopkins, Mack McCormick) – 3:40\n \"Come Go Home With Me\" (Hopkins, McCormick) – 3:45\n \"Trouble Stay 'Way from My Door\" – 4:00\n \"See That My Grave Is Kept Clean\" (Blind Lemon Jefferson) – 2:05\n \"Goin' Back to Florida\" – 3:10\n \"Reminiscenses of Blind Lemon\" – 2:10\n \"Fan It\" – 2:40\n \"Tell Me, Baby\" – 2:30\n \"She's Mine\" – 4:10\n\nPersonnel\n\nPerformance\nLightnin' Hopkins – guitar, vocals\n\nProduction\n Samuel Charters – supervision, engineer\n\nReferences\n\nLightnin' Hopkins albums\n1959 albums\nFolkways Records albums",
"The Country Blues is a seminal album released on Folkways Records in 1959, catalogue RF 1. Compiled from 78 recordings by Samuel Charters, it accompanied his book of the same name to provide examples of the music discussed. Both the book and this compilation were key documents in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, and many of its songs would either be incorporated into new compositions by later musicians, or covered outright.\n\nBackground\nRecordings of the music known as country blues derived from the mid-1920s to the early 1930s, commencing after the proven commercial appeal of classic female blues and ending when the Great Depression greatly curtailed the market for the record industry. These recordings had all been collected on 78s, and with the exceptions of top-sellers like Lonnie Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson, pressings rarely exceeded approximately 5000 or so. At the time of the issue of this record, the catalogue of country blues music on long-playing album was fairly small. The jazz label Riverside Records and Folkways had made contemporary recordings of artists such as Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Big Bill Broonzy, Reverend Gary Davis, and Lead Belly. Reissue compilations of 78s had also been undertaken by both Riverside and Folkways, but they were few, and indeed Charters complained in 1959 that companies owning various country blues masters were interfering with any attempts to bring the music back on the market. The most famous reissue, and the most easily accessible to the burgeoning Greenwich Village folk revivalists, was the Harry Smith anthology released in 1952.\n\nContent\nCharters undertook this fourteen-song compilation to accompany his ground-breaking study also published as The Country Blues, both to illustrate the styles and artists referenced, and to bring back more of this music into circulation. Charters took care not to duplicate any recordings already found on the earlier Smith anthology.\n\nThe album includes selections from Leroy Carr, one of the best-selling blues artists of the 1930s, to Robert Johnson, who was virtually unknown through the 1950s. The recordings were taken from the collections of Pete Whalen, Pete Kaufman, Ben Kaplan, and Charters himself, with the Broonzy and Bukka White selections from the archives of Folkways Records and Moses Asch. Charters initially took the Robert Johnson track, \"Preachin' Blues,\" as a different take from the one issued on Vocalion 4630, but it is in fact the only version, issued on both the King of the Delta Blues Singers album two years later and its 1970 sequel. \"Preachin' Blues\" is one of the two recordings John Hammond played at his Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938 to represent the work of the recently deceased Johnson.\n\nLegacy\nThe publication of the companion book was a \"signal event in the history of the music, a moment of recognition and legitimization.\" The album itself aided in the further dissemination of country blues music, following as almost a coda to the Smith anthology. It had its detractors, however, irritated at the presence of \"commercial\" artists like Carr and Jefferson, countering with an anthology of \"pure\" country blues artists, purity determined by lack of sales, entitled Really! The Country Blues.\n\nLater artists recorded versions of songs from this album. Bob Dylan included \"Fixin' to Die\" on his debut album, and \"Matchbox Blues\" had been handed down through Billie Holiday and Carl Perkins to end up on the Long Tall Sally extended play single by The Beatles. The Grateful Dead recorded \"Stealin', Stealin'\" as their first single in 1966 on the small Scorpio Records label in San Francisco. \"Key to the Highway\" would appear on Eric Clapton's Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, and \"Statesboro Blues\" would be a concert staple for the Allman Brothers, issued on their At Fillmore East live album. Both these last featured the guitar work of Duane Allman.\n\nA cover of \"Walk Right In\" by the folk trio The Rooftop Singers would top the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in January 1963. \"Careless Love\" would be sung by Joan Baez and Janis Joplin, among others, although they could have been referencing the record by Bessie Smith rather than the Lonnie Johnson version here.\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs written by the performer except where indicated.\n\nSide one\n\nSide two\n\nReferences\n\n1959 compilation albums\nBlues compilation albums\nalbums produced by Samuel Charters\nFolkways Records compilation albums\nFolk compilation albums"
]
|
[
"Dinesh D'Souza",
"America: Imagine the World Without Her"
]
| C_31bfdcd402d44289a6206d9b34765869_1 | What books did D'Souza write? | 1 | What books did Dinesh D'Souza write? | Dinesh D'Souza | In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America." Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014. The film review website Metacritic surveyed 11 movie critics and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the 24 reviews, it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporter's Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives... seem thrilled with the movie." John Fund of National Review said the documentary was a response to U.S. progressive critique of the country, "D'Souza's film and his accompanying book are a no-holds-barred assault on the contemporary doctrine of political correctness." Fund said D'Souza's message was "deeply pessimistic" but concluded, "Most people will leave the theater with a more optimistic conclusion: Much of the criticism of America taught in the nation's schools is easily refuted, America is worth saving, and we have the tools to do so in our DNA, just waiting to be harnessed." National Review's Jay Nordlinger said, "Dinesh is the anti-Moore: taking to the big screen to press conservative points... The shame narrators (let's call them) focus on maybe 20 percent of the American story. Dinesh simply puts the other 80 percent back in." In a second article, Jay Nordlinger said, "The second movie confirms for me that one of Dinesh's great advantages is that he is absolutely clear-eyed about the Third World. While liberal Americans romanticize it, he has lived it." CANNOTANSWER | D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release | Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, provocateur, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. D'Souza has written over a dozen books, several of them New York Times best-sellers.
In 2012, D'Souza released the documentary film 2016: Obama's America, an anti-Obama polemic based on his 2010 book The Roots of Obama's Rage; it earned $33 million, making it the highest-grossing conservative documentary of all time and one of the highest-grossing documentaries of any kind. He has since released four other documentary films: America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014), Hillary's America (2016), Death of a Nation (2018), and Trump Card (2020). D'Souza's films and commentary have generated considerable controversy due to their promotion of conspiracy theories and falsehoods, as well as for their incendiary nature.
Born in Bombay, D'Souza moved to the United States as an exchange student and graduated from Dartmouth College. He became a naturalized citizen in 1991. From 2010 to 2012, he was president of The King's College, a Christian school in New York City until he resigned after an alleged adultery scandal.
In 2012, D’Souza contributed $10,000 to the senate campaign of Wendy Long on behalf of himself and his wife, agreeing in writing to attribute that contribution as $5,000 from his wife and $5,000 from him. He directed two other people to give Long a total of $20,000 additional, which he agreed to reimburse, and later did. At the time, the Election Act limited campaign contributions to $5,000 from any individual to any one candidate. Two years later, D'Souza pleaded guilty in federal court to one felony charge of using a "straw donor" to make the illegal campaign contribution. He was sentenced to eight months in a halfway house near his home in San Diego, five years' probation, and a $30,000 fine. In 2018, D'Souza was issued a pardon by President Donald Trump.
Early life and career
Dinesh Joseph D'Souza was born in Bombay in 1961. D'Souza grew up in a middle-class family; his parents were Roman Catholics from the state of Goa in Western India, where his father was an executive with Johnson & Johnson and his mother was a housewife. D'Souza attended the Jesuit St. Stanislaus High School in Bombay. He graduated in 1976 and completed his 11th and 12th years at Sydenham College, also in Bombay. In 1978, D'Souza became a foreign exchange student and traveled to the United States under the Rotary Youth Exchange and attended the local public school in Patagonia, Arizona. He went on to matriculate at Dartmouth College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1983 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While at Dartmouth, D'Souza wrote for The Dartmouth Review, an independent, student-edited, alumni and Collegiate Network subsidized publication. D'Souza faced criticism during his time at the Review for authoring an article publicly outing homosexual members of the school's Gay Straight Alliance student organization.
After graduating from Dartmouth, D'Souza became the editor of a monthly journal called The Prospect, a publication financed by a group of Princeton University alumni. The paper and its writers ignited much controversy during D'Souza's editorship by, among other things, criticizing the college's affirmative action policies.
From 1985 to 1987, D'Souza was a contributing editor for Policy Review, a journal then published by The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. In a September 1985 article titled "The Bishops as Pawns," D'Souza theorized that Catholic bishops in the United States were being manipulated by American liberals in agreeing to oppose the U.S. military buildup and use of power abroad when, D'Souza believed, they knew very little about these subjects to which they were lending their religious credibility.
D'Souza was a policy adviser in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. He has been affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
In 1991, D'Souza became a naturalized United States citizen.
Career as author, political commentator, and filmmaker
Authorship
The End of Racism
In 1995 D'Souza published The End of Racism, in which he claimed that exaggerated claims of racism are holding back progress among African Americans in the US; he defended the Southern slave owner, and said that "The American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well". D'Souza also called for a repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and argued: "Given the intensity of black rage and its appeal to a wide constituency, whites are right to be nervous. Black rage is a response to black suffering and failure, and reflects the irresistible temptation to attribute African American problems to a history of white racist oppression."
A reviewer for The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education responded to the book by posting a list of sixteen recent racist incidents against black people. Michael Bérubé, in a lengthy review article, referred to the book as "encyclopedic pseudoscience", calling it illogical and saying some of the book's policy recommendations are fascist; he stated that it is "so egregious an affront to human decency as to set a new and sorry standard for 'intellectual'".
The book was panned by many other critics as well: John David Smith, in The Journal of Southern History, said D'Souza claims blacks are inferior and opines that "D'Souza bases his terribly insensitive, reactionary polemic on sound bite statistical and historical evidence, frequently gleaned out of context and patched together illogically. His book is flawed because he ignores the complex causes and severity of white racism, misrepresents Boas's arguments, and undervalues the matrix of ignorance, fear, and long-term economic inequality that he dubs black cultural pathology. How, according to his own logic, can allegedly inferior people uplift themselves without government assistance", adding that D'Souza's "biased diatribe trivializes serious pathologies, white and black, and adds little to our understanding of America's painful racial dilemma".
Paul Finkelman commented on D'Souza's trivialization of racism, and said, in a review article called "The Rise of the New Racism", that much of what D'Souza says is untrue, and much is only partially true, and described the book as being "like a parody of scholarship, where selected 'facts' are pulled out of any recognizable context, and used to support a particular viewpoint". In Finkelman's opinion, the book exemplifies a "new racism", which "(1) denies the history of racial oppression in America; (2) rejects biological racism in favor of an attack on black culture; and (3) supports formal, de jure equality in order to attack civil rights laws that prohibit private discrimination and in order to undermine any public policies that might monitor equality and give it substantive meaning". The conservative black economist Glenn Loury severed his ties with the American Enterprise Institute over the organization's role in the publication of the book. Loury wrote that the book "violated canons of civility and commonality", with D'Souza "determined to place poor, urban blacks outside the orbit of American civilization."
What's So Great About America
In the second chapter of his 2002 book, What's So Great About America, D'Souza argues that while colonialism was terrible, it had the unintended consequence of lifting third world countries up to Western civilization. D'Souza writes, "I realize that in saying these things I am opening the door for my critics, and the incorrigible enemies of the West, to say that I am justifying colonialism ... This is the purest nonsense. What I am doing is pointing out a historical fact: despite the corrupt and self-serving motives of [its] practitioners ... colonialism ... proved to be the mechanism that brought millions of nonwhite people into the orbit of Western freedom." He holds up the European colonization of India as an example, arguing that in the long run colonization was beneficial for India, because it introduced Western law, universities, infrastructure, and the like, while effectively ending human sacrifice, the practice of Sati, and other "charming indigenous customs".
In a review of the book, economist Thomas Sowell wrote that D'Souza's book exposed the fallacies and hypocrisies of various criticisms of the United States by the Islamic world, "domestic multiculturalist cults," those who seek reparations for slavery, and the worldwide intelligentsia. According to Sowell: "Perhaps it takes somebody from outside to truly appreciate all the blessings that too many native-born Americans take for granted. D'Souza understands how rare—sometimes unique—these blessings are." Sowell also wrote that D'Souza challenges the notion that all world cultures are equal: "D'Souza challenges one of the central premises of today's intelligentsia: The equality of all cultures. 'If one begins with the multicultural premise that all cultures are equal, then the world as it is makes very little sense,' he says. Some cultures have completely outperformed others in providing the things that all people seek—health, food, housing, security, and the amenities of life."
The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11
In early 2007, D'Souza published The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11, in which he argues that the American cultural left was in large part responsible for the Muslim anger that led to the September 11 attacks. He argues that Muslims do not hate America because of its freedom and democracy, but because they perceive America to be imposing its moral depravity (support for sexual licentiousness) on the world. D'Souza also argues that the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse was a result of "the sexual immodesty of liberal America", and asserts that the conditions of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay "are comparable to the accommodations in mid-level Middle Eastern hotels."
The book was criticized in major American newspapers and magazines and described as, among other things, "the worst nonfiction book about terrorism published by a major house since 9/11" and "a national disgrace". Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times described it as "a nasty stewpot of intellectually untenable premises and irresponsible speculation that frequently reads like a Saturday Night Live parody of the crackpot right."
D'Souza's book caused controversy in the conservative movement. His conservative critics widely mocked his thesis that the cultural left was responsible for 9/11. In response, D'Souza posted a 6,500-word essay on National Review Online, and NRO subsequently published a litany of responses from conservative authors who accused D'Souza of character assassination, elitism and pseudo-intellectualism.
The Roots of Obama's Rage
The September 2010 book by D'Souza, The Roots of Obama's Rage (published in condensed form in a September 2010 Forbes op-ed), interprets President Barack Obama's past and how it formed his beliefs. D'Souza states that Obama is "living out his father's dream", so that "[i]ncredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s", who, D'Souza goes on to describe as a "philandering, inebriated African socialist". The book appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for four weeks in October–November 2010.
Ryan Chittum, in an article in the Columbia Journalism Review, described the Forbes article as "a fact-twisting, error-laden piece of paranoia ... the worst kind of smear journalism—a singularly disgusting work". Commentators on both the right and left strongly disputed assertions made about Obama in the book and article. The left-leaning Media Matters for America wrote that "The Roots of Obama's Rage [was] rooted in lies". Daniel Larison of The American Conservative stated: "Dinesh D'Souza has authored what may possibly be the most ridiculous piece of Obama analysis yet written ... All in all, D'Souza's article reads like a bad conspiracy theory." Larison criticized D'Souza's suggestion that Obama is anti-business, citing a lack of evidence. Andrew Ferguson of The Weekly Standard wrote, "D'Souza always sees absence of evidence as evidence of something or other ... There is, indeed, a name for the beliefs that motivate President Obama, but it's not anticolonialism; it's not even socialism. It's liberalism!" The magazine published D'Souza's letter, in which he expressed surprise "at the petty, vindictive tone of Andrew Ferguson's review".
America: Imagine the World Without Her
D'Souza wrote the book America: Imagine the World Without Her on which his 2014 film of the same name is based. When the warehouse club Costco pulled the book from its shelves shortly before the film's release, conservative media and fans on social media criticized the move. Costco said it pulled the book due to low sales. D'Souza disputed the explanation, saying the book had only been out a few weeks and had surged to #1 on Amazon.com, while Costco stocked hundreds of much lower-selling books. He and other conservatives asserted it was pulled because one of Costco's co-founders, James Sinegal, supported Obama's politics. Costco reordered the book and cited the documentary's release and related interest for the reorder.
The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left
In July 2017, D'Souza published The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left. In the book, D'Souza asserts that the 2016 Democratic Party platform was similar to the platform of the Third Reich. The statement received media attention in 2018 when repeated by Donald Trump Jr. PolitiFact gave the claim its "Pants-on-Fire" rating, noting that "only a small number of elements of the two platforms are clearly similar, and those are so uncontroversial that they appear in the Republican platform as well." Historians refuted the assertion, with University of Maryland historian and Barack Obama critic Jeffrey Herf saying, "There is not the slightest, tiny sliver in which this could be even somewhat accurate." In another review of the book, historian Nicole Hemmer, then of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, wrote: "For a book about secret Nazis, The Big Lie is surprisingly dull ... The Big Lie thus adds little to the no-you're-the-fascist genre on the right". New York Times columnist Ross Douthat criticized the book, saying it was a "plea-for-attention" by D'Souza, and that the author had "become a hack". Douthat further stated, "Because D'Souza has become a professional deceiver, what he adds are extraordinary elisions, sweeping calumnies and laughable leaps."
In an article for The American Conservative, historian and philosopher Paul Gottfried, who has written extensively on the subject of fascism, harshly criticized a PragerU video hosted by D'Souza which maintained that fascism was a leftist ideology. D'Souza also maintained that Italian philosopher Giovanni Gentile, who influenced Italian fascism, was a leftist, to which Gottfried noted that this contradicted the research by "almost all scholars of Gentile’s work, from across the political spectrum, who view him, as I do in my study of fascism, as the most distinguished intellectual of the revolutionary right."
Christian apologetics series
D'Souza's Christian apologetics books, What's So Great About Christianity and Life After Death: The Evidence, were both on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Filmmaking
2016: Obama's America film (2012)
D'Souza wrote and co-directed the documentary-style polemical film 2016: Obama's America. Through interviews and reenactments, the film compares the similarities in the lives of D'Souza and President Barack Obama. D'Souza suggested that early influences on Obama affected the decisions he made as president. The film's tagline is "Love him or hate him, you don't know him." The film has been criticized on the grounds that what D'Souza claims to be an investigation of Obama includes considerable projection, speculation, and selective borrowing from Obama's autobiography, to prove D'Souza's own narrative. In a "Fact Check" of the film, the Associated Press found that D'Souza provided little or no evidence for most of his claims, noted that several allegations were factually false, and described the film's central thesis as "almost entirely subjective and a logical stretch at best."
After a limited release beginning July 13, 2012, the film expanded to over 1,000 theaters in late August 2012, and reached more than 2,000 theaters before the end of September 2012, eventually grossing more than $33.4 million. It is the fifth highest-grossing documentary-style in the United States during the last four decades, and the second highest-grossing political documentary.
The Obama administration described the film as "an insidious attempt to dishonestly smear the president". Later, when D'Souza was indicted for violating election law, D'Souza and his co-producers alleged that he was selectively prosecuted, and that the indictment was politically motivated retribution for the success of the film.
America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014)
In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary-style film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America."
Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed , which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.
The film review website Metacritic surveyed and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the , it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporters Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives ... seem thrilled with the movie."
Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)
On July 25, 2016, D'Souza released the documentary film Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party. The film criticizes the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton, the presumptive (and ultimate) Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 2016.
The film was universally panned by professional film critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4%, based on 27 professional reviews, with an average rating of 1.7/10. The critics consensus on the site reads, "Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party finds Dinesh D'Souza once again preaching to the right-wing choir—albeit less effectively than ever." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 2 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". The film has the seventh lowest score of all films on the site.
Peter Sobczynski wrote, "Hillary's America may well be the single dumbest documentary that I have ever seen in my life." A July 2016 review in Variety characterized D'Souza as "a right-wing conspiracy wingnut, the kind of "thinker" who takes off from Barack Obama birther theories and just keeps going, spinning out a web of comic-book liberal evil." Alex Shephard of The New Republic said:
Some conservatives viewed the film more positively. John Fund of the National Review stated that "[the film] is over the top in places and definitely selective, but the troubling facts are accurate and extensively documented in the D'Souza book that accompanies the movie." He also called the film "intensely patriotic". On July 23, 2016, Donald Trump, who was then running as the Republican presidential nominee against Clinton, called on supporters to see the film.
On January 23, 2017 the film was nominated for five Razzies including: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Dinesh D'Souza), Worst Actress (Becky Turner), Worst Director (Dinesh D'Souza and Bruce Schooley), and Worst Screenplay. In response to the Razzie nominations, D'Souza stated that he was "actually quite honored" and called the nominations "petty revenge" in response to Trump's election victory, also stating that "the film might have played an important role in the election." After "winning" four of the five possible Razzies, D'Souza repeated his view that the nominations were awarded in response to Trump's election victory.
Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time? (2018)
Death of a Nation had its world premiere in Los Angeles, California on July 30, 2018. A showing in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 2018 was co-hosted by D'Souza and President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr.
The film Death of a Nation centers around drawing parallels between the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Death of a Nation explores the role of the Democratic Party in opposing both presidents. In the film, D'Souza accuses the Democratic Party—both historically and presently—of racism, white supremacy, and fascism. D'Souza further argues that the political left attempt to falsely push claims of racism, white supremacy, and fascism onto the political right for political gain. He claims that the modern political left is currently using these types of accusations in attempts to remove Trump from office "by any means necessary."
The film includes numerous falsehoods and has received criticism from historians regarding aspects of historical accuracy. The film characterizes Adolf Hitler as a liberal; historians characterize Hitler and the Nazis as being far-right. It also claims that Hitler was a LGBTQ sympathizer, whereas the Nazis murdered thousands of gay men and imprisoned homosexuals in concentration camps.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 0% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 1.9/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 1 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". PostTrak reported that filmgoers gave the film a score of 4 out of 5 stars, while The Hollywood Reporter wrote that those polled by CinemaScore (which was paid by Death of a Nations filmmakers to conduct polls of audiences) gave it a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
On its opening weekend, the film grossed $2.3 million on 1,032 screens, the lowest wide release for a D'Souza film. , the film has grossed .
Media appearances and speaking engagements
D'Souza has appeared on numerous national television networks and programs. Six days after the September 11, 2001, attacks, D'Souza appeared on Politically Incorrect hosted by Bill Maher. He disputed the assertion that terrorists were cowards by saying, "Look at what they did. You have a whole bunch of guys who were willing to give their life; none of them backed out. All of them slammed themselves into pieces of concrete. These are warriors." Maher agreed with D'Souza's comments and said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away."
During an interview on The Colbert Report on January 16, 2007, while promoting his book The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, D'Souza maintained that liberals had some responsibility for the September 11 attacks. He said liberals' "penchant for interference" had a decided effect in convincing the Carter administration to withdraw support from the Shah, which brought on Muslim fundamentalists' control of the Iranian government. He also said that the distorted representation of American culture on television is one source of resentment of the United States by Muslims worldwide. D'Souza believes that traditional Muslims are not too different from traditional Jews and Christians in America. Towards the end of the interview, he admitted that he and Islamic militants share some of the same negative beliefs about liberal Americans.
In late February 2017, students at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, stole more than 200 flyers advertising D'Souza's planned appearance at the university the first week of March. D'Souza called the protest "pathetic", and suggested the demonstrators "Come out and debate me. In the best case you may win; in the worst, you'll learn something". Twin brothers Manfred and Jonah Wendt, co-founders of the student conservative group Tigers for Liberty, had passed around 600 notices of D'Souza's visit to campus. Those returned by the protesters contained negative comments about D'Souza.
Views
D'Souza is generally identified as a neoconservative. He defines conservatism in the American sense as "conserving the principles of the American Revolution." In Letters to a Young Conservative, written as an introduction to conservative ideas for youth, D'Souza argues that it is a blend of classical liberalism and ancient virtue, in particular, "the belief that there are moral standards in the universe and that living up to them is the best way to have a full and happy life." He also argues against what he calls the modern liberal belief that "human nature is intrinsically good," and thus that "the great conflicts in the world ... arise out of terrible misunderstandings that can be corrected through ongoing conversation and through the mediation of the United Nations."
In the book Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (1991), D'Souza argued that intolerance of conservative views is common at many universities. He has attributed many modern social problems to what he calls the "cultural left."
D'Souza has also been critical of feminism, and Bruce Goldner, in a review of D'Souza's Illiberal Education, noted that he "has a tendency to characterize feminists as castrating misanthropes".
Religion
D'Souza attended the evangelical church Calvary Chapel from 2000 to about 2010. While stating his Catholic background is important to him, D'Souza also says he is comfortable with Protestant Reformation theology and identifies as a nondenominational Christian. A writer of Christian apologetics, D'Souza has debated against prominent atheists and critics of Christianity on religious and moral issues. His debate opponents have included Dan Barker, Christopher Hitchens, Peter Singer, Daniel Dennett, Michael Shermer, David Silverman, and Bart D. Ehrman.
As a guest contributor for Christian Science Monitor, D'Souza wrote, "The moral teachings of Jesus provide no support for—indeed they stand as a stern rebuke to—the historical injustices perpetrated in the name of Christianity." He often speaks out against atheism, nonbelief in spirituality, and secularism. D'Souza elaborated on his views in the 2007 book he authored, What's so Great about Christianity. In 2009, he published Life After Death: The Evidence, which argues for an afterlife.
D'Souza has also commented on Islam. He stated in 2007 that "radical Islamic" thinkers have not condemned modernity, science or freedom but only United States' support of "secular dictators in the region" which deny "Muslims freedom and control over their own destiny". He has debated Serge Trifkovic and Robert Spencer, who both deem Islam "inherently aggressive, racist, violent, and intolerant." He has labelled Spencer an "Islamophobe" and "an effective polemicist" in his writings on Islam. D'Souza has also warned against support for "a $100 million mosque scheduled to be built near the site where terrorists in the name of Islam brought down the World Trade Center" (i.e., the Park 51 Islamic community center and mosque project), and the Middle East becoming a "United States of Islam" in his attacks against President Barack Obama.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
D'Souza has promoted several conspiracy theories, such as the false claim that Obama was not born in the United States and the conspiracy theory that the Clintons had murdered people. D'Souza has also promoted conspiracy theories about Hungarian-born Jewish financier George Soros, including the false claim that Soros had collaborated with the Nazis, and that Soros has sponsored Antifa, a left-wing anti-fascist movement. In an August 2016 interview with GQ, D'Souza denied being a conspiracy theorist, stating: "I have never advanced a conspiracy theory in my life."
In August 2017, D'Souza suggested that the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally had been staged. In the same month, D'Souza tweeted that it would be "interesting to see" Soros "extradited to Israel & tried for his complicity in Nazi atrocities against Jews", and referred to Soros as "Hitler's collection boy".
After mail bombing attempts on prominent Democratic politicians occurred in October 2018, D'Souza tweeted: "Fake sexual assault victims. Fake refugees. Now fake mail bombs." D'Souza spread the conspiracy theory that because there was no cancellation mark on the bomb-containing packages, they were not mailed.
In February 2021, after the United States Capitol attack took place, D'Souza suggested that the rioters were little more than "a bunch of rowdy people walking through a hallway". In May, D'Souza tweeted about the attack: "Does this LOOK like an insurrection? A riot? A coup attempt? If it doesn't walk like a duck or talk like a duck then it probably isn't a duck."
Opinions expressed on Twitter
In November 2013, D'Souza received backlash for referring to Obama as "Grown-Up Trayvon" in a tweet. In response to the backlash, D'Souza tweeted: "Feigned outrage on the left over me calling Obama ‘grown up Trayvon’ except that Obama likened himself to Trayvon!". D'Souza later deleted the initial tweet, ostensibly because Obama was referring to his hypothetical son.
In February 2015, D'Souza wrote: "You can take the boy out of the ghetto" in a tweet criticizing Obama for using a selfie stick. After the tweet was criticized as racist, D'Souza tweeted: "I know Obama wasn't actually raised in a ghetto--I'm using the term metaphorically, to suggest his unpresidential conduct".
In January 2017, after civil rights leader and Georgia congressman John Lewis stated that the then-newly elected President Donald Trump was not a "legitimate president", D'Souza tweeted: "The left’s false narrative inflates minor figures like John Lewis, Democrat, & downplays major ones like Frederick Douglass, Republican". D'Souza later tweeted that civil rights activist Rosa Parks' contributions to the civil rights movement were "absurdly inflated" and described her as an "overrated Democrat". D'Souza received criticism for the tweets, with Charles C. W. Cooke of National Review stating: "Not only incorrect, it's an attitude that would never be struck about a soldier on, say, Veterans Day … [E]ven if Parks was a minor player (she wasn't), she'd still deserve to be lionized."
In November 2017, D'Souza mocked Beverly Young Nelson, one of the women who accused Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, and tweeted: "I was lukewarm on Roy Moore until the last-minute smear. Now we must elect him to show that the @washingtonpost sleaze attack failed". David French, then-senior writer at National Review, tweeted "What has happened to you?" in response to D'Souza's tweet about Nelson.
In February 2018, D'Souza was criticized for a series of tweets which mocked the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In response to a photo of survivors reacting to Florida lawmakers voting down a proposed ban on assault weapons in the aftermath of the shooting, D'Souza tweeted "worst news since their parents told them to get summer jobs". D'Souza also accused the survivors of "politically-orchestrated grief" and said that their grief "[struck him] as phony and inauthentic". D'Souza's comments were condemned by both liberal and conservative commentators. Journalist Jonathan M. Katz wrote: "Let it never be said that Dinesh does not actively root for the death of children." Others accused D'Souza of "trolling kids". D'Souza was also denounced by the Conservative Political Action Conference, which removed him from its roster of speakers and stated: "his comments are indefensible". D'Souza subsequently apologized for the initial tweet, saying that it was "aimed at media manipulation" and that he was being "insensitive to students who lost friends in a terrible tragedy."
Presidency of The King's College
In August 2010, D'Souza was named president of The King's College, a Christian liberal arts college then housed in the Empire State Building in Manhattan. In 2012, the college relocated to a larger space next door to the New York Stock Exchange in Lower Manhattan's financial district. On October 18, 2012, D'Souza resigned his post at The King's College following a press report that he—despite being married—had shared a hotel room at a Christian conference with another woman and introduced her to others as his fiancée. D'Souza acknowledged being separated from his wife and having introduced Denise Odie Joseph II as his fiancée at a Christian conference; however, he denied that the two were engaged in an adulterous affair and that he had shared a room with Joseph at the conference, and described the report as "pure libel" that is "worthy of Christian condemnation." After an investigation by officials at The King's College, D'Souza stated that he had suspended his engagement to Joseph.
After D'Souza's indiscretion became public, the trustees of The King's College announced on October 17, 2012 that D'Souza had resigned his position as president of the university "to attend to his personal and family needs".
Campaign finance violation, felony guilty plea, conviction, and pardon
On January 23, 2014, D'Souza was charged with making $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions to the New York Senate campaign of Wendy Long and causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission. His attorney responded to the charges by saying his client "did not act with any corrupt or criminal intent whatsoever" and described the incident as "at most ... an act of misguided friendship".
On May 15, 2014, United States district judge Richard M. Berman rejected the contention that D'Souza was singled out for prosecution, stating, "The court concludes the defendant has respectfully submitted no evidence he was selectively prosecuted."
On May 20, 2014, D'Souza pleaded guilty to one felony count of making illegal contributions in the names of others. On September 23, 2014, the court sentenced D'Souza to five years' probation, eight months in a halfway house (referred to as a "community confinement center") and a $30,000 fine. After D'Souza's conviction, his claim of selective prosecution continued to receive support from some conservative media and commentators.
On May 31, 2018, President Donald Trump pardoned D'Souza. D'Souza thanked Trump for the pardon, tweeting: "Obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both". After fellow Indian-American Preet Bharara criticized Trump's pardon of D'Souza, D'Souza accused Bharara of trying to destroy his career, tweeting: "Bharara & his goons bludgeoned me into the plea by threatening to add a second redundant charge carrying a prison term of FIVE YEARS".
Personal life
D'Souza dated fellow conservatives Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter prior to meeting Dixie Brubaker while working at the White House. D'Souza and Brubaker married in 1992. They have one daughter, Danielle D’Souza Gill, who is a writer and a member of the Women for Trump Coalition. The couple lived together in California until D'Souza moved to New York as president of The King's College in 2010. He maintained a residence near San Diego, California, where his wife and daughter remained. D'Souza and Brubaker divorced in 2012.
While D'Souza was being sentenced for campaign finance fraud in 2014, Brubaker wrote a letter to the judge alleging that D'Souza had physically abused her; she claimed that "in April 2012 … he, using his purple belt karate skills, kicked me in the head and shoulder, knocking me to the ground and creating injuries that pain me to this day." Benjamin Brafman, D'Souza's attorney for his campaign finance case, dismissed Brubaker's allegation as completely false.
On March 19, 2016, D'Souza married Deborah Fancher, a conservative political activist and mother of two. Fancher emigrated from Venezuela at age 10. The wedding was held near San Diego with Rafael Cruz, father of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), officiating.
Works
Books
Books authored by D'Souza include:
Films
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1961 births
Living people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century American criminals
American conspiracy theorists
American people of Goan descent
American people convicted of campaign finance violations
American social commentators
People from San Diego
Writers from New York City
Critics of atheism
Male critics of feminism
Dartmouth College alumni
Hoover Institution people
Indian emigrants to the United States
Indian Christians
National Review people
Christian apologists
Writers from Mumbai
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Reagan administration personnel
The Heritage Foundation
The King's College (New York City) faculty
American male writers of Indian descent
American Christian writers
Recipients of American presidential pardons
American male non-fiction writers
Right-wing politics in the United States
Golden Raspberry Award winners
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
John M. Olin Foundation | false | [
"Dilip D'Souza (born 1960) is a Mumbai-based writer and journalist. He writes about social and political causes. His columns have appeared in The Sunday Observer, Rediff.com, Outlook, Mid-Day, Hindustan Times, indiatogether.org, The Caravan and other publications.\n\nPersonal life\nDilip D'Souza was born to Neela, a former Indian Administrative Service officer and Maharashtra Chief Secretary and activist J.B. D'Souza. D'Souza did a BE in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from BITS Pilani (1976–81) and an MS in Computer Science from Brown University (1984).\n\nHe married French language teacher Vibha Kamat in 1993, and they have two children, son Sahir, born 1999 and daughter Surabhi, born 2004. He studied and worked as a software engineer in United States from 1981 to 1992 when he returned to India to write full-time. He speaks Tamil, Hindi, Marathi, Konkani, English, French and Spanish.\n\nAs an alumnus of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, he is dedicated to alumni activities and has come over many times to his alma mater. He was there in February 2010 to promote his new book Roadrunner. He is currently on the editorial board of the BITS Alumni magazine Sandpaper. D'Souza also maintains a blog \"Death Ends Fun\".\n\nAwards\nD'Souza has won several awards for his writing, including The Daily Beast award for South Asian commentary, the Statesman Rural Reporting Award, the Times of India/Red Cross prize, the Outlook/Picador nonfiction prize (for which he was also, earlier, runner up), the Sanctuary Magazine prize and more.\n\n Outlook/Picador prize in 2004 for his essay \"Ride Across The River\". It was about an Army officer killed in action in Kashmir, examining patriotism through his example.\n\nAffiliations\n D'Souza is a member of the Managing Committee of Citizens for Peace (CfP) in Mumbai.\n D'Souza has worked with the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), the Narmada Bachao Andolan and Ekta.\n D'Souza was a member of the Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD). The PIPFPD pursues \"Track II diplomacy\", meaning increased contact between ordinary people in both countries, towards peace between India and Pakistan.\n He was also a member of the India Progressive Action Group (IPAG) in Austin, Texas, that funded and worked closely with various rural development projects in India.\n He was on the editorial board of the Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI) and the Foundation for Humanization.\n D'Souza was an invited speaker/panelist to the Austin conference of the Association for India's Development (AID) and witnessed first-hand their relief and rehabilitation work in Tamil Nadu after the tsunami in December 2004.\n\nWorks\n Branded by Law: Looking at India's Denotified Tribes, by Dilip D'Souza. Published by Penguin Books, 2001. .\n The Narmada Dammed: An Inquiry into the Politics of Development, by Dilip D'Souza. Published by Penguin Books, 2002. \n Roadrunner: An Indian Quest in America, by Dilip D'Souza. Published by HarperCollins India, 2009. \n The Curious Case of Binayak Sen, by Dilip D'Souza. Published by HarperCollins India, 2012. \n Final Test: Exit Sachin Tendulkar, by Dilip D'Souza. Published by Random House, 2014. \n Dhyan Singh 'Chand': Hockey's Magician, by Dilip D'Souza. Published by Pratham Books, 2016.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Dilip D'Souza columns at Rediff.com\n Dilip D'Souza's blog\n\n1960 births\nLiving people\nIndian male journalists\nIndian travel writers\nIndian political writers\nActivists from Maharashtra\nIndian columnists\nIndian bloggers\nWriters from Mumbai\nBirla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani alumni\nBrown University alumni\nIndian political journalists\nMale bloggers",
"Jessé José Freire de Souza or simply Jessé Souza (29 March 1960) is a Brazilian professor and researcher.\n\nOn 2 April 2015, he was assigned by the Brazilian Government as president of the Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (Ipea), replacing Sergei Suarez Dillon Soares. His contract was terminated in May 2016, when Michel Temer took office as acting president, following Dilma Rousseff's impeachment.\n\nWorks \n SOUZA, Jessé. A Elite do Atraso: Da Escravidão à Lava Jato.[The Elite of the Delay: From Slavery to Operation Car Wash] Rio de Janeiro: Leya. 2017. ISBN 978-85-441-0538-2.\n SOUZA, Jessé. A tolice da inteligência brasileira: ou como o país se deixa manipular pela elite. São Paulo, LeYa, 2015.\n SOUZA, Jessé/ REHBEIN, Boike. Ungleichheit in kapitalistischen Gesellschaften. Weinheim y Basel: Beltz Juventa, 2014.\n SOUZA, Jessé. Os batalhadores brasileiros: Nova classe média ou nova classe trabalhadora? Belo Horizonte: UFMG, 2010. (Coleção Humanitas) (2ª edição em 2012)\n SOUZA, Jessé. A ralé brasileira: quem é e como vive. Belo Horizonte: UFMG, 2009.\n SOUZA, Jessé. Die Soziale Konstruktion der peripheren Ungleicheit. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2008.\n SOUZA, Jessé (Org.). A Invisibilidade da Desigualdade Brasileira. Belo Horizonte: UFMG, 2006.\n SOUZA, Jessé (Org.). Imagining Brazil. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2006.\n KÜHN, Thomas / SOUZA, Jessé (Org.) Das moderne Brasilien. Gesellschaft, Politik und Kultur in der Peripherie des Westens. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2006.\n SOUZA, Jessé. A Construção Social da Subcidadania. Belo Horizonte: UFMG, 2006.\n SOUZA, Jessé. A Modernização Seletiva: Uma Reinterpretação do Dilema Brasileiro. Brasília: UNB, 2000.\n\nReferences \n\n1960 births\nBrazilian sociologists\nLiving people"
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"D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release"
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| C_31bfdcd402d44289a6206d9b34765869_1 | What was the film about? | 2 | What was the film "America: Imagine the World Without Her" about? | Dinesh D'Souza | In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America." Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014. The film review website Metacritic surveyed 11 movie critics and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the 24 reviews, it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporter's Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives... seem thrilled with the movie." John Fund of National Review said the documentary was a response to U.S. progressive critique of the country, "D'Souza's film and his accompanying book are a no-holds-barred assault on the contemporary doctrine of political correctness." Fund said D'Souza's message was "deeply pessimistic" but concluded, "Most people will leave the theater with a more optimistic conclusion: Much of the criticism of America taught in the nation's schools is easily refuted, America is worth saving, and we have the tools to do so in our DNA, just waiting to be harnessed." National Review's Jay Nordlinger said, "Dinesh is the anti-Moore: taking to the big screen to press conservative points... The shame narrators (let's call them) focus on maybe 20 percent of the American story. Dinesh simply puts the other 80 percent back in." In a second article, Jay Nordlinger said, "The second movie confirms for me that one of Dinesh's great advantages is that he is absolutely clear-eyed about the Third World. While liberal Americans romanticize it, he has lived it." CANNOTANSWER | Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America. | Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, provocateur, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. D'Souza has written over a dozen books, several of them New York Times best-sellers.
In 2012, D'Souza released the documentary film 2016: Obama's America, an anti-Obama polemic based on his 2010 book The Roots of Obama's Rage; it earned $33 million, making it the highest-grossing conservative documentary of all time and one of the highest-grossing documentaries of any kind. He has since released four other documentary films: America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014), Hillary's America (2016), Death of a Nation (2018), and Trump Card (2020). D'Souza's films and commentary have generated considerable controversy due to their promotion of conspiracy theories and falsehoods, as well as for their incendiary nature.
Born in Bombay, D'Souza moved to the United States as an exchange student and graduated from Dartmouth College. He became a naturalized citizen in 1991. From 2010 to 2012, he was president of The King's College, a Christian school in New York City until he resigned after an alleged adultery scandal.
In 2012, D’Souza contributed $10,000 to the senate campaign of Wendy Long on behalf of himself and his wife, agreeing in writing to attribute that contribution as $5,000 from his wife and $5,000 from him. He directed two other people to give Long a total of $20,000 additional, which he agreed to reimburse, and later did. At the time, the Election Act limited campaign contributions to $5,000 from any individual to any one candidate. Two years later, D'Souza pleaded guilty in federal court to one felony charge of using a "straw donor" to make the illegal campaign contribution. He was sentenced to eight months in a halfway house near his home in San Diego, five years' probation, and a $30,000 fine. In 2018, D'Souza was issued a pardon by President Donald Trump.
Early life and career
Dinesh Joseph D'Souza was born in Bombay in 1961. D'Souza grew up in a middle-class family; his parents were Roman Catholics from the state of Goa in Western India, where his father was an executive with Johnson & Johnson and his mother was a housewife. D'Souza attended the Jesuit St. Stanislaus High School in Bombay. He graduated in 1976 and completed his 11th and 12th years at Sydenham College, also in Bombay. In 1978, D'Souza became a foreign exchange student and traveled to the United States under the Rotary Youth Exchange and attended the local public school in Patagonia, Arizona. He went on to matriculate at Dartmouth College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1983 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While at Dartmouth, D'Souza wrote for The Dartmouth Review, an independent, student-edited, alumni and Collegiate Network subsidized publication. D'Souza faced criticism during his time at the Review for authoring an article publicly outing homosexual members of the school's Gay Straight Alliance student organization.
After graduating from Dartmouth, D'Souza became the editor of a monthly journal called The Prospect, a publication financed by a group of Princeton University alumni. The paper and its writers ignited much controversy during D'Souza's editorship by, among other things, criticizing the college's affirmative action policies.
From 1985 to 1987, D'Souza was a contributing editor for Policy Review, a journal then published by The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. In a September 1985 article titled "The Bishops as Pawns," D'Souza theorized that Catholic bishops in the United States were being manipulated by American liberals in agreeing to oppose the U.S. military buildup and use of power abroad when, D'Souza believed, they knew very little about these subjects to which they were lending their religious credibility.
D'Souza was a policy adviser in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. He has been affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
In 1991, D'Souza became a naturalized United States citizen.
Career as author, political commentator, and filmmaker
Authorship
The End of Racism
In 1995 D'Souza published The End of Racism, in which he claimed that exaggerated claims of racism are holding back progress among African Americans in the US; he defended the Southern slave owner, and said that "The American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well". D'Souza also called for a repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and argued: "Given the intensity of black rage and its appeal to a wide constituency, whites are right to be nervous. Black rage is a response to black suffering and failure, and reflects the irresistible temptation to attribute African American problems to a history of white racist oppression."
A reviewer for The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education responded to the book by posting a list of sixteen recent racist incidents against black people. Michael Bérubé, in a lengthy review article, referred to the book as "encyclopedic pseudoscience", calling it illogical and saying some of the book's policy recommendations are fascist; he stated that it is "so egregious an affront to human decency as to set a new and sorry standard for 'intellectual'".
The book was panned by many other critics as well: John David Smith, in The Journal of Southern History, said D'Souza claims blacks are inferior and opines that "D'Souza bases his terribly insensitive, reactionary polemic on sound bite statistical and historical evidence, frequently gleaned out of context and patched together illogically. His book is flawed because he ignores the complex causes and severity of white racism, misrepresents Boas's arguments, and undervalues the matrix of ignorance, fear, and long-term economic inequality that he dubs black cultural pathology. How, according to his own logic, can allegedly inferior people uplift themselves without government assistance", adding that D'Souza's "biased diatribe trivializes serious pathologies, white and black, and adds little to our understanding of America's painful racial dilemma".
Paul Finkelman commented on D'Souza's trivialization of racism, and said, in a review article called "The Rise of the New Racism", that much of what D'Souza says is untrue, and much is only partially true, and described the book as being "like a parody of scholarship, where selected 'facts' are pulled out of any recognizable context, and used to support a particular viewpoint". In Finkelman's opinion, the book exemplifies a "new racism", which "(1) denies the history of racial oppression in America; (2) rejects biological racism in favor of an attack on black culture; and (3) supports formal, de jure equality in order to attack civil rights laws that prohibit private discrimination and in order to undermine any public policies that might monitor equality and give it substantive meaning". The conservative black economist Glenn Loury severed his ties with the American Enterprise Institute over the organization's role in the publication of the book. Loury wrote that the book "violated canons of civility and commonality", with D'Souza "determined to place poor, urban blacks outside the orbit of American civilization."
What's So Great About America
In the second chapter of his 2002 book, What's So Great About America, D'Souza argues that while colonialism was terrible, it had the unintended consequence of lifting third world countries up to Western civilization. D'Souza writes, "I realize that in saying these things I am opening the door for my critics, and the incorrigible enemies of the West, to say that I am justifying colonialism ... This is the purest nonsense. What I am doing is pointing out a historical fact: despite the corrupt and self-serving motives of [its] practitioners ... colonialism ... proved to be the mechanism that brought millions of nonwhite people into the orbit of Western freedom." He holds up the European colonization of India as an example, arguing that in the long run colonization was beneficial for India, because it introduced Western law, universities, infrastructure, and the like, while effectively ending human sacrifice, the practice of Sati, and other "charming indigenous customs".
In a review of the book, economist Thomas Sowell wrote that D'Souza's book exposed the fallacies and hypocrisies of various criticisms of the United States by the Islamic world, "domestic multiculturalist cults," those who seek reparations for slavery, and the worldwide intelligentsia. According to Sowell: "Perhaps it takes somebody from outside to truly appreciate all the blessings that too many native-born Americans take for granted. D'Souza understands how rare—sometimes unique—these blessings are." Sowell also wrote that D'Souza challenges the notion that all world cultures are equal: "D'Souza challenges one of the central premises of today's intelligentsia: The equality of all cultures. 'If one begins with the multicultural premise that all cultures are equal, then the world as it is makes very little sense,' he says. Some cultures have completely outperformed others in providing the things that all people seek—health, food, housing, security, and the amenities of life."
The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11
In early 2007, D'Souza published The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11, in which he argues that the American cultural left was in large part responsible for the Muslim anger that led to the September 11 attacks. He argues that Muslims do not hate America because of its freedom and democracy, but because they perceive America to be imposing its moral depravity (support for sexual licentiousness) on the world. D'Souza also argues that the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse was a result of "the sexual immodesty of liberal America", and asserts that the conditions of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay "are comparable to the accommodations in mid-level Middle Eastern hotels."
The book was criticized in major American newspapers and magazines and described as, among other things, "the worst nonfiction book about terrorism published by a major house since 9/11" and "a national disgrace". Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times described it as "a nasty stewpot of intellectually untenable premises and irresponsible speculation that frequently reads like a Saturday Night Live parody of the crackpot right."
D'Souza's book caused controversy in the conservative movement. His conservative critics widely mocked his thesis that the cultural left was responsible for 9/11. In response, D'Souza posted a 6,500-word essay on National Review Online, and NRO subsequently published a litany of responses from conservative authors who accused D'Souza of character assassination, elitism and pseudo-intellectualism.
The Roots of Obama's Rage
The September 2010 book by D'Souza, The Roots of Obama's Rage (published in condensed form in a September 2010 Forbes op-ed), interprets President Barack Obama's past and how it formed his beliefs. D'Souza states that Obama is "living out his father's dream", so that "[i]ncredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s", who, D'Souza goes on to describe as a "philandering, inebriated African socialist". The book appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for four weeks in October–November 2010.
Ryan Chittum, in an article in the Columbia Journalism Review, described the Forbes article as "a fact-twisting, error-laden piece of paranoia ... the worst kind of smear journalism—a singularly disgusting work". Commentators on both the right and left strongly disputed assertions made about Obama in the book and article. The left-leaning Media Matters for America wrote that "The Roots of Obama's Rage [was] rooted in lies". Daniel Larison of The American Conservative stated: "Dinesh D'Souza has authored what may possibly be the most ridiculous piece of Obama analysis yet written ... All in all, D'Souza's article reads like a bad conspiracy theory." Larison criticized D'Souza's suggestion that Obama is anti-business, citing a lack of evidence. Andrew Ferguson of The Weekly Standard wrote, "D'Souza always sees absence of evidence as evidence of something or other ... There is, indeed, a name for the beliefs that motivate President Obama, but it's not anticolonialism; it's not even socialism. It's liberalism!" The magazine published D'Souza's letter, in which he expressed surprise "at the petty, vindictive tone of Andrew Ferguson's review".
America: Imagine the World Without Her
D'Souza wrote the book America: Imagine the World Without Her on which his 2014 film of the same name is based. When the warehouse club Costco pulled the book from its shelves shortly before the film's release, conservative media and fans on social media criticized the move. Costco said it pulled the book due to low sales. D'Souza disputed the explanation, saying the book had only been out a few weeks and had surged to #1 on Amazon.com, while Costco stocked hundreds of much lower-selling books. He and other conservatives asserted it was pulled because one of Costco's co-founders, James Sinegal, supported Obama's politics. Costco reordered the book and cited the documentary's release and related interest for the reorder.
The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left
In July 2017, D'Souza published The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left. In the book, D'Souza asserts that the 2016 Democratic Party platform was similar to the platform of the Third Reich. The statement received media attention in 2018 when repeated by Donald Trump Jr. PolitiFact gave the claim its "Pants-on-Fire" rating, noting that "only a small number of elements of the two platforms are clearly similar, and those are so uncontroversial that they appear in the Republican platform as well." Historians refuted the assertion, with University of Maryland historian and Barack Obama critic Jeffrey Herf saying, "There is not the slightest, tiny sliver in which this could be even somewhat accurate." In another review of the book, historian Nicole Hemmer, then of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, wrote: "For a book about secret Nazis, The Big Lie is surprisingly dull ... The Big Lie thus adds little to the no-you're-the-fascist genre on the right". New York Times columnist Ross Douthat criticized the book, saying it was a "plea-for-attention" by D'Souza, and that the author had "become a hack". Douthat further stated, "Because D'Souza has become a professional deceiver, what he adds are extraordinary elisions, sweeping calumnies and laughable leaps."
In an article for The American Conservative, historian and philosopher Paul Gottfried, who has written extensively on the subject of fascism, harshly criticized a PragerU video hosted by D'Souza which maintained that fascism was a leftist ideology. D'Souza also maintained that Italian philosopher Giovanni Gentile, who influenced Italian fascism, was a leftist, to which Gottfried noted that this contradicted the research by "almost all scholars of Gentile’s work, from across the political spectrum, who view him, as I do in my study of fascism, as the most distinguished intellectual of the revolutionary right."
Christian apologetics series
D'Souza's Christian apologetics books, What's So Great About Christianity and Life After Death: The Evidence, were both on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Filmmaking
2016: Obama's America film (2012)
D'Souza wrote and co-directed the documentary-style polemical film 2016: Obama's America. Through interviews and reenactments, the film compares the similarities in the lives of D'Souza and President Barack Obama. D'Souza suggested that early influences on Obama affected the decisions he made as president. The film's tagline is "Love him or hate him, you don't know him." The film has been criticized on the grounds that what D'Souza claims to be an investigation of Obama includes considerable projection, speculation, and selective borrowing from Obama's autobiography, to prove D'Souza's own narrative. In a "Fact Check" of the film, the Associated Press found that D'Souza provided little or no evidence for most of his claims, noted that several allegations were factually false, and described the film's central thesis as "almost entirely subjective and a logical stretch at best."
After a limited release beginning July 13, 2012, the film expanded to over 1,000 theaters in late August 2012, and reached more than 2,000 theaters before the end of September 2012, eventually grossing more than $33.4 million. It is the fifth highest-grossing documentary-style in the United States during the last four decades, and the second highest-grossing political documentary.
The Obama administration described the film as "an insidious attempt to dishonestly smear the president". Later, when D'Souza was indicted for violating election law, D'Souza and his co-producers alleged that he was selectively prosecuted, and that the indictment was politically motivated retribution for the success of the film.
America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014)
In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary-style film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America."
Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed , which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.
The film review website Metacritic surveyed and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the , it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporters Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives ... seem thrilled with the movie."
Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)
On July 25, 2016, D'Souza released the documentary film Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party. The film criticizes the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton, the presumptive (and ultimate) Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 2016.
The film was universally panned by professional film critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4%, based on 27 professional reviews, with an average rating of 1.7/10. The critics consensus on the site reads, "Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party finds Dinesh D'Souza once again preaching to the right-wing choir—albeit less effectively than ever." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 2 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". The film has the seventh lowest score of all films on the site.
Peter Sobczynski wrote, "Hillary's America may well be the single dumbest documentary that I have ever seen in my life." A July 2016 review in Variety characterized D'Souza as "a right-wing conspiracy wingnut, the kind of "thinker" who takes off from Barack Obama birther theories and just keeps going, spinning out a web of comic-book liberal evil." Alex Shephard of The New Republic said:
Some conservatives viewed the film more positively. John Fund of the National Review stated that "[the film] is over the top in places and definitely selective, but the troubling facts are accurate and extensively documented in the D'Souza book that accompanies the movie." He also called the film "intensely patriotic". On July 23, 2016, Donald Trump, who was then running as the Republican presidential nominee against Clinton, called on supporters to see the film.
On January 23, 2017 the film was nominated for five Razzies including: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Dinesh D'Souza), Worst Actress (Becky Turner), Worst Director (Dinesh D'Souza and Bruce Schooley), and Worst Screenplay. In response to the Razzie nominations, D'Souza stated that he was "actually quite honored" and called the nominations "petty revenge" in response to Trump's election victory, also stating that "the film might have played an important role in the election." After "winning" four of the five possible Razzies, D'Souza repeated his view that the nominations were awarded in response to Trump's election victory.
Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time? (2018)
Death of a Nation had its world premiere in Los Angeles, California on July 30, 2018. A showing in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 2018 was co-hosted by D'Souza and President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr.
The film Death of a Nation centers around drawing parallels between the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Death of a Nation explores the role of the Democratic Party in opposing both presidents. In the film, D'Souza accuses the Democratic Party—both historically and presently—of racism, white supremacy, and fascism. D'Souza further argues that the political left attempt to falsely push claims of racism, white supremacy, and fascism onto the political right for political gain. He claims that the modern political left is currently using these types of accusations in attempts to remove Trump from office "by any means necessary."
The film includes numerous falsehoods and has received criticism from historians regarding aspects of historical accuracy. The film characterizes Adolf Hitler as a liberal; historians characterize Hitler and the Nazis as being far-right. It also claims that Hitler was a LGBTQ sympathizer, whereas the Nazis murdered thousands of gay men and imprisoned homosexuals in concentration camps.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 0% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 1.9/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 1 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". PostTrak reported that filmgoers gave the film a score of 4 out of 5 stars, while The Hollywood Reporter wrote that those polled by CinemaScore (which was paid by Death of a Nations filmmakers to conduct polls of audiences) gave it a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
On its opening weekend, the film grossed $2.3 million on 1,032 screens, the lowest wide release for a D'Souza film. , the film has grossed .
Media appearances and speaking engagements
D'Souza has appeared on numerous national television networks and programs. Six days after the September 11, 2001, attacks, D'Souza appeared on Politically Incorrect hosted by Bill Maher. He disputed the assertion that terrorists were cowards by saying, "Look at what they did. You have a whole bunch of guys who were willing to give their life; none of them backed out. All of them slammed themselves into pieces of concrete. These are warriors." Maher agreed with D'Souza's comments and said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away."
During an interview on The Colbert Report on January 16, 2007, while promoting his book The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, D'Souza maintained that liberals had some responsibility for the September 11 attacks. He said liberals' "penchant for interference" had a decided effect in convincing the Carter administration to withdraw support from the Shah, which brought on Muslim fundamentalists' control of the Iranian government. He also said that the distorted representation of American culture on television is one source of resentment of the United States by Muslims worldwide. D'Souza believes that traditional Muslims are not too different from traditional Jews and Christians in America. Towards the end of the interview, he admitted that he and Islamic militants share some of the same negative beliefs about liberal Americans.
In late February 2017, students at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, stole more than 200 flyers advertising D'Souza's planned appearance at the university the first week of March. D'Souza called the protest "pathetic", and suggested the demonstrators "Come out and debate me. In the best case you may win; in the worst, you'll learn something". Twin brothers Manfred and Jonah Wendt, co-founders of the student conservative group Tigers for Liberty, had passed around 600 notices of D'Souza's visit to campus. Those returned by the protesters contained negative comments about D'Souza.
Views
D'Souza is generally identified as a neoconservative. He defines conservatism in the American sense as "conserving the principles of the American Revolution." In Letters to a Young Conservative, written as an introduction to conservative ideas for youth, D'Souza argues that it is a blend of classical liberalism and ancient virtue, in particular, "the belief that there are moral standards in the universe and that living up to them is the best way to have a full and happy life." He also argues against what he calls the modern liberal belief that "human nature is intrinsically good," and thus that "the great conflicts in the world ... arise out of terrible misunderstandings that can be corrected through ongoing conversation and through the mediation of the United Nations."
In the book Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (1991), D'Souza argued that intolerance of conservative views is common at many universities. He has attributed many modern social problems to what he calls the "cultural left."
D'Souza has also been critical of feminism, and Bruce Goldner, in a review of D'Souza's Illiberal Education, noted that he "has a tendency to characterize feminists as castrating misanthropes".
Religion
D'Souza attended the evangelical church Calvary Chapel from 2000 to about 2010. While stating his Catholic background is important to him, D'Souza also says he is comfortable with Protestant Reformation theology and identifies as a nondenominational Christian. A writer of Christian apologetics, D'Souza has debated against prominent atheists and critics of Christianity on religious and moral issues. His debate opponents have included Dan Barker, Christopher Hitchens, Peter Singer, Daniel Dennett, Michael Shermer, David Silverman, and Bart D. Ehrman.
As a guest contributor for Christian Science Monitor, D'Souza wrote, "The moral teachings of Jesus provide no support for—indeed they stand as a stern rebuke to—the historical injustices perpetrated in the name of Christianity." He often speaks out against atheism, nonbelief in spirituality, and secularism. D'Souza elaborated on his views in the 2007 book he authored, What's so Great about Christianity. In 2009, he published Life After Death: The Evidence, which argues for an afterlife.
D'Souza has also commented on Islam. He stated in 2007 that "radical Islamic" thinkers have not condemned modernity, science or freedom but only United States' support of "secular dictators in the region" which deny "Muslims freedom and control over their own destiny". He has debated Serge Trifkovic and Robert Spencer, who both deem Islam "inherently aggressive, racist, violent, and intolerant." He has labelled Spencer an "Islamophobe" and "an effective polemicist" in his writings on Islam. D'Souza has also warned against support for "a $100 million mosque scheduled to be built near the site where terrorists in the name of Islam brought down the World Trade Center" (i.e., the Park 51 Islamic community center and mosque project), and the Middle East becoming a "United States of Islam" in his attacks against President Barack Obama.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
D'Souza has promoted several conspiracy theories, such as the false claim that Obama was not born in the United States and the conspiracy theory that the Clintons had murdered people. D'Souza has also promoted conspiracy theories about Hungarian-born Jewish financier George Soros, including the false claim that Soros had collaborated with the Nazis, and that Soros has sponsored Antifa, a left-wing anti-fascist movement. In an August 2016 interview with GQ, D'Souza denied being a conspiracy theorist, stating: "I have never advanced a conspiracy theory in my life."
In August 2017, D'Souza suggested that the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally had been staged. In the same month, D'Souza tweeted that it would be "interesting to see" Soros "extradited to Israel & tried for his complicity in Nazi atrocities against Jews", and referred to Soros as "Hitler's collection boy".
After mail bombing attempts on prominent Democratic politicians occurred in October 2018, D'Souza tweeted: "Fake sexual assault victims. Fake refugees. Now fake mail bombs." D'Souza spread the conspiracy theory that because there was no cancellation mark on the bomb-containing packages, they were not mailed.
In February 2021, after the United States Capitol attack took place, D'Souza suggested that the rioters were little more than "a bunch of rowdy people walking through a hallway". In May, D'Souza tweeted about the attack: "Does this LOOK like an insurrection? A riot? A coup attempt? If it doesn't walk like a duck or talk like a duck then it probably isn't a duck."
Opinions expressed on Twitter
In November 2013, D'Souza received backlash for referring to Obama as "Grown-Up Trayvon" in a tweet. In response to the backlash, D'Souza tweeted: "Feigned outrage on the left over me calling Obama ‘grown up Trayvon’ except that Obama likened himself to Trayvon!". D'Souza later deleted the initial tweet, ostensibly because Obama was referring to his hypothetical son.
In February 2015, D'Souza wrote: "You can take the boy out of the ghetto" in a tweet criticizing Obama for using a selfie stick. After the tweet was criticized as racist, D'Souza tweeted: "I know Obama wasn't actually raised in a ghetto--I'm using the term metaphorically, to suggest his unpresidential conduct".
In January 2017, after civil rights leader and Georgia congressman John Lewis stated that the then-newly elected President Donald Trump was not a "legitimate president", D'Souza tweeted: "The left’s false narrative inflates minor figures like John Lewis, Democrat, & downplays major ones like Frederick Douglass, Republican". D'Souza later tweeted that civil rights activist Rosa Parks' contributions to the civil rights movement were "absurdly inflated" and described her as an "overrated Democrat". D'Souza received criticism for the tweets, with Charles C. W. Cooke of National Review stating: "Not only incorrect, it's an attitude that would never be struck about a soldier on, say, Veterans Day … [E]ven if Parks was a minor player (she wasn't), she'd still deserve to be lionized."
In November 2017, D'Souza mocked Beverly Young Nelson, one of the women who accused Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, and tweeted: "I was lukewarm on Roy Moore until the last-minute smear. Now we must elect him to show that the @washingtonpost sleaze attack failed". David French, then-senior writer at National Review, tweeted "What has happened to you?" in response to D'Souza's tweet about Nelson.
In February 2018, D'Souza was criticized for a series of tweets which mocked the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In response to a photo of survivors reacting to Florida lawmakers voting down a proposed ban on assault weapons in the aftermath of the shooting, D'Souza tweeted "worst news since their parents told them to get summer jobs". D'Souza also accused the survivors of "politically-orchestrated grief" and said that their grief "[struck him] as phony and inauthentic". D'Souza's comments were condemned by both liberal and conservative commentators. Journalist Jonathan M. Katz wrote: "Let it never be said that Dinesh does not actively root for the death of children." Others accused D'Souza of "trolling kids". D'Souza was also denounced by the Conservative Political Action Conference, which removed him from its roster of speakers and stated: "his comments are indefensible". D'Souza subsequently apologized for the initial tweet, saying that it was "aimed at media manipulation" and that he was being "insensitive to students who lost friends in a terrible tragedy."
Presidency of The King's College
In August 2010, D'Souza was named president of The King's College, a Christian liberal arts college then housed in the Empire State Building in Manhattan. In 2012, the college relocated to a larger space next door to the New York Stock Exchange in Lower Manhattan's financial district. On October 18, 2012, D'Souza resigned his post at The King's College following a press report that he—despite being married—had shared a hotel room at a Christian conference with another woman and introduced her to others as his fiancée. D'Souza acknowledged being separated from his wife and having introduced Denise Odie Joseph II as his fiancée at a Christian conference; however, he denied that the two were engaged in an adulterous affair and that he had shared a room with Joseph at the conference, and described the report as "pure libel" that is "worthy of Christian condemnation." After an investigation by officials at The King's College, D'Souza stated that he had suspended his engagement to Joseph.
After D'Souza's indiscretion became public, the trustees of The King's College announced on October 17, 2012 that D'Souza had resigned his position as president of the university "to attend to his personal and family needs".
Campaign finance violation, felony guilty plea, conviction, and pardon
On January 23, 2014, D'Souza was charged with making $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions to the New York Senate campaign of Wendy Long and causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission. His attorney responded to the charges by saying his client "did not act with any corrupt or criminal intent whatsoever" and described the incident as "at most ... an act of misguided friendship".
On May 15, 2014, United States district judge Richard M. Berman rejected the contention that D'Souza was singled out for prosecution, stating, "The court concludes the defendant has respectfully submitted no evidence he was selectively prosecuted."
On May 20, 2014, D'Souza pleaded guilty to one felony count of making illegal contributions in the names of others. On September 23, 2014, the court sentenced D'Souza to five years' probation, eight months in a halfway house (referred to as a "community confinement center") and a $30,000 fine. After D'Souza's conviction, his claim of selective prosecution continued to receive support from some conservative media and commentators.
On May 31, 2018, President Donald Trump pardoned D'Souza. D'Souza thanked Trump for the pardon, tweeting: "Obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both". After fellow Indian-American Preet Bharara criticized Trump's pardon of D'Souza, D'Souza accused Bharara of trying to destroy his career, tweeting: "Bharara & his goons bludgeoned me into the plea by threatening to add a second redundant charge carrying a prison term of FIVE YEARS".
Personal life
D'Souza dated fellow conservatives Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter prior to meeting Dixie Brubaker while working at the White House. D'Souza and Brubaker married in 1992. They have one daughter, Danielle D’Souza Gill, who is a writer and a member of the Women for Trump Coalition. The couple lived together in California until D'Souza moved to New York as president of The King's College in 2010. He maintained a residence near San Diego, California, where his wife and daughter remained. D'Souza and Brubaker divorced in 2012.
While D'Souza was being sentenced for campaign finance fraud in 2014, Brubaker wrote a letter to the judge alleging that D'Souza had physically abused her; she claimed that "in April 2012 … he, using his purple belt karate skills, kicked me in the head and shoulder, knocking me to the ground and creating injuries that pain me to this day." Benjamin Brafman, D'Souza's attorney for his campaign finance case, dismissed Brubaker's allegation as completely false.
On March 19, 2016, D'Souza married Deborah Fancher, a conservative political activist and mother of two. Fancher emigrated from Venezuela at age 10. The wedding was held near San Diego with Rafael Cruz, father of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), officiating.
Works
Books
Books authored by D'Souza include:
Films
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1961 births
Living people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century American criminals
American conspiracy theorists
American people of Goan descent
American people convicted of campaign finance violations
American social commentators
People from San Diego
Writers from New York City
Critics of atheism
Male critics of feminism
Dartmouth College alumni
Hoover Institution people
Indian emigrants to the United States
Indian Christians
National Review people
Christian apologists
Writers from Mumbai
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Reagan administration personnel
The Heritage Foundation
The King's College (New York City) faculty
American male writers of Indian descent
American Christian writers
Recipients of American presidential pardons
American male non-fiction writers
Right-wing politics in the United States
Golden Raspberry Award winners
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
John M. Olin Foundation | true | [
"So, What's Your Price? () is a 2007 documentary directed by Olallo Rubio about media, power, and the consumer culture in Mexico and United States. It debuted in Mexico on May 18, 2007, and had several screenings on the United States, the DVD version was released on October 16, 2007.\n\nProduction\nOriginally, the idea was that Olallo Rubio direct a documentary, so it could be sold as a straight to DVD film, while the money earned would go to the finance of This Is Not A Movie, another project of Olallo. Eventually, the project got bigger and it was called So, What's Your Price, using the budget of $100,000. The film was shot in the streets of New York and Mexico City. The film was first screened at a film festival in Guadalajara. In April 2007, it was announced that the film was going to be released May 18, 2007 in Mexico City. The film enjoyed positive reviews, so it was released in different places in Mexico. In July 2007, it was screened in New York with very positive reviews, and in October 2007 it was released on DVD.\n\nPlot\nThe film is about the differences between the United States and Mexico, with different opinions by people on the street, or sellers. It talks about drugs, money, the human body, the price of living, and how people see each other.\n\nRelease\nOn October 16, 2007 the DVD was released in a 2-disc special edition, with several extras, which included, two audio commentaries by the director, one in Spanish and one in English, the making of documentary called A Film For Sale, a podcast that includes fragments of interviews on the radio with the director, an interview with Stephen A. Bezruchka, the trailers, and a photo gallery.\n\nExternal links\n \n\nDocumentary films about consumerism\nMexican documentary films\n2007 films\n2007 documentary films\n2000s English-language films\n2000s Spanish-language films\nMexican films",
"Patrick Douglas Selmes Jackson (26 March 1916 – 3 June 2011) was an English film and television director.\n\nBiography\n\nBorn in Eltham, to a formerly affluent family which was severely affected by the Wall Street Crash in 1929, and his father's long-term illness and early death ending Jackson's formal education. He joined the GPO Film Unit on his 17th birthday as a messenger boy after his mother persuaded her MP, Sir Kingsley Wood, then also postmaster general, to find work for her son. Rising to production assistant, he was part of the crew for the short film Night Mail (1936). The voice narrating the poem by W.H. Auden (\"This is the Night Mail crossing the border, bringing the cheque and the postal order.\") was Jackson himself. He directed a number of documentaries, the first being The Horsey Mail (1938) about the rural postal service in Suffolk. The First Days (1939), co-directed by Harry Watt and Humphrey Jennings, was the first of the wartime documentaries, in this instance concerned with the 'Phoney War' period.\n\nJackson's debut feature film was Western Approaches (1944), a semi-documentary war film for what was now the Ministry of Information's Crown Film Unit. For what became a three-year project, Jackson took on the writing, direction, editing and casting (of non-professional actors) a film about merchant seamen. Featuring an extended period on location at sea, the lifeboat sequences alone took six-months to complete.\n\nAfter the war, Jackson spent three years in Hollywood under contract to MGM, although the only film he directed during this period was Shadow on the Wall (1950), based on the novel Death in the Doll's House by Lawrence P. Bachmann and Hannah Leessuch. His film Encore (1951) was in competition at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival . White Corridors (1951), a semi-documentary drama about a hospital in the regions, was critically well received at the time. What a Carve Up! (1961), a film in the old dark house genre, was the most commercially successful of Jackson's later feature films.\n\nJackson worked in television during the 1960s and 1970s. Impressed by the stage work of Patrick McGoohan, he seems to have been involved in casting him for Danger Man (US:Secret Agent), episodes of which he directed. Apart from McGoohan's The Prisoner (1967), he was also involved with episodes of The Saint and The Professionals.\n\nJackson died on 3 June 2011 aged 95.\n\nFilms and television series\n\nWestern Approaches (documentary feature, 1944)\nWhite Corridors (1951)\nEncore! (1951)\nThe Feminine Touch (1956)\nThe Birthday Present (1957)\nVirgin Island (US Our Virgin Island, 1958)\nSeven Keys (1961)\nWhat a Carve Up! (1961)\nDon't Talk to Strange Men (1962)\nSeventy Deadly Pills (1964)\nThe Prisoner (4 episodes; 1967–1968)\nThe Famous Five (2 episodes; 1978)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1916 births\n2011 deaths\nEnglish film directors\nPeople from Eltham\nPeople educated at Bryanston School"
]
|
[
"Dinesh D'Souza",
"America: Imagine the World Without Her",
"What books did D'Souza write?",
"D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release",
"What was the film about?",
"Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but \"we do have us\" in \"our struggle for the restoration of America."
]
| C_31bfdcd402d44289a6206d9b34765869_1 | Was the film popular? | 3 | Was the film "America: Imagine the World Without Her" popular? | Dinesh D'Souza | In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America." Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014. The film review website Metacritic surveyed 11 movie critics and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the 24 reviews, it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporter's Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives... seem thrilled with the movie." John Fund of National Review said the documentary was a response to U.S. progressive critique of the country, "D'Souza's film and his accompanying book are a no-holds-barred assault on the contemporary doctrine of political correctness." Fund said D'Souza's message was "deeply pessimistic" but concluded, "Most people will leave the theater with a more optimistic conclusion: Much of the criticism of America taught in the nation's schools is easily refuted, America is worth saving, and we have the tools to do so in our DNA, just waiting to be harnessed." National Review's Jay Nordlinger said, "Dinesh is the anti-Moore: taking to the big screen to press conservative points... The shame narrators (let's call them) focus on maybe 20 percent of the American story. Dinesh simply puts the other 80 percent back in." In a second article, Jay Nordlinger said, "The second movie confirms for me that one of Dinesh's great advantages is that he is absolutely clear-eyed about the Third World. While liberal Americans romanticize it, he has lived it." CANNOTANSWER | The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014. | Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, provocateur, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. D'Souza has written over a dozen books, several of them New York Times best-sellers.
In 2012, D'Souza released the documentary film 2016: Obama's America, an anti-Obama polemic based on his 2010 book The Roots of Obama's Rage; it earned $33 million, making it the highest-grossing conservative documentary of all time and one of the highest-grossing documentaries of any kind. He has since released four other documentary films: America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014), Hillary's America (2016), Death of a Nation (2018), and Trump Card (2020). D'Souza's films and commentary have generated considerable controversy due to their promotion of conspiracy theories and falsehoods, as well as for their incendiary nature.
Born in Bombay, D'Souza moved to the United States as an exchange student and graduated from Dartmouth College. He became a naturalized citizen in 1991. From 2010 to 2012, he was president of The King's College, a Christian school in New York City until he resigned after an alleged adultery scandal.
In 2012, D’Souza contributed $10,000 to the senate campaign of Wendy Long on behalf of himself and his wife, agreeing in writing to attribute that contribution as $5,000 from his wife and $5,000 from him. He directed two other people to give Long a total of $20,000 additional, which he agreed to reimburse, and later did. At the time, the Election Act limited campaign contributions to $5,000 from any individual to any one candidate. Two years later, D'Souza pleaded guilty in federal court to one felony charge of using a "straw donor" to make the illegal campaign contribution. He was sentenced to eight months in a halfway house near his home in San Diego, five years' probation, and a $30,000 fine. In 2018, D'Souza was issued a pardon by President Donald Trump.
Early life and career
Dinesh Joseph D'Souza was born in Bombay in 1961. D'Souza grew up in a middle-class family; his parents were Roman Catholics from the state of Goa in Western India, where his father was an executive with Johnson & Johnson and his mother was a housewife. D'Souza attended the Jesuit St. Stanislaus High School in Bombay. He graduated in 1976 and completed his 11th and 12th years at Sydenham College, also in Bombay. In 1978, D'Souza became a foreign exchange student and traveled to the United States under the Rotary Youth Exchange and attended the local public school in Patagonia, Arizona. He went on to matriculate at Dartmouth College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1983 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While at Dartmouth, D'Souza wrote for The Dartmouth Review, an independent, student-edited, alumni and Collegiate Network subsidized publication. D'Souza faced criticism during his time at the Review for authoring an article publicly outing homosexual members of the school's Gay Straight Alliance student organization.
After graduating from Dartmouth, D'Souza became the editor of a monthly journal called The Prospect, a publication financed by a group of Princeton University alumni. The paper and its writers ignited much controversy during D'Souza's editorship by, among other things, criticizing the college's affirmative action policies.
From 1985 to 1987, D'Souza was a contributing editor for Policy Review, a journal then published by The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. In a September 1985 article titled "The Bishops as Pawns," D'Souza theorized that Catholic bishops in the United States were being manipulated by American liberals in agreeing to oppose the U.S. military buildup and use of power abroad when, D'Souza believed, they knew very little about these subjects to which they were lending their religious credibility.
D'Souza was a policy adviser in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. He has been affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
In 1991, D'Souza became a naturalized United States citizen.
Career as author, political commentator, and filmmaker
Authorship
The End of Racism
In 1995 D'Souza published The End of Racism, in which he claimed that exaggerated claims of racism are holding back progress among African Americans in the US; he defended the Southern slave owner, and said that "The American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well". D'Souza also called for a repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and argued: "Given the intensity of black rage and its appeal to a wide constituency, whites are right to be nervous. Black rage is a response to black suffering and failure, and reflects the irresistible temptation to attribute African American problems to a history of white racist oppression."
A reviewer for The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education responded to the book by posting a list of sixteen recent racist incidents against black people. Michael Bérubé, in a lengthy review article, referred to the book as "encyclopedic pseudoscience", calling it illogical and saying some of the book's policy recommendations are fascist; he stated that it is "so egregious an affront to human decency as to set a new and sorry standard for 'intellectual'".
The book was panned by many other critics as well: John David Smith, in The Journal of Southern History, said D'Souza claims blacks are inferior and opines that "D'Souza bases his terribly insensitive, reactionary polemic on sound bite statistical and historical evidence, frequently gleaned out of context and patched together illogically. His book is flawed because he ignores the complex causes and severity of white racism, misrepresents Boas's arguments, and undervalues the matrix of ignorance, fear, and long-term economic inequality that he dubs black cultural pathology. How, according to his own logic, can allegedly inferior people uplift themselves without government assistance", adding that D'Souza's "biased diatribe trivializes serious pathologies, white and black, and adds little to our understanding of America's painful racial dilemma".
Paul Finkelman commented on D'Souza's trivialization of racism, and said, in a review article called "The Rise of the New Racism", that much of what D'Souza says is untrue, and much is only partially true, and described the book as being "like a parody of scholarship, where selected 'facts' are pulled out of any recognizable context, and used to support a particular viewpoint". In Finkelman's opinion, the book exemplifies a "new racism", which "(1) denies the history of racial oppression in America; (2) rejects biological racism in favor of an attack on black culture; and (3) supports formal, de jure equality in order to attack civil rights laws that prohibit private discrimination and in order to undermine any public policies that might monitor equality and give it substantive meaning". The conservative black economist Glenn Loury severed his ties with the American Enterprise Institute over the organization's role in the publication of the book. Loury wrote that the book "violated canons of civility and commonality", with D'Souza "determined to place poor, urban blacks outside the orbit of American civilization."
What's So Great About America
In the second chapter of his 2002 book, What's So Great About America, D'Souza argues that while colonialism was terrible, it had the unintended consequence of lifting third world countries up to Western civilization. D'Souza writes, "I realize that in saying these things I am opening the door for my critics, and the incorrigible enemies of the West, to say that I am justifying colonialism ... This is the purest nonsense. What I am doing is pointing out a historical fact: despite the corrupt and self-serving motives of [its] practitioners ... colonialism ... proved to be the mechanism that brought millions of nonwhite people into the orbit of Western freedom." He holds up the European colonization of India as an example, arguing that in the long run colonization was beneficial for India, because it introduced Western law, universities, infrastructure, and the like, while effectively ending human sacrifice, the practice of Sati, and other "charming indigenous customs".
In a review of the book, economist Thomas Sowell wrote that D'Souza's book exposed the fallacies and hypocrisies of various criticisms of the United States by the Islamic world, "domestic multiculturalist cults," those who seek reparations for slavery, and the worldwide intelligentsia. According to Sowell: "Perhaps it takes somebody from outside to truly appreciate all the blessings that too many native-born Americans take for granted. D'Souza understands how rare—sometimes unique—these blessings are." Sowell also wrote that D'Souza challenges the notion that all world cultures are equal: "D'Souza challenges one of the central premises of today's intelligentsia: The equality of all cultures. 'If one begins with the multicultural premise that all cultures are equal, then the world as it is makes very little sense,' he says. Some cultures have completely outperformed others in providing the things that all people seek—health, food, housing, security, and the amenities of life."
The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11
In early 2007, D'Souza published The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11, in which he argues that the American cultural left was in large part responsible for the Muslim anger that led to the September 11 attacks. He argues that Muslims do not hate America because of its freedom and democracy, but because they perceive America to be imposing its moral depravity (support for sexual licentiousness) on the world. D'Souza also argues that the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse was a result of "the sexual immodesty of liberal America", and asserts that the conditions of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay "are comparable to the accommodations in mid-level Middle Eastern hotels."
The book was criticized in major American newspapers and magazines and described as, among other things, "the worst nonfiction book about terrorism published by a major house since 9/11" and "a national disgrace". Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times described it as "a nasty stewpot of intellectually untenable premises and irresponsible speculation that frequently reads like a Saturday Night Live parody of the crackpot right."
D'Souza's book caused controversy in the conservative movement. His conservative critics widely mocked his thesis that the cultural left was responsible for 9/11. In response, D'Souza posted a 6,500-word essay on National Review Online, and NRO subsequently published a litany of responses from conservative authors who accused D'Souza of character assassination, elitism and pseudo-intellectualism.
The Roots of Obama's Rage
The September 2010 book by D'Souza, The Roots of Obama's Rage (published in condensed form in a September 2010 Forbes op-ed), interprets President Barack Obama's past and how it formed his beliefs. D'Souza states that Obama is "living out his father's dream", so that "[i]ncredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s", who, D'Souza goes on to describe as a "philandering, inebriated African socialist". The book appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for four weeks in October–November 2010.
Ryan Chittum, in an article in the Columbia Journalism Review, described the Forbes article as "a fact-twisting, error-laden piece of paranoia ... the worst kind of smear journalism—a singularly disgusting work". Commentators on both the right and left strongly disputed assertions made about Obama in the book and article. The left-leaning Media Matters for America wrote that "The Roots of Obama's Rage [was] rooted in lies". Daniel Larison of The American Conservative stated: "Dinesh D'Souza has authored what may possibly be the most ridiculous piece of Obama analysis yet written ... All in all, D'Souza's article reads like a bad conspiracy theory." Larison criticized D'Souza's suggestion that Obama is anti-business, citing a lack of evidence. Andrew Ferguson of The Weekly Standard wrote, "D'Souza always sees absence of evidence as evidence of something or other ... There is, indeed, a name for the beliefs that motivate President Obama, but it's not anticolonialism; it's not even socialism. It's liberalism!" The magazine published D'Souza's letter, in which he expressed surprise "at the petty, vindictive tone of Andrew Ferguson's review".
America: Imagine the World Without Her
D'Souza wrote the book America: Imagine the World Without Her on which his 2014 film of the same name is based. When the warehouse club Costco pulled the book from its shelves shortly before the film's release, conservative media and fans on social media criticized the move. Costco said it pulled the book due to low sales. D'Souza disputed the explanation, saying the book had only been out a few weeks and had surged to #1 on Amazon.com, while Costco stocked hundreds of much lower-selling books. He and other conservatives asserted it was pulled because one of Costco's co-founders, James Sinegal, supported Obama's politics. Costco reordered the book and cited the documentary's release and related interest for the reorder.
The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left
In July 2017, D'Souza published The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left. In the book, D'Souza asserts that the 2016 Democratic Party platform was similar to the platform of the Third Reich. The statement received media attention in 2018 when repeated by Donald Trump Jr. PolitiFact gave the claim its "Pants-on-Fire" rating, noting that "only a small number of elements of the two platforms are clearly similar, and those are so uncontroversial that they appear in the Republican platform as well." Historians refuted the assertion, with University of Maryland historian and Barack Obama critic Jeffrey Herf saying, "There is not the slightest, tiny sliver in which this could be even somewhat accurate." In another review of the book, historian Nicole Hemmer, then of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, wrote: "For a book about secret Nazis, The Big Lie is surprisingly dull ... The Big Lie thus adds little to the no-you're-the-fascist genre on the right". New York Times columnist Ross Douthat criticized the book, saying it was a "plea-for-attention" by D'Souza, and that the author had "become a hack". Douthat further stated, "Because D'Souza has become a professional deceiver, what he adds are extraordinary elisions, sweeping calumnies and laughable leaps."
In an article for The American Conservative, historian and philosopher Paul Gottfried, who has written extensively on the subject of fascism, harshly criticized a PragerU video hosted by D'Souza which maintained that fascism was a leftist ideology. D'Souza also maintained that Italian philosopher Giovanni Gentile, who influenced Italian fascism, was a leftist, to which Gottfried noted that this contradicted the research by "almost all scholars of Gentile’s work, from across the political spectrum, who view him, as I do in my study of fascism, as the most distinguished intellectual of the revolutionary right."
Christian apologetics series
D'Souza's Christian apologetics books, What's So Great About Christianity and Life After Death: The Evidence, were both on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Filmmaking
2016: Obama's America film (2012)
D'Souza wrote and co-directed the documentary-style polemical film 2016: Obama's America. Through interviews and reenactments, the film compares the similarities in the lives of D'Souza and President Barack Obama. D'Souza suggested that early influences on Obama affected the decisions he made as president. The film's tagline is "Love him or hate him, you don't know him." The film has been criticized on the grounds that what D'Souza claims to be an investigation of Obama includes considerable projection, speculation, and selective borrowing from Obama's autobiography, to prove D'Souza's own narrative. In a "Fact Check" of the film, the Associated Press found that D'Souza provided little or no evidence for most of his claims, noted that several allegations were factually false, and described the film's central thesis as "almost entirely subjective and a logical stretch at best."
After a limited release beginning July 13, 2012, the film expanded to over 1,000 theaters in late August 2012, and reached more than 2,000 theaters before the end of September 2012, eventually grossing more than $33.4 million. It is the fifth highest-grossing documentary-style in the United States during the last four decades, and the second highest-grossing political documentary.
The Obama administration described the film as "an insidious attempt to dishonestly smear the president". Later, when D'Souza was indicted for violating election law, D'Souza and his co-producers alleged that he was selectively prosecuted, and that the indictment was politically motivated retribution for the success of the film.
America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014)
In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary-style film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America."
Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed , which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.
The film review website Metacritic surveyed and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the , it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporters Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives ... seem thrilled with the movie."
Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)
On July 25, 2016, D'Souza released the documentary film Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party. The film criticizes the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton, the presumptive (and ultimate) Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 2016.
The film was universally panned by professional film critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4%, based on 27 professional reviews, with an average rating of 1.7/10. The critics consensus on the site reads, "Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party finds Dinesh D'Souza once again preaching to the right-wing choir—albeit less effectively than ever." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 2 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". The film has the seventh lowest score of all films on the site.
Peter Sobczynski wrote, "Hillary's America may well be the single dumbest documentary that I have ever seen in my life." A July 2016 review in Variety characterized D'Souza as "a right-wing conspiracy wingnut, the kind of "thinker" who takes off from Barack Obama birther theories and just keeps going, spinning out a web of comic-book liberal evil." Alex Shephard of The New Republic said:
Some conservatives viewed the film more positively. John Fund of the National Review stated that "[the film] is over the top in places and definitely selective, but the troubling facts are accurate and extensively documented in the D'Souza book that accompanies the movie." He also called the film "intensely patriotic". On July 23, 2016, Donald Trump, who was then running as the Republican presidential nominee against Clinton, called on supporters to see the film.
On January 23, 2017 the film was nominated for five Razzies including: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Dinesh D'Souza), Worst Actress (Becky Turner), Worst Director (Dinesh D'Souza and Bruce Schooley), and Worst Screenplay. In response to the Razzie nominations, D'Souza stated that he was "actually quite honored" and called the nominations "petty revenge" in response to Trump's election victory, also stating that "the film might have played an important role in the election." After "winning" four of the five possible Razzies, D'Souza repeated his view that the nominations were awarded in response to Trump's election victory.
Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time? (2018)
Death of a Nation had its world premiere in Los Angeles, California on July 30, 2018. A showing in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 2018 was co-hosted by D'Souza and President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr.
The film Death of a Nation centers around drawing parallels between the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Death of a Nation explores the role of the Democratic Party in opposing both presidents. In the film, D'Souza accuses the Democratic Party—both historically and presently—of racism, white supremacy, and fascism. D'Souza further argues that the political left attempt to falsely push claims of racism, white supremacy, and fascism onto the political right for political gain. He claims that the modern political left is currently using these types of accusations in attempts to remove Trump from office "by any means necessary."
The film includes numerous falsehoods and has received criticism from historians regarding aspects of historical accuracy. The film characterizes Adolf Hitler as a liberal; historians characterize Hitler and the Nazis as being far-right. It also claims that Hitler was a LGBTQ sympathizer, whereas the Nazis murdered thousands of gay men and imprisoned homosexuals in concentration camps.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 0% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 1.9/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 1 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". PostTrak reported that filmgoers gave the film a score of 4 out of 5 stars, while The Hollywood Reporter wrote that those polled by CinemaScore (which was paid by Death of a Nations filmmakers to conduct polls of audiences) gave it a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
On its opening weekend, the film grossed $2.3 million on 1,032 screens, the lowest wide release for a D'Souza film. , the film has grossed .
Media appearances and speaking engagements
D'Souza has appeared on numerous national television networks and programs. Six days after the September 11, 2001, attacks, D'Souza appeared on Politically Incorrect hosted by Bill Maher. He disputed the assertion that terrorists were cowards by saying, "Look at what they did. You have a whole bunch of guys who were willing to give their life; none of them backed out. All of them slammed themselves into pieces of concrete. These are warriors." Maher agreed with D'Souza's comments and said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away."
During an interview on The Colbert Report on January 16, 2007, while promoting his book The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, D'Souza maintained that liberals had some responsibility for the September 11 attacks. He said liberals' "penchant for interference" had a decided effect in convincing the Carter administration to withdraw support from the Shah, which brought on Muslim fundamentalists' control of the Iranian government. He also said that the distorted representation of American culture on television is one source of resentment of the United States by Muslims worldwide. D'Souza believes that traditional Muslims are not too different from traditional Jews and Christians in America. Towards the end of the interview, he admitted that he and Islamic militants share some of the same negative beliefs about liberal Americans.
In late February 2017, students at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, stole more than 200 flyers advertising D'Souza's planned appearance at the university the first week of March. D'Souza called the protest "pathetic", and suggested the demonstrators "Come out and debate me. In the best case you may win; in the worst, you'll learn something". Twin brothers Manfred and Jonah Wendt, co-founders of the student conservative group Tigers for Liberty, had passed around 600 notices of D'Souza's visit to campus. Those returned by the protesters contained negative comments about D'Souza.
Views
D'Souza is generally identified as a neoconservative. He defines conservatism in the American sense as "conserving the principles of the American Revolution." In Letters to a Young Conservative, written as an introduction to conservative ideas for youth, D'Souza argues that it is a blend of classical liberalism and ancient virtue, in particular, "the belief that there are moral standards in the universe and that living up to them is the best way to have a full and happy life." He also argues against what he calls the modern liberal belief that "human nature is intrinsically good," and thus that "the great conflicts in the world ... arise out of terrible misunderstandings that can be corrected through ongoing conversation and through the mediation of the United Nations."
In the book Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (1991), D'Souza argued that intolerance of conservative views is common at many universities. He has attributed many modern social problems to what he calls the "cultural left."
D'Souza has also been critical of feminism, and Bruce Goldner, in a review of D'Souza's Illiberal Education, noted that he "has a tendency to characterize feminists as castrating misanthropes".
Religion
D'Souza attended the evangelical church Calvary Chapel from 2000 to about 2010. While stating his Catholic background is important to him, D'Souza also says he is comfortable with Protestant Reformation theology and identifies as a nondenominational Christian. A writer of Christian apologetics, D'Souza has debated against prominent atheists and critics of Christianity on religious and moral issues. His debate opponents have included Dan Barker, Christopher Hitchens, Peter Singer, Daniel Dennett, Michael Shermer, David Silverman, and Bart D. Ehrman.
As a guest contributor for Christian Science Monitor, D'Souza wrote, "The moral teachings of Jesus provide no support for—indeed they stand as a stern rebuke to—the historical injustices perpetrated in the name of Christianity." He often speaks out against atheism, nonbelief in spirituality, and secularism. D'Souza elaborated on his views in the 2007 book he authored, What's so Great about Christianity. In 2009, he published Life After Death: The Evidence, which argues for an afterlife.
D'Souza has also commented on Islam. He stated in 2007 that "radical Islamic" thinkers have not condemned modernity, science or freedom but only United States' support of "secular dictators in the region" which deny "Muslims freedom and control over their own destiny". He has debated Serge Trifkovic and Robert Spencer, who both deem Islam "inherently aggressive, racist, violent, and intolerant." He has labelled Spencer an "Islamophobe" and "an effective polemicist" in his writings on Islam. D'Souza has also warned against support for "a $100 million mosque scheduled to be built near the site where terrorists in the name of Islam brought down the World Trade Center" (i.e., the Park 51 Islamic community center and mosque project), and the Middle East becoming a "United States of Islam" in his attacks against President Barack Obama.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
D'Souza has promoted several conspiracy theories, such as the false claim that Obama was not born in the United States and the conspiracy theory that the Clintons had murdered people. D'Souza has also promoted conspiracy theories about Hungarian-born Jewish financier George Soros, including the false claim that Soros had collaborated with the Nazis, and that Soros has sponsored Antifa, a left-wing anti-fascist movement. In an August 2016 interview with GQ, D'Souza denied being a conspiracy theorist, stating: "I have never advanced a conspiracy theory in my life."
In August 2017, D'Souza suggested that the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally had been staged. In the same month, D'Souza tweeted that it would be "interesting to see" Soros "extradited to Israel & tried for his complicity in Nazi atrocities against Jews", and referred to Soros as "Hitler's collection boy".
After mail bombing attempts on prominent Democratic politicians occurred in October 2018, D'Souza tweeted: "Fake sexual assault victims. Fake refugees. Now fake mail bombs." D'Souza spread the conspiracy theory that because there was no cancellation mark on the bomb-containing packages, they were not mailed.
In February 2021, after the United States Capitol attack took place, D'Souza suggested that the rioters were little more than "a bunch of rowdy people walking through a hallway". In May, D'Souza tweeted about the attack: "Does this LOOK like an insurrection? A riot? A coup attempt? If it doesn't walk like a duck or talk like a duck then it probably isn't a duck."
Opinions expressed on Twitter
In November 2013, D'Souza received backlash for referring to Obama as "Grown-Up Trayvon" in a tweet. In response to the backlash, D'Souza tweeted: "Feigned outrage on the left over me calling Obama ‘grown up Trayvon’ except that Obama likened himself to Trayvon!". D'Souza later deleted the initial tweet, ostensibly because Obama was referring to his hypothetical son.
In February 2015, D'Souza wrote: "You can take the boy out of the ghetto" in a tweet criticizing Obama for using a selfie stick. After the tweet was criticized as racist, D'Souza tweeted: "I know Obama wasn't actually raised in a ghetto--I'm using the term metaphorically, to suggest his unpresidential conduct".
In January 2017, after civil rights leader and Georgia congressman John Lewis stated that the then-newly elected President Donald Trump was not a "legitimate president", D'Souza tweeted: "The left’s false narrative inflates minor figures like John Lewis, Democrat, & downplays major ones like Frederick Douglass, Republican". D'Souza later tweeted that civil rights activist Rosa Parks' contributions to the civil rights movement were "absurdly inflated" and described her as an "overrated Democrat". D'Souza received criticism for the tweets, with Charles C. W. Cooke of National Review stating: "Not only incorrect, it's an attitude that would never be struck about a soldier on, say, Veterans Day … [E]ven if Parks was a minor player (she wasn't), she'd still deserve to be lionized."
In November 2017, D'Souza mocked Beverly Young Nelson, one of the women who accused Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, and tweeted: "I was lukewarm on Roy Moore until the last-minute smear. Now we must elect him to show that the @washingtonpost sleaze attack failed". David French, then-senior writer at National Review, tweeted "What has happened to you?" in response to D'Souza's tweet about Nelson.
In February 2018, D'Souza was criticized for a series of tweets which mocked the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In response to a photo of survivors reacting to Florida lawmakers voting down a proposed ban on assault weapons in the aftermath of the shooting, D'Souza tweeted "worst news since their parents told them to get summer jobs". D'Souza also accused the survivors of "politically-orchestrated grief" and said that their grief "[struck him] as phony and inauthentic". D'Souza's comments were condemned by both liberal and conservative commentators. Journalist Jonathan M. Katz wrote: "Let it never be said that Dinesh does not actively root for the death of children." Others accused D'Souza of "trolling kids". D'Souza was also denounced by the Conservative Political Action Conference, which removed him from its roster of speakers and stated: "his comments are indefensible". D'Souza subsequently apologized for the initial tweet, saying that it was "aimed at media manipulation" and that he was being "insensitive to students who lost friends in a terrible tragedy."
Presidency of The King's College
In August 2010, D'Souza was named president of The King's College, a Christian liberal arts college then housed in the Empire State Building in Manhattan. In 2012, the college relocated to a larger space next door to the New York Stock Exchange in Lower Manhattan's financial district. On October 18, 2012, D'Souza resigned his post at The King's College following a press report that he—despite being married—had shared a hotel room at a Christian conference with another woman and introduced her to others as his fiancée. D'Souza acknowledged being separated from his wife and having introduced Denise Odie Joseph II as his fiancée at a Christian conference; however, he denied that the two were engaged in an adulterous affair and that he had shared a room with Joseph at the conference, and described the report as "pure libel" that is "worthy of Christian condemnation." After an investigation by officials at The King's College, D'Souza stated that he had suspended his engagement to Joseph.
After D'Souza's indiscretion became public, the trustees of The King's College announced on October 17, 2012 that D'Souza had resigned his position as president of the university "to attend to his personal and family needs".
Campaign finance violation, felony guilty plea, conviction, and pardon
On January 23, 2014, D'Souza was charged with making $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions to the New York Senate campaign of Wendy Long and causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission. His attorney responded to the charges by saying his client "did not act with any corrupt or criminal intent whatsoever" and described the incident as "at most ... an act of misguided friendship".
On May 15, 2014, United States district judge Richard M. Berman rejected the contention that D'Souza was singled out for prosecution, stating, "The court concludes the defendant has respectfully submitted no evidence he was selectively prosecuted."
On May 20, 2014, D'Souza pleaded guilty to one felony count of making illegal contributions in the names of others. On September 23, 2014, the court sentenced D'Souza to five years' probation, eight months in a halfway house (referred to as a "community confinement center") and a $30,000 fine. After D'Souza's conviction, his claim of selective prosecution continued to receive support from some conservative media and commentators.
On May 31, 2018, President Donald Trump pardoned D'Souza. D'Souza thanked Trump for the pardon, tweeting: "Obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both". After fellow Indian-American Preet Bharara criticized Trump's pardon of D'Souza, D'Souza accused Bharara of trying to destroy his career, tweeting: "Bharara & his goons bludgeoned me into the plea by threatening to add a second redundant charge carrying a prison term of FIVE YEARS".
Personal life
D'Souza dated fellow conservatives Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter prior to meeting Dixie Brubaker while working at the White House. D'Souza and Brubaker married in 1992. They have one daughter, Danielle D’Souza Gill, who is a writer and a member of the Women for Trump Coalition. The couple lived together in California until D'Souza moved to New York as president of The King's College in 2010. He maintained a residence near San Diego, California, where his wife and daughter remained. D'Souza and Brubaker divorced in 2012.
While D'Souza was being sentenced for campaign finance fraud in 2014, Brubaker wrote a letter to the judge alleging that D'Souza had physically abused her; she claimed that "in April 2012 … he, using his purple belt karate skills, kicked me in the head and shoulder, knocking me to the ground and creating injuries that pain me to this day." Benjamin Brafman, D'Souza's attorney for his campaign finance case, dismissed Brubaker's allegation as completely false.
On March 19, 2016, D'Souza married Deborah Fancher, a conservative political activist and mother of two. Fancher emigrated from Venezuela at age 10. The wedding was held near San Diego with Rafael Cruz, father of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), officiating.
Works
Books
Books authored by D'Souza include:
Films
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1961 births
Living people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century American criminals
American conspiracy theorists
American people of Goan descent
American people convicted of campaign finance violations
American social commentators
People from San Diego
Writers from New York City
Critics of atheism
Male critics of feminism
Dartmouth College alumni
Hoover Institution people
Indian emigrants to the United States
Indian Christians
National Review people
Christian apologists
Writers from Mumbai
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Reagan administration personnel
The Heritage Foundation
The King's College (New York City) faculty
American male writers of Indian descent
American Christian writers
Recipients of American presidential pardons
American male non-fiction writers
Right-wing politics in the United States
Golden Raspberry Award winners
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
John M. Olin Foundation | false | [
"The Vox Popular Media Arts Festival, formerly known as the Bay Street Film Festival, is an annual film and arts festival staged in Thunder Bay, Ontario.\n\nFirst established in 2005 by Kelly Saxberg and Ron Harpelle, the festival's mission was to feature local, national, and international films with the theme \"films for the people\". The festival was sponsored by Flash Frame, a local film and video network, and was originally held on 314 Bay Street in the historic Finnish Labour Temple in the heart of the city's Finnish quarter.\n\nThe 2017 festival was the last to be held under the Bay Street Film Festival name. It relaunched in 2018 as the Vox Popular Media Arts Festival, expanding its programming to include theatrical performance, music and installation art presentations.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nVox Popular Media Arts Festival\n\nFilm festivals in Ontario\nFestivals in Thunder Bay\nOrganizations based in Thunder Bay\nFilm festivals established in 2005",
"National Cinematheque of Ukraine () is the Ukrainian film studio that was transformed out of the well known Kievnauchfilm after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.\n\nHistory \nIn the early 1930s, the \"Techfilm″, department specializing in educational films was opened at the Dovzhenko Film Studio. On 1 January 1941, the department was transformed into a film studio with the same name — \"Techfilm″. In 1942-44, the studio was evacuated to Tashkent, where educational and propaganda films for the Soviet Army were produced. In 1944, the studio was moved to Kyiv.\n\nIn 1954, it was renamed the Kyiv Studio of Popular Science Films (abbreviated —Kyivnaukfilm).\n\nIn 1966 a modern studio complex was built at НКУ. It contains several pavilions, a film laboratory, and workshops for artistic and technical animation. At that time, the studio produced more than 400 popular science, cartoon, propaganda, educational and promotional films every year. More than 300 films made at НКУ have been awarded with prizes and diplomas at all-Union and international film festivals. \n\nThe animated film division was split off from НКУ under the name Ukranimafilm.\n\nSince October 2015, a bankruptcy case has been filed against НКУ.\n\nSelected films\n\nAnimation\n\n Мова тварин (1967)\n Чи думають звірі? (1970)\n Індійські йоги — хто вони? ( Serebrenikov Almar 1970)\n Луна наших емоцій (1977)\n Зірка Вавілова (AnatolIy Borsyuk; 1984)\n Экспертиза одной сенсации (1985)\n Отпечаток (1985)\n Мужчина с шести до полуночи\n Толкование сновидений (1989)\n Миссия Рауля Валенберга (1990)\n Три Паньки на ярмарку (1991)\n Енеїда (1991)\n Як козаки у хокей грали (1995)\n\nPopular science / documentaries\n Невідома Україна / Unknown Ukraine (1993)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n National Cinemateque of Ukraine website\n Site of Ukranimafilm\n\n \nUkrainian animation studios\nGovernment-owned companies of Ukraine"
]
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"America: Imagine the World Without Her",
"What books did D'Souza write?",
"D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release",
"What was the film about?",
"Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but \"we do have us\" in \"our struggle for the restoration of America.",
"Was the film popular?",
"The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014."
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| C_31bfdcd402d44289a6206d9b34765869_1 | How did critics receive the film? | 4 | How did critics receive the film "America: Imagine the World Without Her"? | Dinesh D'Souza | In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America." Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014. The film review website Metacritic surveyed 11 movie critics and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the 24 reviews, it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporter's Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives... seem thrilled with the movie." John Fund of National Review said the documentary was a response to U.S. progressive critique of the country, "D'Souza's film and his accompanying book are a no-holds-barred assault on the contemporary doctrine of political correctness." Fund said D'Souza's message was "deeply pessimistic" but concluded, "Most people will leave the theater with a more optimistic conclusion: Much of the criticism of America taught in the nation's schools is easily refuted, America is worth saving, and we have the tools to do so in our DNA, just waiting to be harnessed." National Review's Jay Nordlinger said, "Dinesh is the anti-Moore: taking to the big screen to press conservative points... The shame narrators (let's call them) focus on maybe 20 percent of the American story. Dinesh simply puts the other 80 percent back in." In a second article, Jay Nordlinger said, "The second movie confirms for me that one of Dinesh's great advantages is that he is absolutely clear-eyed about the Third World. While liberal Americans romanticize it, he has lived it." CANNOTANSWER | It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". | Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, provocateur, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. D'Souza has written over a dozen books, several of them New York Times best-sellers.
In 2012, D'Souza released the documentary film 2016: Obama's America, an anti-Obama polemic based on his 2010 book The Roots of Obama's Rage; it earned $33 million, making it the highest-grossing conservative documentary of all time and one of the highest-grossing documentaries of any kind. He has since released four other documentary films: America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014), Hillary's America (2016), Death of a Nation (2018), and Trump Card (2020). D'Souza's films and commentary have generated considerable controversy due to their promotion of conspiracy theories and falsehoods, as well as for their incendiary nature.
Born in Bombay, D'Souza moved to the United States as an exchange student and graduated from Dartmouth College. He became a naturalized citizen in 1991. From 2010 to 2012, he was president of The King's College, a Christian school in New York City until he resigned after an alleged adultery scandal.
In 2012, D’Souza contributed $10,000 to the senate campaign of Wendy Long on behalf of himself and his wife, agreeing in writing to attribute that contribution as $5,000 from his wife and $5,000 from him. He directed two other people to give Long a total of $20,000 additional, which he agreed to reimburse, and later did. At the time, the Election Act limited campaign contributions to $5,000 from any individual to any one candidate. Two years later, D'Souza pleaded guilty in federal court to one felony charge of using a "straw donor" to make the illegal campaign contribution. He was sentenced to eight months in a halfway house near his home in San Diego, five years' probation, and a $30,000 fine. In 2018, D'Souza was issued a pardon by President Donald Trump.
Early life and career
Dinesh Joseph D'Souza was born in Bombay in 1961. D'Souza grew up in a middle-class family; his parents were Roman Catholics from the state of Goa in Western India, where his father was an executive with Johnson & Johnson and his mother was a housewife. D'Souza attended the Jesuit St. Stanislaus High School in Bombay. He graduated in 1976 and completed his 11th and 12th years at Sydenham College, also in Bombay. In 1978, D'Souza became a foreign exchange student and traveled to the United States under the Rotary Youth Exchange and attended the local public school in Patagonia, Arizona. He went on to matriculate at Dartmouth College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1983 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While at Dartmouth, D'Souza wrote for The Dartmouth Review, an independent, student-edited, alumni and Collegiate Network subsidized publication. D'Souza faced criticism during his time at the Review for authoring an article publicly outing homosexual members of the school's Gay Straight Alliance student organization.
After graduating from Dartmouth, D'Souza became the editor of a monthly journal called The Prospect, a publication financed by a group of Princeton University alumni. The paper and its writers ignited much controversy during D'Souza's editorship by, among other things, criticizing the college's affirmative action policies.
From 1985 to 1987, D'Souza was a contributing editor for Policy Review, a journal then published by The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. In a September 1985 article titled "The Bishops as Pawns," D'Souza theorized that Catholic bishops in the United States were being manipulated by American liberals in agreeing to oppose the U.S. military buildup and use of power abroad when, D'Souza believed, they knew very little about these subjects to which they were lending their religious credibility.
D'Souza was a policy adviser in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. He has been affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
In 1991, D'Souza became a naturalized United States citizen.
Career as author, political commentator, and filmmaker
Authorship
The End of Racism
In 1995 D'Souza published The End of Racism, in which he claimed that exaggerated claims of racism are holding back progress among African Americans in the US; he defended the Southern slave owner, and said that "The American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well". D'Souza also called for a repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and argued: "Given the intensity of black rage and its appeal to a wide constituency, whites are right to be nervous. Black rage is a response to black suffering and failure, and reflects the irresistible temptation to attribute African American problems to a history of white racist oppression."
A reviewer for The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education responded to the book by posting a list of sixteen recent racist incidents against black people. Michael Bérubé, in a lengthy review article, referred to the book as "encyclopedic pseudoscience", calling it illogical and saying some of the book's policy recommendations are fascist; he stated that it is "so egregious an affront to human decency as to set a new and sorry standard for 'intellectual'".
The book was panned by many other critics as well: John David Smith, in The Journal of Southern History, said D'Souza claims blacks are inferior and opines that "D'Souza bases his terribly insensitive, reactionary polemic on sound bite statistical and historical evidence, frequently gleaned out of context and patched together illogically. His book is flawed because he ignores the complex causes and severity of white racism, misrepresents Boas's arguments, and undervalues the matrix of ignorance, fear, and long-term economic inequality that he dubs black cultural pathology. How, according to his own logic, can allegedly inferior people uplift themselves without government assistance", adding that D'Souza's "biased diatribe trivializes serious pathologies, white and black, and adds little to our understanding of America's painful racial dilemma".
Paul Finkelman commented on D'Souza's trivialization of racism, and said, in a review article called "The Rise of the New Racism", that much of what D'Souza says is untrue, and much is only partially true, and described the book as being "like a parody of scholarship, where selected 'facts' are pulled out of any recognizable context, and used to support a particular viewpoint". In Finkelman's opinion, the book exemplifies a "new racism", which "(1) denies the history of racial oppression in America; (2) rejects biological racism in favor of an attack on black culture; and (3) supports formal, de jure equality in order to attack civil rights laws that prohibit private discrimination and in order to undermine any public policies that might monitor equality and give it substantive meaning". The conservative black economist Glenn Loury severed his ties with the American Enterprise Institute over the organization's role in the publication of the book. Loury wrote that the book "violated canons of civility and commonality", with D'Souza "determined to place poor, urban blacks outside the orbit of American civilization."
What's So Great About America
In the second chapter of his 2002 book, What's So Great About America, D'Souza argues that while colonialism was terrible, it had the unintended consequence of lifting third world countries up to Western civilization. D'Souza writes, "I realize that in saying these things I am opening the door for my critics, and the incorrigible enemies of the West, to say that I am justifying colonialism ... This is the purest nonsense. What I am doing is pointing out a historical fact: despite the corrupt and self-serving motives of [its] practitioners ... colonialism ... proved to be the mechanism that brought millions of nonwhite people into the orbit of Western freedom." He holds up the European colonization of India as an example, arguing that in the long run colonization was beneficial for India, because it introduced Western law, universities, infrastructure, and the like, while effectively ending human sacrifice, the practice of Sati, and other "charming indigenous customs".
In a review of the book, economist Thomas Sowell wrote that D'Souza's book exposed the fallacies and hypocrisies of various criticisms of the United States by the Islamic world, "domestic multiculturalist cults," those who seek reparations for slavery, and the worldwide intelligentsia. According to Sowell: "Perhaps it takes somebody from outside to truly appreciate all the blessings that too many native-born Americans take for granted. D'Souza understands how rare—sometimes unique—these blessings are." Sowell also wrote that D'Souza challenges the notion that all world cultures are equal: "D'Souza challenges one of the central premises of today's intelligentsia: The equality of all cultures. 'If one begins with the multicultural premise that all cultures are equal, then the world as it is makes very little sense,' he says. Some cultures have completely outperformed others in providing the things that all people seek—health, food, housing, security, and the amenities of life."
The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11
In early 2007, D'Souza published The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11, in which he argues that the American cultural left was in large part responsible for the Muslim anger that led to the September 11 attacks. He argues that Muslims do not hate America because of its freedom and democracy, but because they perceive America to be imposing its moral depravity (support for sexual licentiousness) on the world. D'Souza also argues that the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse was a result of "the sexual immodesty of liberal America", and asserts that the conditions of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay "are comparable to the accommodations in mid-level Middle Eastern hotels."
The book was criticized in major American newspapers and magazines and described as, among other things, "the worst nonfiction book about terrorism published by a major house since 9/11" and "a national disgrace". Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times described it as "a nasty stewpot of intellectually untenable premises and irresponsible speculation that frequently reads like a Saturday Night Live parody of the crackpot right."
D'Souza's book caused controversy in the conservative movement. His conservative critics widely mocked his thesis that the cultural left was responsible for 9/11. In response, D'Souza posted a 6,500-word essay on National Review Online, and NRO subsequently published a litany of responses from conservative authors who accused D'Souza of character assassination, elitism and pseudo-intellectualism.
The Roots of Obama's Rage
The September 2010 book by D'Souza, The Roots of Obama's Rage (published in condensed form in a September 2010 Forbes op-ed), interprets President Barack Obama's past and how it formed his beliefs. D'Souza states that Obama is "living out his father's dream", so that "[i]ncredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s", who, D'Souza goes on to describe as a "philandering, inebriated African socialist". The book appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for four weeks in October–November 2010.
Ryan Chittum, in an article in the Columbia Journalism Review, described the Forbes article as "a fact-twisting, error-laden piece of paranoia ... the worst kind of smear journalism—a singularly disgusting work". Commentators on both the right and left strongly disputed assertions made about Obama in the book and article. The left-leaning Media Matters for America wrote that "The Roots of Obama's Rage [was] rooted in lies". Daniel Larison of The American Conservative stated: "Dinesh D'Souza has authored what may possibly be the most ridiculous piece of Obama analysis yet written ... All in all, D'Souza's article reads like a bad conspiracy theory." Larison criticized D'Souza's suggestion that Obama is anti-business, citing a lack of evidence. Andrew Ferguson of The Weekly Standard wrote, "D'Souza always sees absence of evidence as evidence of something or other ... There is, indeed, a name for the beliefs that motivate President Obama, but it's not anticolonialism; it's not even socialism. It's liberalism!" The magazine published D'Souza's letter, in which he expressed surprise "at the petty, vindictive tone of Andrew Ferguson's review".
America: Imagine the World Without Her
D'Souza wrote the book America: Imagine the World Without Her on which his 2014 film of the same name is based. When the warehouse club Costco pulled the book from its shelves shortly before the film's release, conservative media and fans on social media criticized the move. Costco said it pulled the book due to low sales. D'Souza disputed the explanation, saying the book had only been out a few weeks and had surged to #1 on Amazon.com, while Costco stocked hundreds of much lower-selling books. He and other conservatives asserted it was pulled because one of Costco's co-founders, James Sinegal, supported Obama's politics. Costco reordered the book and cited the documentary's release and related interest for the reorder.
The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left
In July 2017, D'Souza published The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left. In the book, D'Souza asserts that the 2016 Democratic Party platform was similar to the platform of the Third Reich. The statement received media attention in 2018 when repeated by Donald Trump Jr. PolitiFact gave the claim its "Pants-on-Fire" rating, noting that "only a small number of elements of the two platforms are clearly similar, and those are so uncontroversial that they appear in the Republican platform as well." Historians refuted the assertion, with University of Maryland historian and Barack Obama critic Jeffrey Herf saying, "There is not the slightest, tiny sliver in which this could be even somewhat accurate." In another review of the book, historian Nicole Hemmer, then of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, wrote: "For a book about secret Nazis, The Big Lie is surprisingly dull ... The Big Lie thus adds little to the no-you're-the-fascist genre on the right". New York Times columnist Ross Douthat criticized the book, saying it was a "plea-for-attention" by D'Souza, and that the author had "become a hack". Douthat further stated, "Because D'Souza has become a professional deceiver, what he adds are extraordinary elisions, sweeping calumnies and laughable leaps."
In an article for The American Conservative, historian and philosopher Paul Gottfried, who has written extensively on the subject of fascism, harshly criticized a PragerU video hosted by D'Souza which maintained that fascism was a leftist ideology. D'Souza also maintained that Italian philosopher Giovanni Gentile, who influenced Italian fascism, was a leftist, to which Gottfried noted that this contradicted the research by "almost all scholars of Gentile’s work, from across the political spectrum, who view him, as I do in my study of fascism, as the most distinguished intellectual of the revolutionary right."
Christian apologetics series
D'Souza's Christian apologetics books, What's So Great About Christianity and Life After Death: The Evidence, were both on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Filmmaking
2016: Obama's America film (2012)
D'Souza wrote and co-directed the documentary-style polemical film 2016: Obama's America. Through interviews and reenactments, the film compares the similarities in the lives of D'Souza and President Barack Obama. D'Souza suggested that early influences on Obama affected the decisions he made as president. The film's tagline is "Love him or hate him, you don't know him." The film has been criticized on the grounds that what D'Souza claims to be an investigation of Obama includes considerable projection, speculation, and selective borrowing from Obama's autobiography, to prove D'Souza's own narrative. In a "Fact Check" of the film, the Associated Press found that D'Souza provided little or no evidence for most of his claims, noted that several allegations were factually false, and described the film's central thesis as "almost entirely subjective and a logical stretch at best."
After a limited release beginning July 13, 2012, the film expanded to over 1,000 theaters in late August 2012, and reached more than 2,000 theaters before the end of September 2012, eventually grossing more than $33.4 million. It is the fifth highest-grossing documentary-style in the United States during the last four decades, and the second highest-grossing political documentary.
The Obama administration described the film as "an insidious attempt to dishonestly smear the president". Later, when D'Souza was indicted for violating election law, D'Souza and his co-producers alleged that he was selectively prosecuted, and that the indictment was politically motivated retribution for the success of the film.
America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014)
In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary-style film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America."
Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed , which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.
The film review website Metacritic surveyed and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the , it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporters Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives ... seem thrilled with the movie."
Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)
On July 25, 2016, D'Souza released the documentary film Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party. The film criticizes the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton, the presumptive (and ultimate) Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 2016.
The film was universally panned by professional film critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4%, based on 27 professional reviews, with an average rating of 1.7/10. The critics consensus on the site reads, "Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party finds Dinesh D'Souza once again preaching to the right-wing choir—albeit less effectively than ever." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 2 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". The film has the seventh lowest score of all films on the site.
Peter Sobczynski wrote, "Hillary's America may well be the single dumbest documentary that I have ever seen in my life." A July 2016 review in Variety characterized D'Souza as "a right-wing conspiracy wingnut, the kind of "thinker" who takes off from Barack Obama birther theories and just keeps going, spinning out a web of comic-book liberal evil." Alex Shephard of The New Republic said:
Some conservatives viewed the film more positively. John Fund of the National Review stated that "[the film] is over the top in places and definitely selective, but the troubling facts are accurate and extensively documented in the D'Souza book that accompanies the movie." He also called the film "intensely patriotic". On July 23, 2016, Donald Trump, who was then running as the Republican presidential nominee against Clinton, called on supporters to see the film.
On January 23, 2017 the film was nominated for five Razzies including: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Dinesh D'Souza), Worst Actress (Becky Turner), Worst Director (Dinesh D'Souza and Bruce Schooley), and Worst Screenplay. In response to the Razzie nominations, D'Souza stated that he was "actually quite honored" and called the nominations "petty revenge" in response to Trump's election victory, also stating that "the film might have played an important role in the election." After "winning" four of the five possible Razzies, D'Souza repeated his view that the nominations were awarded in response to Trump's election victory.
Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time? (2018)
Death of a Nation had its world premiere in Los Angeles, California on July 30, 2018. A showing in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 2018 was co-hosted by D'Souza and President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr.
The film Death of a Nation centers around drawing parallels between the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Death of a Nation explores the role of the Democratic Party in opposing both presidents. In the film, D'Souza accuses the Democratic Party—both historically and presently—of racism, white supremacy, and fascism. D'Souza further argues that the political left attempt to falsely push claims of racism, white supremacy, and fascism onto the political right for political gain. He claims that the modern political left is currently using these types of accusations in attempts to remove Trump from office "by any means necessary."
The film includes numerous falsehoods and has received criticism from historians regarding aspects of historical accuracy. The film characterizes Adolf Hitler as a liberal; historians characterize Hitler and the Nazis as being far-right. It also claims that Hitler was a LGBTQ sympathizer, whereas the Nazis murdered thousands of gay men and imprisoned homosexuals in concentration camps.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 0% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 1.9/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 1 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". PostTrak reported that filmgoers gave the film a score of 4 out of 5 stars, while The Hollywood Reporter wrote that those polled by CinemaScore (which was paid by Death of a Nations filmmakers to conduct polls of audiences) gave it a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
On its opening weekend, the film grossed $2.3 million on 1,032 screens, the lowest wide release for a D'Souza film. , the film has grossed .
Media appearances and speaking engagements
D'Souza has appeared on numerous national television networks and programs. Six days after the September 11, 2001, attacks, D'Souza appeared on Politically Incorrect hosted by Bill Maher. He disputed the assertion that terrorists were cowards by saying, "Look at what they did. You have a whole bunch of guys who were willing to give their life; none of them backed out. All of them slammed themselves into pieces of concrete. These are warriors." Maher agreed with D'Souza's comments and said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away."
During an interview on The Colbert Report on January 16, 2007, while promoting his book The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, D'Souza maintained that liberals had some responsibility for the September 11 attacks. He said liberals' "penchant for interference" had a decided effect in convincing the Carter administration to withdraw support from the Shah, which brought on Muslim fundamentalists' control of the Iranian government. He also said that the distorted representation of American culture on television is one source of resentment of the United States by Muslims worldwide. D'Souza believes that traditional Muslims are not too different from traditional Jews and Christians in America. Towards the end of the interview, he admitted that he and Islamic militants share some of the same negative beliefs about liberal Americans.
In late February 2017, students at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, stole more than 200 flyers advertising D'Souza's planned appearance at the university the first week of March. D'Souza called the protest "pathetic", and suggested the demonstrators "Come out and debate me. In the best case you may win; in the worst, you'll learn something". Twin brothers Manfred and Jonah Wendt, co-founders of the student conservative group Tigers for Liberty, had passed around 600 notices of D'Souza's visit to campus. Those returned by the protesters contained negative comments about D'Souza.
Views
D'Souza is generally identified as a neoconservative. He defines conservatism in the American sense as "conserving the principles of the American Revolution." In Letters to a Young Conservative, written as an introduction to conservative ideas for youth, D'Souza argues that it is a blend of classical liberalism and ancient virtue, in particular, "the belief that there are moral standards in the universe and that living up to them is the best way to have a full and happy life." He also argues against what he calls the modern liberal belief that "human nature is intrinsically good," and thus that "the great conflicts in the world ... arise out of terrible misunderstandings that can be corrected through ongoing conversation and through the mediation of the United Nations."
In the book Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (1991), D'Souza argued that intolerance of conservative views is common at many universities. He has attributed many modern social problems to what he calls the "cultural left."
D'Souza has also been critical of feminism, and Bruce Goldner, in a review of D'Souza's Illiberal Education, noted that he "has a tendency to characterize feminists as castrating misanthropes".
Religion
D'Souza attended the evangelical church Calvary Chapel from 2000 to about 2010. While stating his Catholic background is important to him, D'Souza also says he is comfortable with Protestant Reformation theology and identifies as a nondenominational Christian. A writer of Christian apologetics, D'Souza has debated against prominent atheists and critics of Christianity on religious and moral issues. His debate opponents have included Dan Barker, Christopher Hitchens, Peter Singer, Daniel Dennett, Michael Shermer, David Silverman, and Bart D. Ehrman.
As a guest contributor for Christian Science Monitor, D'Souza wrote, "The moral teachings of Jesus provide no support for—indeed they stand as a stern rebuke to—the historical injustices perpetrated in the name of Christianity." He often speaks out against atheism, nonbelief in spirituality, and secularism. D'Souza elaborated on his views in the 2007 book he authored, What's so Great about Christianity. In 2009, he published Life After Death: The Evidence, which argues for an afterlife.
D'Souza has also commented on Islam. He stated in 2007 that "radical Islamic" thinkers have not condemned modernity, science or freedom but only United States' support of "secular dictators in the region" which deny "Muslims freedom and control over their own destiny". He has debated Serge Trifkovic and Robert Spencer, who both deem Islam "inherently aggressive, racist, violent, and intolerant." He has labelled Spencer an "Islamophobe" and "an effective polemicist" in his writings on Islam. D'Souza has also warned against support for "a $100 million mosque scheduled to be built near the site where terrorists in the name of Islam brought down the World Trade Center" (i.e., the Park 51 Islamic community center and mosque project), and the Middle East becoming a "United States of Islam" in his attacks against President Barack Obama.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
D'Souza has promoted several conspiracy theories, such as the false claim that Obama was not born in the United States and the conspiracy theory that the Clintons had murdered people. D'Souza has also promoted conspiracy theories about Hungarian-born Jewish financier George Soros, including the false claim that Soros had collaborated with the Nazis, and that Soros has sponsored Antifa, a left-wing anti-fascist movement. In an August 2016 interview with GQ, D'Souza denied being a conspiracy theorist, stating: "I have never advanced a conspiracy theory in my life."
In August 2017, D'Souza suggested that the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally had been staged. In the same month, D'Souza tweeted that it would be "interesting to see" Soros "extradited to Israel & tried for his complicity in Nazi atrocities against Jews", and referred to Soros as "Hitler's collection boy".
After mail bombing attempts on prominent Democratic politicians occurred in October 2018, D'Souza tweeted: "Fake sexual assault victims. Fake refugees. Now fake mail bombs." D'Souza spread the conspiracy theory that because there was no cancellation mark on the bomb-containing packages, they were not mailed.
In February 2021, after the United States Capitol attack took place, D'Souza suggested that the rioters were little more than "a bunch of rowdy people walking through a hallway". In May, D'Souza tweeted about the attack: "Does this LOOK like an insurrection? A riot? A coup attempt? If it doesn't walk like a duck or talk like a duck then it probably isn't a duck."
Opinions expressed on Twitter
In November 2013, D'Souza received backlash for referring to Obama as "Grown-Up Trayvon" in a tweet. In response to the backlash, D'Souza tweeted: "Feigned outrage on the left over me calling Obama ‘grown up Trayvon’ except that Obama likened himself to Trayvon!". D'Souza later deleted the initial tweet, ostensibly because Obama was referring to his hypothetical son.
In February 2015, D'Souza wrote: "You can take the boy out of the ghetto" in a tweet criticizing Obama for using a selfie stick. After the tweet was criticized as racist, D'Souza tweeted: "I know Obama wasn't actually raised in a ghetto--I'm using the term metaphorically, to suggest his unpresidential conduct".
In January 2017, after civil rights leader and Georgia congressman John Lewis stated that the then-newly elected President Donald Trump was not a "legitimate president", D'Souza tweeted: "The left’s false narrative inflates minor figures like John Lewis, Democrat, & downplays major ones like Frederick Douglass, Republican". D'Souza later tweeted that civil rights activist Rosa Parks' contributions to the civil rights movement were "absurdly inflated" and described her as an "overrated Democrat". D'Souza received criticism for the tweets, with Charles C. W. Cooke of National Review stating: "Not only incorrect, it's an attitude that would never be struck about a soldier on, say, Veterans Day … [E]ven if Parks was a minor player (she wasn't), she'd still deserve to be lionized."
In November 2017, D'Souza mocked Beverly Young Nelson, one of the women who accused Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, and tweeted: "I was lukewarm on Roy Moore until the last-minute smear. Now we must elect him to show that the @washingtonpost sleaze attack failed". David French, then-senior writer at National Review, tweeted "What has happened to you?" in response to D'Souza's tweet about Nelson.
In February 2018, D'Souza was criticized for a series of tweets which mocked the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In response to a photo of survivors reacting to Florida lawmakers voting down a proposed ban on assault weapons in the aftermath of the shooting, D'Souza tweeted "worst news since their parents told them to get summer jobs". D'Souza also accused the survivors of "politically-orchestrated grief" and said that their grief "[struck him] as phony and inauthentic". D'Souza's comments were condemned by both liberal and conservative commentators. Journalist Jonathan M. Katz wrote: "Let it never be said that Dinesh does not actively root for the death of children." Others accused D'Souza of "trolling kids". D'Souza was also denounced by the Conservative Political Action Conference, which removed him from its roster of speakers and stated: "his comments are indefensible". D'Souza subsequently apologized for the initial tweet, saying that it was "aimed at media manipulation" and that he was being "insensitive to students who lost friends in a terrible tragedy."
Presidency of The King's College
In August 2010, D'Souza was named president of The King's College, a Christian liberal arts college then housed in the Empire State Building in Manhattan. In 2012, the college relocated to a larger space next door to the New York Stock Exchange in Lower Manhattan's financial district. On October 18, 2012, D'Souza resigned his post at The King's College following a press report that he—despite being married—had shared a hotel room at a Christian conference with another woman and introduced her to others as his fiancée. D'Souza acknowledged being separated from his wife and having introduced Denise Odie Joseph II as his fiancée at a Christian conference; however, he denied that the two were engaged in an adulterous affair and that he had shared a room with Joseph at the conference, and described the report as "pure libel" that is "worthy of Christian condemnation." After an investigation by officials at The King's College, D'Souza stated that he had suspended his engagement to Joseph.
After D'Souza's indiscretion became public, the trustees of The King's College announced on October 17, 2012 that D'Souza had resigned his position as president of the university "to attend to his personal and family needs".
Campaign finance violation, felony guilty plea, conviction, and pardon
On January 23, 2014, D'Souza was charged with making $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions to the New York Senate campaign of Wendy Long and causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission. His attorney responded to the charges by saying his client "did not act with any corrupt or criminal intent whatsoever" and described the incident as "at most ... an act of misguided friendship".
On May 15, 2014, United States district judge Richard M. Berman rejected the contention that D'Souza was singled out for prosecution, stating, "The court concludes the defendant has respectfully submitted no evidence he was selectively prosecuted."
On May 20, 2014, D'Souza pleaded guilty to one felony count of making illegal contributions in the names of others. On September 23, 2014, the court sentenced D'Souza to five years' probation, eight months in a halfway house (referred to as a "community confinement center") and a $30,000 fine. After D'Souza's conviction, his claim of selective prosecution continued to receive support from some conservative media and commentators.
On May 31, 2018, President Donald Trump pardoned D'Souza. D'Souza thanked Trump for the pardon, tweeting: "Obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both". After fellow Indian-American Preet Bharara criticized Trump's pardon of D'Souza, D'Souza accused Bharara of trying to destroy his career, tweeting: "Bharara & his goons bludgeoned me into the plea by threatening to add a second redundant charge carrying a prison term of FIVE YEARS".
Personal life
D'Souza dated fellow conservatives Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter prior to meeting Dixie Brubaker while working at the White House. D'Souza and Brubaker married in 1992. They have one daughter, Danielle D’Souza Gill, who is a writer and a member of the Women for Trump Coalition. The couple lived together in California until D'Souza moved to New York as president of The King's College in 2010. He maintained a residence near San Diego, California, where his wife and daughter remained. D'Souza and Brubaker divorced in 2012.
While D'Souza was being sentenced for campaign finance fraud in 2014, Brubaker wrote a letter to the judge alleging that D'Souza had physically abused her; she claimed that "in April 2012 … he, using his purple belt karate skills, kicked me in the head and shoulder, knocking me to the ground and creating injuries that pain me to this day." Benjamin Brafman, D'Souza's attorney for his campaign finance case, dismissed Brubaker's allegation as completely false.
On March 19, 2016, D'Souza married Deborah Fancher, a conservative political activist and mother of two. Fancher emigrated from Venezuela at age 10. The wedding was held near San Diego with Rafael Cruz, father of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), officiating.
Works
Books
Books authored by D'Souza include:
Films
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1961 births
Living people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century American criminals
American conspiracy theorists
American people of Goan descent
American people convicted of campaign finance violations
American social commentators
People from San Diego
Writers from New York City
Critics of atheism
Male critics of feminism
Dartmouth College alumni
Hoover Institution people
Indian emigrants to the United States
Indian Christians
National Review people
Christian apologists
Writers from Mumbai
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Reagan administration personnel
The Heritage Foundation
The King's College (New York City) faculty
American male writers of Indian descent
American Christian writers
Recipients of American presidential pardons
American male non-fiction writers
Right-wing politics in the United States
Golden Raspberry Award winners
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
John M. Olin Foundation | true | [
"The Rogers Best Canadian Film Award is presented annually by the Toronto Film Critics Association to the film judged by the organization's members as the year's best Canadian film. In 2012, the cash prize accompanying the award was increased to $100,000, making it the largest arts award in Canada. Each year, two runners-up also receive $5,000. The award is funded and presented by Rogers Communications, which is a founding sponsor of the association's awards gala.\n\nUnlike the other Toronto Film Critics Association awards, whose winners are announced in early December each year, the Best Canadian Film award only has its finalists announced at that time, and the winner of the award is then announced in a separate presentation in January of the following year.\n\nToronto Film Critics Poll\nPrior to the official launch of the Toronto Film Critics Association in 1997, film critic Wyndham Wise coordinated two polls of Toronto film critics in 1995 and 1996 through his magazine Take One to select the year's best Canadian films; upon the launch of the TFCA, this poll was discontinued and superseded by the TFCA's annual awards.\n\n1995\n\n1996\n\nToronto Film Critics Association\n\n1990s\n\n2000s\n\n2010s\n\n2020s\n\nReferences\n\nToronto Film Critics Association Awards\nRogers Communications",
"From the Edge of the City () is a 1998 Greek film directed by Constantinos Giannaris. It was Greece's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the 72nd Academy Awards, but did not manage to receive a nomination.\n\nPlot\nA company of young Pontic Greeks refugees from Russia live in Menidi, a suburb in the edge of Athens. Sasha, the main character, quits his job and collides with his father. His situation spurs him to chase the easy money, ending up in the dark world of prostitution and drugs.\n\nCast\nStathis Papadopoulos as Sasha\nTheodora Tzimou as Natasha\nCostas Kotsianisis as Kotzian\nPanagiotis Hartomatzidis as Panagiotis\n\nReception\n\nAwards\nwinner:\n1998: Greek State Film Awards: for Best Director (Constantinos Giannaris)\n1998: Greek State Film Awards: for Best Film (2nd place)\n1998: Greek Film Critics Association Awards\n\nnominated:\n1998: Thessaloniki International Film Festival: for Golden Alexander\n\nIn 1999, the film was Greece's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the 72nd Academy Awards, but did not manage to receive a nomination.\n\nSee also\n List of submissions to the 72nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film\n List of Greek submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nGreek films\nGreek-language films\nGreek LGBT-related films\nRussian-language films\nFilms about prostitution in Greece\n1998 films\n1990s thriller drama films\nGreek thriller drama films\n1998 drama films"
]
|
[
"Dinesh D'Souza",
"America: Imagine the World Without Her",
"What books did D'Souza write?",
"D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release",
"What was the film about?",
"Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but \"we do have us\" in \"our struggle for the restoration of America.",
"Was the film popular?",
"The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.",
"How did critics receive the film?",
"It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates \"overwhelming dislike\"."
]
| C_31bfdcd402d44289a6206d9b34765869_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 5 | Besides "overwhelming dislike", are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Dinesh D'Souza | In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America." Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014. The film review website Metacritic surveyed 11 movie critics and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the 24 reviews, it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporter's Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives... seem thrilled with the movie." John Fund of National Review said the documentary was a response to U.S. progressive critique of the country, "D'Souza's film and his accompanying book are a no-holds-barred assault on the contemporary doctrine of political correctness." Fund said D'Souza's message was "deeply pessimistic" but concluded, "Most people will leave the theater with a more optimistic conclusion: Much of the criticism of America taught in the nation's schools is easily refuted, America is worth saving, and we have the tools to do so in our DNA, just waiting to be harnessed." National Review's Jay Nordlinger said, "Dinesh is the anti-Moore: taking to the big screen to press conservative points... The shame narrators (let's call them) focus on maybe 20 percent of the American story. Dinesh simply puts the other 80 percent back in." In a second article, Jay Nordlinger said, "The second movie confirms for me that one of Dinesh's great advantages is that he is absolutely clear-eyed about the Third World. While liberal Americans romanticize it, he has lived it." CANNOTANSWER | Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. | Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, provocateur, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. D'Souza has written over a dozen books, several of them New York Times best-sellers.
In 2012, D'Souza released the documentary film 2016: Obama's America, an anti-Obama polemic based on his 2010 book The Roots of Obama's Rage; it earned $33 million, making it the highest-grossing conservative documentary of all time and one of the highest-grossing documentaries of any kind. He has since released four other documentary films: America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014), Hillary's America (2016), Death of a Nation (2018), and Trump Card (2020). D'Souza's films and commentary have generated considerable controversy due to their promotion of conspiracy theories and falsehoods, as well as for their incendiary nature.
Born in Bombay, D'Souza moved to the United States as an exchange student and graduated from Dartmouth College. He became a naturalized citizen in 1991. From 2010 to 2012, he was president of The King's College, a Christian school in New York City until he resigned after an alleged adultery scandal.
In 2012, D’Souza contributed $10,000 to the senate campaign of Wendy Long on behalf of himself and his wife, agreeing in writing to attribute that contribution as $5,000 from his wife and $5,000 from him. He directed two other people to give Long a total of $20,000 additional, which he agreed to reimburse, and later did. At the time, the Election Act limited campaign contributions to $5,000 from any individual to any one candidate. Two years later, D'Souza pleaded guilty in federal court to one felony charge of using a "straw donor" to make the illegal campaign contribution. He was sentenced to eight months in a halfway house near his home in San Diego, five years' probation, and a $30,000 fine. In 2018, D'Souza was issued a pardon by President Donald Trump.
Early life and career
Dinesh Joseph D'Souza was born in Bombay in 1961. D'Souza grew up in a middle-class family; his parents were Roman Catholics from the state of Goa in Western India, where his father was an executive with Johnson & Johnson and his mother was a housewife. D'Souza attended the Jesuit St. Stanislaus High School in Bombay. He graduated in 1976 and completed his 11th and 12th years at Sydenham College, also in Bombay. In 1978, D'Souza became a foreign exchange student and traveled to the United States under the Rotary Youth Exchange and attended the local public school in Patagonia, Arizona. He went on to matriculate at Dartmouth College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1983 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While at Dartmouth, D'Souza wrote for The Dartmouth Review, an independent, student-edited, alumni and Collegiate Network subsidized publication. D'Souza faced criticism during his time at the Review for authoring an article publicly outing homosexual members of the school's Gay Straight Alliance student organization.
After graduating from Dartmouth, D'Souza became the editor of a monthly journal called The Prospect, a publication financed by a group of Princeton University alumni. The paper and its writers ignited much controversy during D'Souza's editorship by, among other things, criticizing the college's affirmative action policies.
From 1985 to 1987, D'Souza was a contributing editor for Policy Review, a journal then published by The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. In a September 1985 article titled "The Bishops as Pawns," D'Souza theorized that Catholic bishops in the United States were being manipulated by American liberals in agreeing to oppose the U.S. military buildup and use of power abroad when, D'Souza believed, they knew very little about these subjects to which they were lending their religious credibility.
D'Souza was a policy adviser in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. He has been affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
In 1991, D'Souza became a naturalized United States citizen.
Career as author, political commentator, and filmmaker
Authorship
The End of Racism
In 1995 D'Souza published The End of Racism, in which he claimed that exaggerated claims of racism are holding back progress among African Americans in the US; he defended the Southern slave owner, and said that "The American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well". D'Souza also called for a repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and argued: "Given the intensity of black rage and its appeal to a wide constituency, whites are right to be nervous. Black rage is a response to black suffering and failure, and reflects the irresistible temptation to attribute African American problems to a history of white racist oppression."
A reviewer for The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education responded to the book by posting a list of sixteen recent racist incidents against black people. Michael Bérubé, in a lengthy review article, referred to the book as "encyclopedic pseudoscience", calling it illogical and saying some of the book's policy recommendations are fascist; he stated that it is "so egregious an affront to human decency as to set a new and sorry standard for 'intellectual'".
The book was panned by many other critics as well: John David Smith, in The Journal of Southern History, said D'Souza claims blacks are inferior and opines that "D'Souza bases his terribly insensitive, reactionary polemic on sound bite statistical and historical evidence, frequently gleaned out of context and patched together illogically. His book is flawed because he ignores the complex causes and severity of white racism, misrepresents Boas's arguments, and undervalues the matrix of ignorance, fear, and long-term economic inequality that he dubs black cultural pathology. How, according to his own logic, can allegedly inferior people uplift themselves without government assistance", adding that D'Souza's "biased diatribe trivializes serious pathologies, white and black, and adds little to our understanding of America's painful racial dilemma".
Paul Finkelman commented on D'Souza's trivialization of racism, and said, in a review article called "The Rise of the New Racism", that much of what D'Souza says is untrue, and much is only partially true, and described the book as being "like a parody of scholarship, where selected 'facts' are pulled out of any recognizable context, and used to support a particular viewpoint". In Finkelman's opinion, the book exemplifies a "new racism", which "(1) denies the history of racial oppression in America; (2) rejects biological racism in favor of an attack on black culture; and (3) supports formal, de jure equality in order to attack civil rights laws that prohibit private discrimination and in order to undermine any public policies that might monitor equality and give it substantive meaning". The conservative black economist Glenn Loury severed his ties with the American Enterprise Institute over the organization's role in the publication of the book. Loury wrote that the book "violated canons of civility and commonality", with D'Souza "determined to place poor, urban blacks outside the orbit of American civilization."
What's So Great About America
In the second chapter of his 2002 book, What's So Great About America, D'Souza argues that while colonialism was terrible, it had the unintended consequence of lifting third world countries up to Western civilization. D'Souza writes, "I realize that in saying these things I am opening the door for my critics, and the incorrigible enemies of the West, to say that I am justifying colonialism ... This is the purest nonsense. What I am doing is pointing out a historical fact: despite the corrupt and self-serving motives of [its] practitioners ... colonialism ... proved to be the mechanism that brought millions of nonwhite people into the orbit of Western freedom." He holds up the European colonization of India as an example, arguing that in the long run colonization was beneficial for India, because it introduced Western law, universities, infrastructure, and the like, while effectively ending human sacrifice, the practice of Sati, and other "charming indigenous customs".
In a review of the book, economist Thomas Sowell wrote that D'Souza's book exposed the fallacies and hypocrisies of various criticisms of the United States by the Islamic world, "domestic multiculturalist cults," those who seek reparations for slavery, and the worldwide intelligentsia. According to Sowell: "Perhaps it takes somebody from outside to truly appreciate all the blessings that too many native-born Americans take for granted. D'Souza understands how rare—sometimes unique—these blessings are." Sowell also wrote that D'Souza challenges the notion that all world cultures are equal: "D'Souza challenges one of the central premises of today's intelligentsia: The equality of all cultures. 'If one begins with the multicultural premise that all cultures are equal, then the world as it is makes very little sense,' he says. Some cultures have completely outperformed others in providing the things that all people seek—health, food, housing, security, and the amenities of life."
The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11
In early 2007, D'Souza published The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11, in which he argues that the American cultural left was in large part responsible for the Muslim anger that led to the September 11 attacks. He argues that Muslims do not hate America because of its freedom and democracy, but because they perceive America to be imposing its moral depravity (support for sexual licentiousness) on the world. D'Souza also argues that the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse was a result of "the sexual immodesty of liberal America", and asserts that the conditions of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay "are comparable to the accommodations in mid-level Middle Eastern hotels."
The book was criticized in major American newspapers and magazines and described as, among other things, "the worst nonfiction book about terrorism published by a major house since 9/11" and "a national disgrace". Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times described it as "a nasty stewpot of intellectually untenable premises and irresponsible speculation that frequently reads like a Saturday Night Live parody of the crackpot right."
D'Souza's book caused controversy in the conservative movement. His conservative critics widely mocked his thesis that the cultural left was responsible for 9/11. In response, D'Souza posted a 6,500-word essay on National Review Online, and NRO subsequently published a litany of responses from conservative authors who accused D'Souza of character assassination, elitism and pseudo-intellectualism.
The Roots of Obama's Rage
The September 2010 book by D'Souza, The Roots of Obama's Rage (published in condensed form in a September 2010 Forbes op-ed), interprets President Barack Obama's past and how it formed his beliefs. D'Souza states that Obama is "living out his father's dream", so that "[i]ncredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s", who, D'Souza goes on to describe as a "philandering, inebriated African socialist". The book appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for four weeks in October–November 2010.
Ryan Chittum, in an article in the Columbia Journalism Review, described the Forbes article as "a fact-twisting, error-laden piece of paranoia ... the worst kind of smear journalism—a singularly disgusting work". Commentators on both the right and left strongly disputed assertions made about Obama in the book and article. The left-leaning Media Matters for America wrote that "The Roots of Obama's Rage [was] rooted in lies". Daniel Larison of The American Conservative stated: "Dinesh D'Souza has authored what may possibly be the most ridiculous piece of Obama analysis yet written ... All in all, D'Souza's article reads like a bad conspiracy theory." Larison criticized D'Souza's suggestion that Obama is anti-business, citing a lack of evidence. Andrew Ferguson of The Weekly Standard wrote, "D'Souza always sees absence of evidence as evidence of something or other ... There is, indeed, a name for the beliefs that motivate President Obama, but it's not anticolonialism; it's not even socialism. It's liberalism!" The magazine published D'Souza's letter, in which he expressed surprise "at the petty, vindictive tone of Andrew Ferguson's review".
America: Imagine the World Without Her
D'Souza wrote the book America: Imagine the World Without Her on which his 2014 film of the same name is based. When the warehouse club Costco pulled the book from its shelves shortly before the film's release, conservative media and fans on social media criticized the move. Costco said it pulled the book due to low sales. D'Souza disputed the explanation, saying the book had only been out a few weeks and had surged to #1 on Amazon.com, while Costco stocked hundreds of much lower-selling books. He and other conservatives asserted it was pulled because one of Costco's co-founders, James Sinegal, supported Obama's politics. Costco reordered the book and cited the documentary's release and related interest for the reorder.
The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left
In July 2017, D'Souza published The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left. In the book, D'Souza asserts that the 2016 Democratic Party platform was similar to the platform of the Third Reich. The statement received media attention in 2018 when repeated by Donald Trump Jr. PolitiFact gave the claim its "Pants-on-Fire" rating, noting that "only a small number of elements of the two platforms are clearly similar, and those are so uncontroversial that they appear in the Republican platform as well." Historians refuted the assertion, with University of Maryland historian and Barack Obama critic Jeffrey Herf saying, "There is not the slightest, tiny sliver in which this could be even somewhat accurate." In another review of the book, historian Nicole Hemmer, then of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, wrote: "For a book about secret Nazis, The Big Lie is surprisingly dull ... The Big Lie thus adds little to the no-you're-the-fascist genre on the right". New York Times columnist Ross Douthat criticized the book, saying it was a "plea-for-attention" by D'Souza, and that the author had "become a hack". Douthat further stated, "Because D'Souza has become a professional deceiver, what he adds are extraordinary elisions, sweeping calumnies and laughable leaps."
In an article for The American Conservative, historian and philosopher Paul Gottfried, who has written extensively on the subject of fascism, harshly criticized a PragerU video hosted by D'Souza which maintained that fascism was a leftist ideology. D'Souza also maintained that Italian philosopher Giovanni Gentile, who influenced Italian fascism, was a leftist, to which Gottfried noted that this contradicted the research by "almost all scholars of Gentile’s work, from across the political spectrum, who view him, as I do in my study of fascism, as the most distinguished intellectual of the revolutionary right."
Christian apologetics series
D'Souza's Christian apologetics books, What's So Great About Christianity and Life After Death: The Evidence, were both on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Filmmaking
2016: Obama's America film (2012)
D'Souza wrote and co-directed the documentary-style polemical film 2016: Obama's America. Through interviews and reenactments, the film compares the similarities in the lives of D'Souza and President Barack Obama. D'Souza suggested that early influences on Obama affected the decisions he made as president. The film's tagline is "Love him or hate him, you don't know him." The film has been criticized on the grounds that what D'Souza claims to be an investigation of Obama includes considerable projection, speculation, and selective borrowing from Obama's autobiography, to prove D'Souza's own narrative. In a "Fact Check" of the film, the Associated Press found that D'Souza provided little or no evidence for most of his claims, noted that several allegations were factually false, and described the film's central thesis as "almost entirely subjective and a logical stretch at best."
After a limited release beginning July 13, 2012, the film expanded to over 1,000 theaters in late August 2012, and reached more than 2,000 theaters before the end of September 2012, eventually grossing more than $33.4 million. It is the fifth highest-grossing documentary-style in the United States during the last four decades, and the second highest-grossing political documentary.
The Obama administration described the film as "an insidious attempt to dishonestly smear the president". Later, when D'Souza was indicted for violating election law, D'Souza and his co-producers alleged that he was selectively prosecuted, and that the indictment was politically motivated retribution for the success of the film.
America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014)
In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary-style film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America."
Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed , which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.
The film review website Metacritic surveyed and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the , it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporters Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives ... seem thrilled with the movie."
Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)
On July 25, 2016, D'Souza released the documentary film Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party. The film criticizes the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton, the presumptive (and ultimate) Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 2016.
The film was universally panned by professional film critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4%, based on 27 professional reviews, with an average rating of 1.7/10. The critics consensus on the site reads, "Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party finds Dinesh D'Souza once again preaching to the right-wing choir—albeit less effectively than ever." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 2 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". The film has the seventh lowest score of all films on the site.
Peter Sobczynski wrote, "Hillary's America may well be the single dumbest documentary that I have ever seen in my life." A July 2016 review in Variety characterized D'Souza as "a right-wing conspiracy wingnut, the kind of "thinker" who takes off from Barack Obama birther theories and just keeps going, spinning out a web of comic-book liberal evil." Alex Shephard of The New Republic said:
Some conservatives viewed the film more positively. John Fund of the National Review stated that "[the film] is over the top in places and definitely selective, but the troubling facts are accurate and extensively documented in the D'Souza book that accompanies the movie." He also called the film "intensely patriotic". On July 23, 2016, Donald Trump, who was then running as the Republican presidential nominee against Clinton, called on supporters to see the film.
On January 23, 2017 the film was nominated for five Razzies including: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Dinesh D'Souza), Worst Actress (Becky Turner), Worst Director (Dinesh D'Souza and Bruce Schooley), and Worst Screenplay. In response to the Razzie nominations, D'Souza stated that he was "actually quite honored" and called the nominations "petty revenge" in response to Trump's election victory, also stating that "the film might have played an important role in the election." After "winning" four of the five possible Razzies, D'Souza repeated his view that the nominations were awarded in response to Trump's election victory.
Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time? (2018)
Death of a Nation had its world premiere in Los Angeles, California on July 30, 2018. A showing in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 2018 was co-hosted by D'Souza and President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr.
The film Death of a Nation centers around drawing parallels between the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Death of a Nation explores the role of the Democratic Party in opposing both presidents. In the film, D'Souza accuses the Democratic Party—both historically and presently—of racism, white supremacy, and fascism. D'Souza further argues that the political left attempt to falsely push claims of racism, white supremacy, and fascism onto the political right for political gain. He claims that the modern political left is currently using these types of accusations in attempts to remove Trump from office "by any means necessary."
The film includes numerous falsehoods and has received criticism from historians regarding aspects of historical accuracy. The film characterizes Adolf Hitler as a liberal; historians characterize Hitler and the Nazis as being far-right. It also claims that Hitler was a LGBTQ sympathizer, whereas the Nazis murdered thousands of gay men and imprisoned homosexuals in concentration camps.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 0% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 1.9/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 1 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". PostTrak reported that filmgoers gave the film a score of 4 out of 5 stars, while The Hollywood Reporter wrote that those polled by CinemaScore (which was paid by Death of a Nations filmmakers to conduct polls of audiences) gave it a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
On its opening weekend, the film grossed $2.3 million on 1,032 screens, the lowest wide release for a D'Souza film. , the film has grossed .
Media appearances and speaking engagements
D'Souza has appeared on numerous national television networks and programs. Six days after the September 11, 2001, attacks, D'Souza appeared on Politically Incorrect hosted by Bill Maher. He disputed the assertion that terrorists were cowards by saying, "Look at what they did. You have a whole bunch of guys who were willing to give their life; none of them backed out. All of them slammed themselves into pieces of concrete. These are warriors." Maher agreed with D'Souza's comments and said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away."
During an interview on The Colbert Report on January 16, 2007, while promoting his book The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, D'Souza maintained that liberals had some responsibility for the September 11 attacks. He said liberals' "penchant for interference" had a decided effect in convincing the Carter administration to withdraw support from the Shah, which brought on Muslim fundamentalists' control of the Iranian government. He also said that the distorted representation of American culture on television is one source of resentment of the United States by Muslims worldwide. D'Souza believes that traditional Muslims are not too different from traditional Jews and Christians in America. Towards the end of the interview, he admitted that he and Islamic militants share some of the same negative beliefs about liberal Americans.
In late February 2017, students at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, stole more than 200 flyers advertising D'Souza's planned appearance at the university the first week of March. D'Souza called the protest "pathetic", and suggested the demonstrators "Come out and debate me. In the best case you may win; in the worst, you'll learn something". Twin brothers Manfred and Jonah Wendt, co-founders of the student conservative group Tigers for Liberty, had passed around 600 notices of D'Souza's visit to campus. Those returned by the protesters contained negative comments about D'Souza.
Views
D'Souza is generally identified as a neoconservative. He defines conservatism in the American sense as "conserving the principles of the American Revolution." In Letters to a Young Conservative, written as an introduction to conservative ideas for youth, D'Souza argues that it is a blend of classical liberalism and ancient virtue, in particular, "the belief that there are moral standards in the universe and that living up to them is the best way to have a full and happy life." He also argues against what he calls the modern liberal belief that "human nature is intrinsically good," and thus that "the great conflicts in the world ... arise out of terrible misunderstandings that can be corrected through ongoing conversation and through the mediation of the United Nations."
In the book Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (1991), D'Souza argued that intolerance of conservative views is common at many universities. He has attributed many modern social problems to what he calls the "cultural left."
D'Souza has also been critical of feminism, and Bruce Goldner, in a review of D'Souza's Illiberal Education, noted that he "has a tendency to characterize feminists as castrating misanthropes".
Religion
D'Souza attended the evangelical church Calvary Chapel from 2000 to about 2010. While stating his Catholic background is important to him, D'Souza also says he is comfortable with Protestant Reformation theology and identifies as a nondenominational Christian. A writer of Christian apologetics, D'Souza has debated against prominent atheists and critics of Christianity on religious and moral issues. His debate opponents have included Dan Barker, Christopher Hitchens, Peter Singer, Daniel Dennett, Michael Shermer, David Silverman, and Bart D. Ehrman.
As a guest contributor for Christian Science Monitor, D'Souza wrote, "The moral teachings of Jesus provide no support for—indeed they stand as a stern rebuke to—the historical injustices perpetrated in the name of Christianity." He often speaks out against atheism, nonbelief in spirituality, and secularism. D'Souza elaborated on his views in the 2007 book he authored, What's so Great about Christianity. In 2009, he published Life After Death: The Evidence, which argues for an afterlife.
D'Souza has also commented on Islam. He stated in 2007 that "radical Islamic" thinkers have not condemned modernity, science or freedom but only United States' support of "secular dictators in the region" which deny "Muslims freedom and control over their own destiny". He has debated Serge Trifkovic and Robert Spencer, who both deem Islam "inherently aggressive, racist, violent, and intolerant." He has labelled Spencer an "Islamophobe" and "an effective polemicist" in his writings on Islam. D'Souza has also warned against support for "a $100 million mosque scheduled to be built near the site where terrorists in the name of Islam brought down the World Trade Center" (i.e., the Park 51 Islamic community center and mosque project), and the Middle East becoming a "United States of Islam" in his attacks against President Barack Obama.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
D'Souza has promoted several conspiracy theories, such as the false claim that Obama was not born in the United States and the conspiracy theory that the Clintons had murdered people. D'Souza has also promoted conspiracy theories about Hungarian-born Jewish financier George Soros, including the false claim that Soros had collaborated with the Nazis, and that Soros has sponsored Antifa, a left-wing anti-fascist movement. In an August 2016 interview with GQ, D'Souza denied being a conspiracy theorist, stating: "I have never advanced a conspiracy theory in my life."
In August 2017, D'Souza suggested that the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally had been staged. In the same month, D'Souza tweeted that it would be "interesting to see" Soros "extradited to Israel & tried for his complicity in Nazi atrocities against Jews", and referred to Soros as "Hitler's collection boy".
After mail bombing attempts on prominent Democratic politicians occurred in October 2018, D'Souza tweeted: "Fake sexual assault victims. Fake refugees. Now fake mail bombs." D'Souza spread the conspiracy theory that because there was no cancellation mark on the bomb-containing packages, they were not mailed.
In February 2021, after the United States Capitol attack took place, D'Souza suggested that the rioters were little more than "a bunch of rowdy people walking through a hallway". In May, D'Souza tweeted about the attack: "Does this LOOK like an insurrection? A riot? A coup attempt? If it doesn't walk like a duck or talk like a duck then it probably isn't a duck."
Opinions expressed on Twitter
In November 2013, D'Souza received backlash for referring to Obama as "Grown-Up Trayvon" in a tweet. In response to the backlash, D'Souza tweeted: "Feigned outrage on the left over me calling Obama ‘grown up Trayvon’ except that Obama likened himself to Trayvon!". D'Souza later deleted the initial tweet, ostensibly because Obama was referring to his hypothetical son.
In February 2015, D'Souza wrote: "You can take the boy out of the ghetto" in a tweet criticizing Obama for using a selfie stick. After the tweet was criticized as racist, D'Souza tweeted: "I know Obama wasn't actually raised in a ghetto--I'm using the term metaphorically, to suggest his unpresidential conduct".
In January 2017, after civil rights leader and Georgia congressman John Lewis stated that the then-newly elected President Donald Trump was not a "legitimate president", D'Souza tweeted: "The left’s false narrative inflates minor figures like John Lewis, Democrat, & downplays major ones like Frederick Douglass, Republican". D'Souza later tweeted that civil rights activist Rosa Parks' contributions to the civil rights movement were "absurdly inflated" and described her as an "overrated Democrat". D'Souza received criticism for the tweets, with Charles C. W. Cooke of National Review stating: "Not only incorrect, it's an attitude that would never be struck about a soldier on, say, Veterans Day … [E]ven if Parks was a minor player (she wasn't), she'd still deserve to be lionized."
In November 2017, D'Souza mocked Beverly Young Nelson, one of the women who accused Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, and tweeted: "I was lukewarm on Roy Moore until the last-minute smear. Now we must elect him to show that the @washingtonpost sleaze attack failed". David French, then-senior writer at National Review, tweeted "What has happened to you?" in response to D'Souza's tweet about Nelson.
In February 2018, D'Souza was criticized for a series of tweets which mocked the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In response to a photo of survivors reacting to Florida lawmakers voting down a proposed ban on assault weapons in the aftermath of the shooting, D'Souza tweeted "worst news since their parents told them to get summer jobs". D'Souza also accused the survivors of "politically-orchestrated grief" and said that their grief "[struck him] as phony and inauthentic". D'Souza's comments were condemned by both liberal and conservative commentators. Journalist Jonathan M. Katz wrote: "Let it never be said that Dinesh does not actively root for the death of children." Others accused D'Souza of "trolling kids". D'Souza was also denounced by the Conservative Political Action Conference, which removed him from its roster of speakers and stated: "his comments are indefensible". D'Souza subsequently apologized for the initial tweet, saying that it was "aimed at media manipulation" and that he was being "insensitive to students who lost friends in a terrible tragedy."
Presidency of The King's College
In August 2010, D'Souza was named president of The King's College, a Christian liberal arts college then housed in the Empire State Building in Manhattan. In 2012, the college relocated to a larger space next door to the New York Stock Exchange in Lower Manhattan's financial district. On October 18, 2012, D'Souza resigned his post at The King's College following a press report that he—despite being married—had shared a hotel room at a Christian conference with another woman and introduced her to others as his fiancée. D'Souza acknowledged being separated from his wife and having introduced Denise Odie Joseph II as his fiancée at a Christian conference; however, he denied that the two were engaged in an adulterous affair and that he had shared a room with Joseph at the conference, and described the report as "pure libel" that is "worthy of Christian condemnation." After an investigation by officials at The King's College, D'Souza stated that he had suspended his engagement to Joseph.
After D'Souza's indiscretion became public, the trustees of The King's College announced on October 17, 2012 that D'Souza had resigned his position as president of the university "to attend to his personal and family needs".
Campaign finance violation, felony guilty plea, conviction, and pardon
On January 23, 2014, D'Souza was charged with making $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions to the New York Senate campaign of Wendy Long and causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission. His attorney responded to the charges by saying his client "did not act with any corrupt or criminal intent whatsoever" and described the incident as "at most ... an act of misguided friendship".
On May 15, 2014, United States district judge Richard M. Berman rejected the contention that D'Souza was singled out for prosecution, stating, "The court concludes the defendant has respectfully submitted no evidence he was selectively prosecuted."
On May 20, 2014, D'Souza pleaded guilty to one felony count of making illegal contributions in the names of others. On September 23, 2014, the court sentenced D'Souza to five years' probation, eight months in a halfway house (referred to as a "community confinement center") and a $30,000 fine. After D'Souza's conviction, his claim of selective prosecution continued to receive support from some conservative media and commentators.
On May 31, 2018, President Donald Trump pardoned D'Souza. D'Souza thanked Trump for the pardon, tweeting: "Obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both". After fellow Indian-American Preet Bharara criticized Trump's pardon of D'Souza, D'Souza accused Bharara of trying to destroy his career, tweeting: "Bharara & his goons bludgeoned me into the plea by threatening to add a second redundant charge carrying a prison term of FIVE YEARS".
Personal life
D'Souza dated fellow conservatives Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter prior to meeting Dixie Brubaker while working at the White House. D'Souza and Brubaker married in 1992. They have one daughter, Danielle D’Souza Gill, who is a writer and a member of the Women for Trump Coalition. The couple lived together in California until D'Souza moved to New York as president of The King's College in 2010. He maintained a residence near San Diego, California, where his wife and daughter remained. D'Souza and Brubaker divorced in 2012.
While D'Souza was being sentenced for campaign finance fraud in 2014, Brubaker wrote a letter to the judge alleging that D'Souza had physically abused her; she claimed that "in April 2012 … he, using his purple belt karate skills, kicked me in the head and shoulder, knocking me to the ground and creating injuries that pain me to this day." Benjamin Brafman, D'Souza's attorney for his campaign finance case, dismissed Brubaker's allegation as completely false.
On March 19, 2016, D'Souza married Deborah Fancher, a conservative political activist and mother of two. Fancher emigrated from Venezuela at age 10. The wedding was held near San Diego with Rafael Cruz, father of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), officiating.
Works
Books
Books authored by D'Souza include:
Films
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1961 births
Living people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century American criminals
American conspiracy theorists
American people of Goan descent
American people convicted of campaign finance violations
American social commentators
People from San Diego
Writers from New York City
Critics of atheism
Male critics of feminism
Dartmouth College alumni
Hoover Institution people
Indian emigrants to the United States
Indian Christians
National Review people
Christian apologists
Writers from Mumbai
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Reagan administration personnel
The Heritage Foundation
The King's College (New York City) faculty
American male writers of Indian descent
American Christian writers
Recipients of American presidential pardons
American male non-fiction writers
Right-wing politics in the United States
Golden Raspberry Award winners
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
John M. Olin Foundation | 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"
]
|
[
"Dinesh D'Souza",
"America: Imagine the World Without Her",
"What books did D'Souza write?",
"D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release",
"What was the film about?",
"Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but \"we do have us\" in \"our struggle for the restoration of America.",
"Was the film popular?",
"The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.",
"How did critics receive the film?",
"It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates \"overwhelming dislike\".",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive."
]
| C_31bfdcd402d44289a6206d9b34765869_1 | What did people have to say about the film? | 6 | What did people have to say about the film "America: Imagine the World Without Her"? | Dinesh D'Souza | In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America." Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014. The film review website Metacritic surveyed 11 movie critics and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the 24 reviews, it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporter's Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives... seem thrilled with the movie." John Fund of National Review said the documentary was a response to U.S. progressive critique of the country, "D'Souza's film and his accompanying book are a no-holds-barred assault on the contemporary doctrine of political correctness." Fund said D'Souza's message was "deeply pessimistic" but concluded, "Most people will leave the theater with a more optimistic conclusion: Much of the criticism of America taught in the nation's schools is easily refuted, America is worth saving, and we have the tools to do so in our DNA, just waiting to be harnessed." National Review's Jay Nordlinger said, "Dinesh is the anti-Moore: taking to the big screen to press conservative points... The shame narrators (let's call them) focus on maybe 20 percent of the American story. Dinesh simply puts the other 80 percent back in." In a second article, Jay Nordlinger said, "The second movie confirms for me that one of Dinesh's great advantages is that he is absolutely clear-eyed about the Third World. While liberal Americans romanticize it, he has lived it." CANNOTANSWER | CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. | Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, provocateur, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. D'Souza has written over a dozen books, several of them New York Times best-sellers.
In 2012, D'Souza released the documentary film 2016: Obama's America, an anti-Obama polemic based on his 2010 book The Roots of Obama's Rage; it earned $33 million, making it the highest-grossing conservative documentary of all time and one of the highest-grossing documentaries of any kind. He has since released four other documentary films: America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014), Hillary's America (2016), Death of a Nation (2018), and Trump Card (2020). D'Souza's films and commentary have generated considerable controversy due to their promotion of conspiracy theories and falsehoods, as well as for their incendiary nature.
Born in Bombay, D'Souza moved to the United States as an exchange student and graduated from Dartmouth College. He became a naturalized citizen in 1991. From 2010 to 2012, he was president of The King's College, a Christian school in New York City until he resigned after an alleged adultery scandal.
In 2012, D’Souza contributed $10,000 to the senate campaign of Wendy Long on behalf of himself and his wife, agreeing in writing to attribute that contribution as $5,000 from his wife and $5,000 from him. He directed two other people to give Long a total of $20,000 additional, which he agreed to reimburse, and later did. At the time, the Election Act limited campaign contributions to $5,000 from any individual to any one candidate. Two years later, D'Souza pleaded guilty in federal court to one felony charge of using a "straw donor" to make the illegal campaign contribution. He was sentenced to eight months in a halfway house near his home in San Diego, five years' probation, and a $30,000 fine. In 2018, D'Souza was issued a pardon by President Donald Trump.
Early life and career
Dinesh Joseph D'Souza was born in Bombay in 1961. D'Souza grew up in a middle-class family; his parents were Roman Catholics from the state of Goa in Western India, where his father was an executive with Johnson & Johnson and his mother was a housewife. D'Souza attended the Jesuit St. Stanislaus High School in Bombay. He graduated in 1976 and completed his 11th and 12th years at Sydenham College, also in Bombay. In 1978, D'Souza became a foreign exchange student and traveled to the United States under the Rotary Youth Exchange and attended the local public school in Patagonia, Arizona. He went on to matriculate at Dartmouth College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1983 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While at Dartmouth, D'Souza wrote for The Dartmouth Review, an independent, student-edited, alumni and Collegiate Network subsidized publication. D'Souza faced criticism during his time at the Review for authoring an article publicly outing homosexual members of the school's Gay Straight Alliance student organization.
After graduating from Dartmouth, D'Souza became the editor of a monthly journal called The Prospect, a publication financed by a group of Princeton University alumni. The paper and its writers ignited much controversy during D'Souza's editorship by, among other things, criticizing the college's affirmative action policies.
From 1985 to 1987, D'Souza was a contributing editor for Policy Review, a journal then published by The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. In a September 1985 article titled "The Bishops as Pawns," D'Souza theorized that Catholic bishops in the United States were being manipulated by American liberals in agreeing to oppose the U.S. military buildup and use of power abroad when, D'Souza believed, they knew very little about these subjects to which they were lending their religious credibility.
D'Souza was a policy adviser in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. He has been affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
In 1991, D'Souza became a naturalized United States citizen.
Career as author, political commentator, and filmmaker
Authorship
The End of Racism
In 1995 D'Souza published The End of Racism, in which he claimed that exaggerated claims of racism are holding back progress among African Americans in the US; he defended the Southern slave owner, and said that "The American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well". D'Souza also called for a repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and argued: "Given the intensity of black rage and its appeal to a wide constituency, whites are right to be nervous. Black rage is a response to black suffering and failure, and reflects the irresistible temptation to attribute African American problems to a history of white racist oppression."
A reviewer for The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education responded to the book by posting a list of sixteen recent racist incidents against black people. Michael Bérubé, in a lengthy review article, referred to the book as "encyclopedic pseudoscience", calling it illogical and saying some of the book's policy recommendations are fascist; he stated that it is "so egregious an affront to human decency as to set a new and sorry standard for 'intellectual'".
The book was panned by many other critics as well: John David Smith, in The Journal of Southern History, said D'Souza claims blacks are inferior and opines that "D'Souza bases his terribly insensitive, reactionary polemic on sound bite statistical and historical evidence, frequently gleaned out of context and patched together illogically. His book is flawed because he ignores the complex causes and severity of white racism, misrepresents Boas's arguments, and undervalues the matrix of ignorance, fear, and long-term economic inequality that he dubs black cultural pathology. How, according to his own logic, can allegedly inferior people uplift themselves without government assistance", adding that D'Souza's "biased diatribe trivializes serious pathologies, white and black, and adds little to our understanding of America's painful racial dilemma".
Paul Finkelman commented on D'Souza's trivialization of racism, and said, in a review article called "The Rise of the New Racism", that much of what D'Souza says is untrue, and much is only partially true, and described the book as being "like a parody of scholarship, where selected 'facts' are pulled out of any recognizable context, and used to support a particular viewpoint". In Finkelman's opinion, the book exemplifies a "new racism", which "(1) denies the history of racial oppression in America; (2) rejects biological racism in favor of an attack on black culture; and (3) supports formal, de jure equality in order to attack civil rights laws that prohibit private discrimination and in order to undermine any public policies that might monitor equality and give it substantive meaning". The conservative black economist Glenn Loury severed his ties with the American Enterprise Institute over the organization's role in the publication of the book. Loury wrote that the book "violated canons of civility and commonality", with D'Souza "determined to place poor, urban blacks outside the orbit of American civilization."
What's So Great About America
In the second chapter of his 2002 book, What's So Great About America, D'Souza argues that while colonialism was terrible, it had the unintended consequence of lifting third world countries up to Western civilization. D'Souza writes, "I realize that in saying these things I am opening the door for my critics, and the incorrigible enemies of the West, to say that I am justifying colonialism ... This is the purest nonsense. What I am doing is pointing out a historical fact: despite the corrupt and self-serving motives of [its] practitioners ... colonialism ... proved to be the mechanism that brought millions of nonwhite people into the orbit of Western freedom." He holds up the European colonization of India as an example, arguing that in the long run colonization was beneficial for India, because it introduced Western law, universities, infrastructure, and the like, while effectively ending human sacrifice, the practice of Sati, and other "charming indigenous customs".
In a review of the book, economist Thomas Sowell wrote that D'Souza's book exposed the fallacies and hypocrisies of various criticisms of the United States by the Islamic world, "domestic multiculturalist cults," those who seek reparations for slavery, and the worldwide intelligentsia. According to Sowell: "Perhaps it takes somebody from outside to truly appreciate all the blessings that too many native-born Americans take for granted. D'Souza understands how rare—sometimes unique—these blessings are." Sowell also wrote that D'Souza challenges the notion that all world cultures are equal: "D'Souza challenges one of the central premises of today's intelligentsia: The equality of all cultures. 'If one begins with the multicultural premise that all cultures are equal, then the world as it is makes very little sense,' he says. Some cultures have completely outperformed others in providing the things that all people seek—health, food, housing, security, and the amenities of life."
The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11
In early 2007, D'Souza published The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11, in which he argues that the American cultural left was in large part responsible for the Muslim anger that led to the September 11 attacks. He argues that Muslims do not hate America because of its freedom and democracy, but because they perceive America to be imposing its moral depravity (support for sexual licentiousness) on the world. D'Souza also argues that the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse was a result of "the sexual immodesty of liberal America", and asserts that the conditions of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay "are comparable to the accommodations in mid-level Middle Eastern hotels."
The book was criticized in major American newspapers and magazines and described as, among other things, "the worst nonfiction book about terrorism published by a major house since 9/11" and "a national disgrace". Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times described it as "a nasty stewpot of intellectually untenable premises and irresponsible speculation that frequently reads like a Saturday Night Live parody of the crackpot right."
D'Souza's book caused controversy in the conservative movement. His conservative critics widely mocked his thesis that the cultural left was responsible for 9/11. In response, D'Souza posted a 6,500-word essay on National Review Online, and NRO subsequently published a litany of responses from conservative authors who accused D'Souza of character assassination, elitism and pseudo-intellectualism.
The Roots of Obama's Rage
The September 2010 book by D'Souza, The Roots of Obama's Rage (published in condensed form in a September 2010 Forbes op-ed), interprets President Barack Obama's past and how it formed his beliefs. D'Souza states that Obama is "living out his father's dream", so that "[i]ncredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s", who, D'Souza goes on to describe as a "philandering, inebriated African socialist". The book appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for four weeks in October–November 2010.
Ryan Chittum, in an article in the Columbia Journalism Review, described the Forbes article as "a fact-twisting, error-laden piece of paranoia ... the worst kind of smear journalism—a singularly disgusting work". Commentators on both the right and left strongly disputed assertions made about Obama in the book and article. The left-leaning Media Matters for America wrote that "The Roots of Obama's Rage [was] rooted in lies". Daniel Larison of The American Conservative stated: "Dinesh D'Souza has authored what may possibly be the most ridiculous piece of Obama analysis yet written ... All in all, D'Souza's article reads like a bad conspiracy theory." Larison criticized D'Souza's suggestion that Obama is anti-business, citing a lack of evidence. Andrew Ferguson of The Weekly Standard wrote, "D'Souza always sees absence of evidence as evidence of something or other ... There is, indeed, a name for the beliefs that motivate President Obama, but it's not anticolonialism; it's not even socialism. It's liberalism!" The magazine published D'Souza's letter, in which he expressed surprise "at the petty, vindictive tone of Andrew Ferguson's review".
America: Imagine the World Without Her
D'Souza wrote the book America: Imagine the World Without Her on which his 2014 film of the same name is based. When the warehouse club Costco pulled the book from its shelves shortly before the film's release, conservative media and fans on social media criticized the move. Costco said it pulled the book due to low sales. D'Souza disputed the explanation, saying the book had only been out a few weeks and had surged to #1 on Amazon.com, while Costco stocked hundreds of much lower-selling books. He and other conservatives asserted it was pulled because one of Costco's co-founders, James Sinegal, supported Obama's politics. Costco reordered the book and cited the documentary's release and related interest for the reorder.
The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left
In July 2017, D'Souza published The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left. In the book, D'Souza asserts that the 2016 Democratic Party platform was similar to the platform of the Third Reich. The statement received media attention in 2018 when repeated by Donald Trump Jr. PolitiFact gave the claim its "Pants-on-Fire" rating, noting that "only a small number of elements of the two platforms are clearly similar, and those are so uncontroversial that they appear in the Republican platform as well." Historians refuted the assertion, with University of Maryland historian and Barack Obama critic Jeffrey Herf saying, "There is not the slightest, tiny sliver in which this could be even somewhat accurate." In another review of the book, historian Nicole Hemmer, then of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, wrote: "For a book about secret Nazis, The Big Lie is surprisingly dull ... The Big Lie thus adds little to the no-you're-the-fascist genre on the right". New York Times columnist Ross Douthat criticized the book, saying it was a "plea-for-attention" by D'Souza, and that the author had "become a hack". Douthat further stated, "Because D'Souza has become a professional deceiver, what he adds are extraordinary elisions, sweeping calumnies and laughable leaps."
In an article for The American Conservative, historian and philosopher Paul Gottfried, who has written extensively on the subject of fascism, harshly criticized a PragerU video hosted by D'Souza which maintained that fascism was a leftist ideology. D'Souza also maintained that Italian philosopher Giovanni Gentile, who influenced Italian fascism, was a leftist, to which Gottfried noted that this contradicted the research by "almost all scholars of Gentile’s work, from across the political spectrum, who view him, as I do in my study of fascism, as the most distinguished intellectual of the revolutionary right."
Christian apologetics series
D'Souza's Christian apologetics books, What's So Great About Christianity and Life After Death: The Evidence, were both on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Filmmaking
2016: Obama's America film (2012)
D'Souza wrote and co-directed the documentary-style polemical film 2016: Obama's America. Through interviews and reenactments, the film compares the similarities in the lives of D'Souza and President Barack Obama. D'Souza suggested that early influences on Obama affected the decisions he made as president. The film's tagline is "Love him or hate him, you don't know him." The film has been criticized on the grounds that what D'Souza claims to be an investigation of Obama includes considerable projection, speculation, and selective borrowing from Obama's autobiography, to prove D'Souza's own narrative. In a "Fact Check" of the film, the Associated Press found that D'Souza provided little or no evidence for most of his claims, noted that several allegations were factually false, and described the film's central thesis as "almost entirely subjective and a logical stretch at best."
After a limited release beginning July 13, 2012, the film expanded to over 1,000 theaters in late August 2012, and reached more than 2,000 theaters before the end of September 2012, eventually grossing more than $33.4 million. It is the fifth highest-grossing documentary-style in the United States during the last four decades, and the second highest-grossing political documentary.
The Obama administration described the film as "an insidious attempt to dishonestly smear the president". Later, when D'Souza was indicted for violating election law, D'Souza and his co-producers alleged that he was selectively prosecuted, and that the indictment was politically motivated retribution for the success of the film.
America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014)
In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary-style film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America."
Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed , which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.
The film review website Metacritic surveyed and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the , it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporters Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives ... seem thrilled with the movie."
Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)
On July 25, 2016, D'Souza released the documentary film Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party. The film criticizes the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton, the presumptive (and ultimate) Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 2016.
The film was universally panned by professional film critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4%, based on 27 professional reviews, with an average rating of 1.7/10. The critics consensus on the site reads, "Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party finds Dinesh D'Souza once again preaching to the right-wing choir—albeit less effectively than ever." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 2 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". The film has the seventh lowest score of all films on the site.
Peter Sobczynski wrote, "Hillary's America may well be the single dumbest documentary that I have ever seen in my life." A July 2016 review in Variety characterized D'Souza as "a right-wing conspiracy wingnut, the kind of "thinker" who takes off from Barack Obama birther theories and just keeps going, spinning out a web of comic-book liberal evil." Alex Shephard of The New Republic said:
Some conservatives viewed the film more positively. John Fund of the National Review stated that "[the film] is over the top in places and definitely selective, but the troubling facts are accurate and extensively documented in the D'Souza book that accompanies the movie." He also called the film "intensely patriotic". On July 23, 2016, Donald Trump, who was then running as the Republican presidential nominee against Clinton, called on supporters to see the film.
On January 23, 2017 the film was nominated for five Razzies including: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Dinesh D'Souza), Worst Actress (Becky Turner), Worst Director (Dinesh D'Souza and Bruce Schooley), and Worst Screenplay. In response to the Razzie nominations, D'Souza stated that he was "actually quite honored" and called the nominations "petty revenge" in response to Trump's election victory, also stating that "the film might have played an important role in the election." After "winning" four of the five possible Razzies, D'Souza repeated his view that the nominations were awarded in response to Trump's election victory.
Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time? (2018)
Death of a Nation had its world premiere in Los Angeles, California on July 30, 2018. A showing in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 2018 was co-hosted by D'Souza and President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr.
The film Death of a Nation centers around drawing parallels between the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Death of a Nation explores the role of the Democratic Party in opposing both presidents. In the film, D'Souza accuses the Democratic Party—both historically and presently—of racism, white supremacy, and fascism. D'Souza further argues that the political left attempt to falsely push claims of racism, white supremacy, and fascism onto the political right for political gain. He claims that the modern political left is currently using these types of accusations in attempts to remove Trump from office "by any means necessary."
The film includes numerous falsehoods and has received criticism from historians regarding aspects of historical accuracy. The film characterizes Adolf Hitler as a liberal; historians characterize Hitler and the Nazis as being far-right. It also claims that Hitler was a LGBTQ sympathizer, whereas the Nazis murdered thousands of gay men and imprisoned homosexuals in concentration camps.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 0% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 1.9/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 1 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". PostTrak reported that filmgoers gave the film a score of 4 out of 5 stars, while The Hollywood Reporter wrote that those polled by CinemaScore (which was paid by Death of a Nations filmmakers to conduct polls of audiences) gave it a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
On its opening weekend, the film grossed $2.3 million on 1,032 screens, the lowest wide release for a D'Souza film. , the film has grossed .
Media appearances and speaking engagements
D'Souza has appeared on numerous national television networks and programs. Six days after the September 11, 2001, attacks, D'Souza appeared on Politically Incorrect hosted by Bill Maher. He disputed the assertion that terrorists were cowards by saying, "Look at what they did. You have a whole bunch of guys who were willing to give their life; none of them backed out. All of them slammed themselves into pieces of concrete. These are warriors." Maher agreed with D'Souza's comments and said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away."
During an interview on The Colbert Report on January 16, 2007, while promoting his book The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, D'Souza maintained that liberals had some responsibility for the September 11 attacks. He said liberals' "penchant for interference" had a decided effect in convincing the Carter administration to withdraw support from the Shah, which brought on Muslim fundamentalists' control of the Iranian government. He also said that the distorted representation of American culture on television is one source of resentment of the United States by Muslims worldwide. D'Souza believes that traditional Muslims are not too different from traditional Jews and Christians in America. Towards the end of the interview, he admitted that he and Islamic militants share some of the same negative beliefs about liberal Americans.
In late February 2017, students at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, stole more than 200 flyers advertising D'Souza's planned appearance at the university the first week of March. D'Souza called the protest "pathetic", and suggested the demonstrators "Come out and debate me. In the best case you may win; in the worst, you'll learn something". Twin brothers Manfred and Jonah Wendt, co-founders of the student conservative group Tigers for Liberty, had passed around 600 notices of D'Souza's visit to campus. Those returned by the protesters contained negative comments about D'Souza.
Views
D'Souza is generally identified as a neoconservative. He defines conservatism in the American sense as "conserving the principles of the American Revolution." In Letters to a Young Conservative, written as an introduction to conservative ideas for youth, D'Souza argues that it is a blend of classical liberalism and ancient virtue, in particular, "the belief that there are moral standards in the universe and that living up to them is the best way to have a full and happy life." He also argues against what he calls the modern liberal belief that "human nature is intrinsically good," and thus that "the great conflicts in the world ... arise out of terrible misunderstandings that can be corrected through ongoing conversation and through the mediation of the United Nations."
In the book Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (1991), D'Souza argued that intolerance of conservative views is common at many universities. He has attributed many modern social problems to what he calls the "cultural left."
D'Souza has also been critical of feminism, and Bruce Goldner, in a review of D'Souza's Illiberal Education, noted that he "has a tendency to characterize feminists as castrating misanthropes".
Religion
D'Souza attended the evangelical church Calvary Chapel from 2000 to about 2010. While stating his Catholic background is important to him, D'Souza also says he is comfortable with Protestant Reformation theology and identifies as a nondenominational Christian. A writer of Christian apologetics, D'Souza has debated against prominent atheists and critics of Christianity on religious and moral issues. His debate opponents have included Dan Barker, Christopher Hitchens, Peter Singer, Daniel Dennett, Michael Shermer, David Silverman, and Bart D. Ehrman.
As a guest contributor for Christian Science Monitor, D'Souza wrote, "The moral teachings of Jesus provide no support for—indeed they stand as a stern rebuke to—the historical injustices perpetrated in the name of Christianity." He often speaks out against atheism, nonbelief in spirituality, and secularism. D'Souza elaborated on his views in the 2007 book he authored, What's so Great about Christianity. In 2009, he published Life After Death: The Evidence, which argues for an afterlife.
D'Souza has also commented on Islam. He stated in 2007 that "radical Islamic" thinkers have not condemned modernity, science or freedom but only United States' support of "secular dictators in the region" which deny "Muslims freedom and control over their own destiny". He has debated Serge Trifkovic and Robert Spencer, who both deem Islam "inherently aggressive, racist, violent, and intolerant." He has labelled Spencer an "Islamophobe" and "an effective polemicist" in his writings on Islam. D'Souza has also warned against support for "a $100 million mosque scheduled to be built near the site where terrorists in the name of Islam brought down the World Trade Center" (i.e., the Park 51 Islamic community center and mosque project), and the Middle East becoming a "United States of Islam" in his attacks against President Barack Obama.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
D'Souza has promoted several conspiracy theories, such as the false claim that Obama was not born in the United States and the conspiracy theory that the Clintons had murdered people. D'Souza has also promoted conspiracy theories about Hungarian-born Jewish financier George Soros, including the false claim that Soros had collaborated with the Nazis, and that Soros has sponsored Antifa, a left-wing anti-fascist movement. In an August 2016 interview with GQ, D'Souza denied being a conspiracy theorist, stating: "I have never advanced a conspiracy theory in my life."
In August 2017, D'Souza suggested that the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally had been staged. In the same month, D'Souza tweeted that it would be "interesting to see" Soros "extradited to Israel & tried for his complicity in Nazi atrocities against Jews", and referred to Soros as "Hitler's collection boy".
After mail bombing attempts on prominent Democratic politicians occurred in October 2018, D'Souza tweeted: "Fake sexual assault victims. Fake refugees. Now fake mail bombs." D'Souza spread the conspiracy theory that because there was no cancellation mark on the bomb-containing packages, they were not mailed.
In February 2021, after the United States Capitol attack took place, D'Souza suggested that the rioters were little more than "a bunch of rowdy people walking through a hallway". In May, D'Souza tweeted about the attack: "Does this LOOK like an insurrection? A riot? A coup attempt? If it doesn't walk like a duck or talk like a duck then it probably isn't a duck."
Opinions expressed on Twitter
In November 2013, D'Souza received backlash for referring to Obama as "Grown-Up Trayvon" in a tweet. In response to the backlash, D'Souza tweeted: "Feigned outrage on the left over me calling Obama ‘grown up Trayvon’ except that Obama likened himself to Trayvon!". D'Souza later deleted the initial tweet, ostensibly because Obama was referring to his hypothetical son.
In February 2015, D'Souza wrote: "You can take the boy out of the ghetto" in a tweet criticizing Obama for using a selfie stick. After the tweet was criticized as racist, D'Souza tweeted: "I know Obama wasn't actually raised in a ghetto--I'm using the term metaphorically, to suggest his unpresidential conduct".
In January 2017, after civil rights leader and Georgia congressman John Lewis stated that the then-newly elected President Donald Trump was not a "legitimate president", D'Souza tweeted: "The left’s false narrative inflates minor figures like John Lewis, Democrat, & downplays major ones like Frederick Douglass, Republican". D'Souza later tweeted that civil rights activist Rosa Parks' contributions to the civil rights movement were "absurdly inflated" and described her as an "overrated Democrat". D'Souza received criticism for the tweets, with Charles C. W. Cooke of National Review stating: "Not only incorrect, it's an attitude that would never be struck about a soldier on, say, Veterans Day … [E]ven if Parks was a minor player (she wasn't), she'd still deserve to be lionized."
In November 2017, D'Souza mocked Beverly Young Nelson, one of the women who accused Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, and tweeted: "I was lukewarm on Roy Moore until the last-minute smear. Now we must elect him to show that the @washingtonpost sleaze attack failed". David French, then-senior writer at National Review, tweeted "What has happened to you?" in response to D'Souza's tweet about Nelson.
In February 2018, D'Souza was criticized for a series of tweets which mocked the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In response to a photo of survivors reacting to Florida lawmakers voting down a proposed ban on assault weapons in the aftermath of the shooting, D'Souza tweeted "worst news since their parents told them to get summer jobs". D'Souza also accused the survivors of "politically-orchestrated grief" and said that their grief "[struck him] as phony and inauthentic". D'Souza's comments were condemned by both liberal and conservative commentators. Journalist Jonathan M. Katz wrote: "Let it never be said that Dinesh does not actively root for the death of children." Others accused D'Souza of "trolling kids". D'Souza was also denounced by the Conservative Political Action Conference, which removed him from its roster of speakers and stated: "his comments are indefensible". D'Souza subsequently apologized for the initial tweet, saying that it was "aimed at media manipulation" and that he was being "insensitive to students who lost friends in a terrible tragedy."
Presidency of The King's College
In August 2010, D'Souza was named president of The King's College, a Christian liberal arts college then housed in the Empire State Building in Manhattan. In 2012, the college relocated to a larger space next door to the New York Stock Exchange in Lower Manhattan's financial district. On October 18, 2012, D'Souza resigned his post at The King's College following a press report that he—despite being married—had shared a hotel room at a Christian conference with another woman and introduced her to others as his fiancée. D'Souza acknowledged being separated from his wife and having introduced Denise Odie Joseph II as his fiancée at a Christian conference; however, he denied that the two were engaged in an adulterous affair and that he had shared a room with Joseph at the conference, and described the report as "pure libel" that is "worthy of Christian condemnation." After an investigation by officials at The King's College, D'Souza stated that he had suspended his engagement to Joseph.
After D'Souza's indiscretion became public, the trustees of The King's College announced on October 17, 2012 that D'Souza had resigned his position as president of the university "to attend to his personal and family needs".
Campaign finance violation, felony guilty plea, conviction, and pardon
On January 23, 2014, D'Souza was charged with making $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions to the New York Senate campaign of Wendy Long and causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission. His attorney responded to the charges by saying his client "did not act with any corrupt or criminal intent whatsoever" and described the incident as "at most ... an act of misguided friendship".
On May 15, 2014, United States district judge Richard M. Berman rejected the contention that D'Souza was singled out for prosecution, stating, "The court concludes the defendant has respectfully submitted no evidence he was selectively prosecuted."
On May 20, 2014, D'Souza pleaded guilty to one felony count of making illegal contributions in the names of others. On September 23, 2014, the court sentenced D'Souza to five years' probation, eight months in a halfway house (referred to as a "community confinement center") and a $30,000 fine. After D'Souza's conviction, his claim of selective prosecution continued to receive support from some conservative media and commentators.
On May 31, 2018, President Donald Trump pardoned D'Souza. D'Souza thanked Trump for the pardon, tweeting: "Obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both". After fellow Indian-American Preet Bharara criticized Trump's pardon of D'Souza, D'Souza accused Bharara of trying to destroy his career, tweeting: "Bharara & his goons bludgeoned me into the plea by threatening to add a second redundant charge carrying a prison term of FIVE YEARS".
Personal life
D'Souza dated fellow conservatives Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter prior to meeting Dixie Brubaker while working at the White House. D'Souza and Brubaker married in 1992. They have one daughter, Danielle D’Souza Gill, who is a writer and a member of the Women for Trump Coalition. The couple lived together in California until D'Souza moved to New York as president of The King's College in 2010. He maintained a residence near San Diego, California, where his wife and daughter remained. D'Souza and Brubaker divorced in 2012.
While D'Souza was being sentenced for campaign finance fraud in 2014, Brubaker wrote a letter to the judge alleging that D'Souza had physically abused her; she claimed that "in April 2012 … he, using his purple belt karate skills, kicked me in the head and shoulder, knocking me to the ground and creating injuries that pain me to this day." Benjamin Brafman, D'Souza's attorney for his campaign finance case, dismissed Brubaker's allegation as completely false.
On March 19, 2016, D'Souza married Deborah Fancher, a conservative political activist and mother of two. Fancher emigrated from Venezuela at age 10. The wedding was held near San Diego with Rafael Cruz, father of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), officiating.
Works
Books
Books authored by D'Souza include:
Films
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1961 births
Living people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century American criminals
American conspiracy theorists
American people of Goan descent
American people convicted of campaign finance violations
American social commentators
People from San Diego
Writers from New York City
Critics of atheism
Male critics of feminism
Dartmouth College alumni
Hoover Institution people
Indian emigrants to the United States
Indian Christians
National Review people
Christian apologists
Writers from Mumbai
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Reagan administration personnel
The Heritage Foundation
The King's College (New York City) faculty
American male writers of Indian descent
American Christian writers
Recipients of American presidential pardons
American male non-fiction writers
Right-wing politics in the United States
Golden Raspberry Award winners
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
John M. Olin Foundation | true | [
"Kids Can Say No!, stylized as Kids Can Say No, is a 1985 British short educational film produced and directed by Jessica Skippon and written by Anita Bennett. It is intended to teach children between ages five and eight how to avoid situations where they might be sexually abused, how to escape such situations, and how to get help if they are abused. In the film, Australian celebrity Rolf Harris is in a park with a group of four children and tells them about proper and improper physical intimacy, which he calls \"yes\" and \"no\" feelings. The film has four role-playing scenes in which children encounter paedophiles, with Harris and the children discussing each scene.\n\nHarris said that he came up with the idea for the film on a 1982 Canadian tour when he saw Vancouver's Green Thumb Theatre production of Feeling Yes, Feeling No, a play about child sexual abuse. Kids Can Say No!, released in October 1985 on VHS in the United Kingdom, was the first British children's film about sexual abuse and was purchased by police forces, educational institutions, and libraries across Europe. Upon the film's release, The Times obtained opinions from four sexual-abuse experts, who unanimously opposed using Kids Can Say No! or any other film to teach children about the subject. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation received a positive response to its 1988 broadcast of Kids Can Say No! and therefore broadcast it a second time that year. Harris and Skippon collaborated on the 1986 sequel Beyond the Scare, which advises teachers about what to do if a child discloses abuse. Showings of Kids Can Say No! eventually decreased as VHS became less popular.\n\nKids Can Say No! resurfaced in 2014, when Harris was prosecuted for twelve counts of indecently assaulting young girls. The prosecutors found Kids Can Say No! on YouTube and wanted to show it at trial to illustrate its unintentional irony, but the film was not admitted as evidence. Harris was found guilty of all counts. During the trial, it was learned that, while Harris was filming Kids Can Say No!, he was in the midst of a casual sexual relationship with his daughter Bindi's best friend and, by its release, he had committed nine of the twelve assaults. According to Richard Guilliatt and Jacquelin Magnay in an article in The Australian, Harris' campaign against paedophilia in Kids Can Say No! can \"be seen in retrospect as either monumental self-delusion or a sign of deep, self-lacerating guilt\".\n\nContents\n\nIn Kids Can Say No!, Australian celebrity Rolf Harris appears with four children between the ages of seven and eight and warns them about paedophiles. The film begins with its theme song, \"My Body\", which has the chorus \"My body's nobody's body but mine. You run your own body. Let me run mine.\" During the song, children ride a seesaw, skip rope and cycle. Harris sits under a tree in a park with the children—two girls and two boys—and tells them about proper and improper physical intimacy, which he calls \"yes\" and \"no\" feelings; a parent's hug is given as an example of a \"yes\" feeling. In vox populi segments, children give other examples of \"yes\" and \"no\" feelings; one child says that being tickled by his father is a \"yes\" feeling, and another says that being squeezed hard is a \"no\" feeling. Harris leads the children in a chant of \"Go away!\" as an exercise in how to respond to \"no\" feelings. He teaches the children about stranger danger, and that adults they know can also be a threat.\n\nThe film includes four role-playing scenes. In the first, a man tells a girl that he will buy her a toy if she goes home with him. In the second, eight-year-old Natasha goes to her friend's house and finds that only her friend's father is home; after he intentionally spills water on her clothes, he tells her to take them off. The film cuts to Harris, who says, \"She should look him straight in the eye and tell him to stop, go away\". In the third scene, a group of older boys try to lure young children into their \"special club\"; they lead one young boy to a secluded, wooded area and try to convince him to remove his clothes. In the last role-playing scene, Sophie's father offers her a secret bubble bath; afterwards, he tells her not to tell anyone because he would go to jail and it would be her fault.\n\nDuring and after each of the role-playing scenes, Harris and the children discuss the situation and what the child should do. Harris tells the children not to be afraid to tell someone if they have been improperly touched, saying, \"Some people don't act right with kids, and they need help. You can't protect them from trouble that they themselves have caused, and it's better to say something so that you and the family can get the help you need. You know nothing gets better by keeping quiet about it.\" Harris says that, if it is difficult to explain where they have been touched, they can draw a picture or point to the place on a doll. The film ends with \"My Body\" sung by a group of people including Harris, two police officers, and some children.\n\nProduction\nKids Can Say No! is a twenty-minute British short educational film intended to teach children about sexual abuse. Harris said he was naive about the subject and was motivated to make the film by a female teacher who told him that, when she spoke to her students about abuse, a traumatised girl ran out of the room; the girl later disclosed that she was being abused by a family member. According to Harris, he came up with the idea for the film on a 1982 Canadian tour when he saw Vancouver's Green Thumb Theatre production of Feeling Yes, Feeling No, a play about child sexual abuse. He was also inspired by a similar Australian production and a Swedish film about two children befriended by a large man on a farm. In an interview, Harris said that, when he saw the Swedish film, he thought the man was going to abuse the children, but that his expectations were incorrect and that \"the film was completely innocent; I was not\".\n\nHarris, then host of Rolf's Cartoon Time, approached the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and the Tavistock Clinic with his idea about making a film on child sexual abuse. Both organisations were receptive. Harris had previous connections with the NSPCC, having appeared in films in 1963 and 1973 promoting the NSPCC League of Pity, and a NSPCC official suggested that he use child actors in Kids Can Say No! Harris approached director Jessica Skippon, with whom he had made a film about water safety, and said that he wanted to make Kids Can Say No! to protect children. Harris later said that production was hampered by colleagues opposing the idea that children should be told about sexual abuse.\n\nKids Can Say No! was made in London with input from Carolyn Okell Jones, an expert on child abuse, and was filmed on Hampstead Heath in 1985. The child actors were students at the Barbara Speake Stage School. Skippon directed and produced the film. Funding was difficult because neither the Department of Health and Social Security nor the Home Office considered the film under their jurisdiction, and each office referred Skippon to the other. Childwatch donated £15,000 and technical facilities were provided by Barclays Bank Video. American children's songwriter Peter Alsop wrote the song. American Anita Bennett wrote the script, which was reviewed and approved by a NSPCC committee. Kids Can Say No! was the second film from Rolf Harris Video, an educational video production company Harris founded in 1980. In an interview, he said that his role of talking with children about sexual abuse in the film was a natural one because \"my track record has made me a believable person. I have never betrayed the kids' trust\".\n\nKids Can Say No! was the first British children's film about sexual abuse. The film is intended to teach children between ages five and eight how to avoid situations where they might be abused, how to get out of such situations, and how to get help if they are abused. Skippon later said that, although the people working on the film tried to keep it from being frightening to children, the task was difficult. She said that the film was not intended for home viewing and that only well-informed adults trained in the subject should present it to children.\n\nIn April 1986, Harris met with Western Australia Police officials and members of several state-government departments in Mount Hawthorn to propose another film for children about how to handle sexual predators. Despite Harris' offer to work for free, the officials declined and instead developed a broader campaign on the subject without Harris.\n\nRelease\n\nKids Can Say No! was released in the United Kingdom in October 1985 on VHS with notes for teachers and two relevant books, and was distributed by Skippon Video, Skippon's UK-based company. Although several other short children's educational films about sexual abuse were on the market in the UK including several also released that year, Kids Can Say No! was the only British film; the others were made in Australia, Canada and the United States.\n\nIn August 1986, Jones presented the film at the Sydney Opera House in Australia as part of the sixth International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect, the largest conference in the world on child abuse. The 56-year-old Harris, who was chosen to be master of ceremonies for the three-day conference's opening event because of his celebrity and involvement with the film, told the audience that paedophilia was finally \"coming out from under its veil of secrecy\".\n\nCopies of Kids Can Say No! were purchased by police forces, educational institutions, and libraries across Europe. The VHS tapes circulated widely in schools and rape crisis centers in Australia; although showings began to decrease as VHS became less popular, the film was a significant teaching tool. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation received a positive response to its 1988 broadcast of Kids Can Say No! and therefore broadcast it a second time that year.\n\nSequel\nAfter the release of Kids Can Say No!, many teachers who showed the film to their students reported receiving disclosures of abuse. Because many of the teachers said they were unsure of how to deal with the disclosures, Harris and Skippon collaborated on the 1986 sequel Beyond the Scare. Kids Can Say No! encourages children to report abuse they experience and Beyond the Scare advises teachers about what to do if a child makes such a disclosure.\n\nBeyond the Scare, filmed in a North London school, consists of role-playing scenes with actual teachers. The film instructs teachers to listen to the child, to discuss the incident with the child's parents and to contact the appropriate authorities. The Tavistock Clinic helped with the film's production, and an expert from the organisation appears on-camera to promote child protection projects in schools. Although Harris appears in Beyond the Scare, his role is less prominent than in Kids Can Say No! and his activism against child abuse ended soon afterwards.\n\nHarris' trial\n\nKids Can Say No! resurfaced in 2014 when Harris, then 83 years old, was prosecuted for twelve counts of indecent assault between 1968 and 1986 against four young girls; the youngest was seven years old. The prosecutors found Kids Can Say No! on YouTube and wanted to show it at trial for its unintentional irony, but the film was ruled irrelevant to the case and not admitted as evidence.\n\nAfter the trial began, Jessica Skippon issued a legal warning to media outlets not to use the film without written permission. The director wrote to The Independent that no complaints were made against Harris during the making of the film. In an article about the allegations against Harris, The Sunday Telegraph noted that Kids Can Say No! was commissioned by the NSPCC; a NSPCC spokesperson responded, \"The film was made independently by Rolf Harris and a film company nearly 30 years ago ... We did not commission it, fund it, make it or distribute it\".\n\nSouthwark Crown Court found Harris guilty of all twelve counts of indecent assault. During the trial, it was learned that, while making Kids Can Say No!, Harris was involved in a casual sexual relationship with his daughter Bindi's best friend; the relationship began when the victim was 13 years old and lasted for 15 years. Harris had committed nine of the twelve counts by the film's release, including the assault of fifteen-year-old Tonya Lee in London three months before the release. The first complainant was about the age of the children in Kids Can Say No!, although the conviction related to this count was quashed in 2017. The last assault of which Harris was convicted occurred several weeks after his meeting with officials in Western Australia to propose another film about child sexual abuse. A former child actor from the Barbara Speake Stage School who appeared in Kids Can Say No! said that Harris' behavior with older girls at the school made Harris' eventual arrest unsurprising.\n\nReception\nReviews of Kids Can Say No! have generally been negative, with initial reviews doubting the benefit of showing the film to children and later reviews focusing on Harris' hypocrisy. In a 1985 Times review, Caroline Moorehead writes that the film's avoidance of an explicit discussion of sexual abuse was both a requirement and the film's greatest weakness. According to Moorehead, an explicit discussion might have terrified children and prevented parents from consenting to their children's viewing of the film; however, its oblique approach prevents children from understanding the issue. She calls the film's theme song \"catchy, one of those irritating snatches of music that is hard to forget\".\n\nThe Times obtained opinions from four sexual-abuse experts, who unanimously opposed using Kids Can Say No! or any other film to teach children about the subject. Northampton social worker Helen Kenward said that she would not show the film to children. Psychiatrist Brendan McCarthy called it simplistic. According to teacher Clare Rankin, children under five would not understand the film. Physician Paula Drummond was concerned that it might inspire children to falsely accuse adults they disliked, although McCarthy said that children were unlikely to make false abuse accusations. McCarthy was especially critical of the film, calling it \"no clearer to a child than the Gorbachev-Reagan talks\". Moorehead summarised the experts' comments as suggesting that Kids Can Say No! is \"muddling, evasive and pussy-footed, best not for children at all, but as ... aids for parents and professional workers to alert them to paedophilia and incest\".\n\nIn a 1988 Sydney Morning Herald review, Judith Whelan writes that Harris is more serious in the film than he was when performing \"Jake the Peg\". According to Whelan, the film \"would best be seen by children in a group, with an adult (teacher or parent) nearby who could encourage discussion after the show or answer children's questions during it\".\n\nWhen Kids Can Say No! resurfaced in 2014, Peter Walker wrote in The Guardian that the film \"illustrates with grim eloquence, in retrospect, the prosecution notion that [Harris] was a man of two distinct sides: the avuncular and trustworthy public figure, and lurking behind, the groper and abuser\". Walker notes that the scene in which a man assaults his child's friend mirrors what Harris did to his daughter's best friend, and that the closing sequence has \"an accidental resonance that would only emerge more than 25 years later\" because of the two police officers behind Harris.\n\nAccording to Richard Guilliatt and Jacquelin Magnay in an article in The Australian, Harris' campaign against paedophilia in Kids Can Say No! can \"be seen in retrospect as either monumental self-delusion or a sign of deep, self-lacerating guilt\". NSPCC chief executive officer Peter Wanless appeared on Good Morning Britain saying that Harris' appearance in the film was hypocritical.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1985 direct-to-video films\nSocial guidance films\nBritish short films\nBritish films\n1985 short films\n1985 films\nAnti-pedophile activism\nFilms about pedophilia\nOperation Yewtree\nFilms about child abuse\nSex education\nSexuality in the United Kingdom\nFilms shot in London\nFilms set in London",
"\"What They'll Say About Us\" is a song by American singer-songwriter Finneas. It was released by OYOY as a single on September 2, 2020. The song was written and produced by Finneas. A lullaby-influenced ballad, the lyrics were inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests and Nick Cordero's death due to COVID-19. \"What They'll Say About Us\" was noted by music critics for its lyrical content. A music video for the song was released alongside the song and was directed by Sam Bennett in one take. It is the first single from his debut studio album Optimist.\n\nBackground and development\nFinneas wrote and produced \"What They'll Say About Us\". It was inspired by the spark of Black Lives Matter protests after racial inequality in the United States and the death of Canadian actor Nick Cordero, who died at the age of 41 from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Finneas wrote the track in June 2020 while in quarantine. In an interview over Zoom with The Wall Street Journal, he said: \"I wrote this song in June after spending the day at a protest in Downtown LA, filled with hope with the prospect that millions of people were coming together from all over the world to fight against institutionalized racism and inequality\". He further stated: \"The other component of the song was [that] I was very closely following Nick Cordero's story on Instagram, via his wife [Amanda Kloots], and Nick and his wife were not people I'd ever met. I don't know them at all. I saw the headlines about his health, just like everybody else did. I just became incredibly attached to this family that I’d never met before. I kind of wrote this song as if you were singing to your loved one who was in a hospital bed while the world was protesting outside. I did make a point to keep the song fairly ambiguous because I know everybody's sort of going through different circumstances of the same things right now\".\n\nComposition and lyrics\n\"What They'll Say About Us\" begins \"calmly and reassuringly\": \"You're tired now, lie down/I'll be waiting to give you the good news/It might take patience/And when you wake up, it won't be over/So don't you give up\". However, as the beat and other instruments begin to arrive, the soundstage changes to be hazy. John Pareles, writing for The New York Times, says it \"mortality begins to haunt the song, all the way to a devastating last line\", noting the lyrics, \"It might take patience/And if you don't wake up/I'll know you tried to/I wish you could see him/He looks just like you\".\n\nReception\nIn a review for DIY magazine, the staff labeled \"What They'll Say About Us\" as \"poignant\" and an \"ode to human strength\". Writing for Billboard magazine, Jason Lipshutz said while the production on the track is \"effectively restrained\", people should credit Finneas for going \"full-on showstopper when he draws out the line, 'We've got the time to take the world / And make it better than it ever was\". Emily Tan of Spin magazine described the track as a song that \"aims to offer comfort to those who have lost someone due to Covid-19\".\n\nMusic video\nA music video for \"What They'll Say About Us\" was released to Finneas' YouTube channel on September 2, 2020. The video was directed by Sam Bennett and shot in one take. In the visual, lights and rain swirl around Finneas as he sings and offers comfort to people who have lost someone they love from COVID-19. Spins Emily Yan described the visual as \"simple\" and \"intimate\".\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2020s ballads\n2020 singles\n2020 songs\nSong recordings produced by Finneas O'Connell\nSongs written by Finneas O'Connell\nSongs in memory of deceased persons\nFinneas O'Connell songs"
]
|
[
"Dinesh D'Souza",
"America: Imagine the World Without Her",
"What books did D'Souza write?",
"D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release",
"What was the film about?",
"Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but \"we do have us\" in \"our struggle for the restoration of America.",
"Was the film popular?",
"The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.",
"How did critics receive the film?",
"It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates \"overwhelming dislike\".",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive.",
"What did people have to say about the film?",
"CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an \"A+\" grade."
]
| C_31bfdcd402d44289a6206d9b34765869_1 | What else was said about the film? | 7 | Besides CinemaScore report, what else was said about the film? | Dinesh D'Souza | In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America." Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014. The film review website Metacritic surveyed 11 movie critics and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the 24 reviews, it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporter's Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives... seem thrilled with the movie." John Fund of National Review said the documentary was a response to U.S. progressive critique of the country, "D'Souza's film and his accompanying book are a no-holds-barred assault on the contemporary doctrine of political correctness." Fund said D'Souza's message was "deeply pessimistic" but concluded, "Most people will leave the theater with a more optimistic conclusion: Much of the criticism of America taught in the nation's schools is easily refuted, America is worth saving, and we have the tools to do so in our DNA, just waiting to be harnessed." National Review's Jay Nordlinger said, "Dinesh is the anti-Moore: taking to the big screen to press conservative points... The shame narrators (let's call them) focus on maybe 20 percent of the American story. Dinesh simply puts the other 80 percent back in." In a second article, Jay Nordlinger said, "The second movie confirms for me that one of Dinesh's great advantages is that he is absolutely clear-eyed about the Third World. While liberal Americans romanticize it, he has lived it." CANNOTANSWER | Bond reported, "Conservatives... seem thrilled with the movie. | Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, provocateur, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. D'Souza has written over a dozen books, several of them New York Times best-sellers.
In 2012, D'Souza released the documentary film 2016: Obama's America, an anti-Obama polemic based on his 2010 book The Roots of Obama's Rage; it earned $33 million, making it the highest-grossing conservative documentary of all time and one of the highest-grossing documentaries of any kind. He has since released four other documentary films: America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014), Hillary's America (2016), Death of a Nation (2018), and Trump Card (2020). D'Souza's films and commentary have generated considerable controversy due to their promotion of conspiracy theories and falsehoods, as well as for their incendiary nature.
Born in Bombay, D'Souza moved to the United States as an exchange student and graduated from Dartmouth College. He became a naturalized citizen in 1991. From 2010 to 2012, he was president of The King's College, a Christian school in New York City until he resigned after an alleged adultery scandal.
In 2012, D’Souza contributed $10,000 to the senate campaign of Wendy Long on behalf of himself and his wife, agreeing in writing to attribute that contribution as $5,000 from his wife and $5,000 from him. He directed two other people to give Long a total of $20,000 additional, which he agreed to reimburse, and later did. At the time, the Election Act limited campaign contributions to $5,000 from any individual to any one candidate. Two years later, D'Souza pleaded guilty in federal court to one felony charge of using a "straw donor" to make the illegal campaign contribution. He was sentenced to eight months in a halfway house near his home in San Diego, five years' probation, and a $30,000 fine. In 2018, D'Souza was issued a pardon by President Donald Trump.
Early life and career
Dinesh Joseph D'Souza was born in Bombay in 1961. D'Souza grew up in a middle-class family; his parents were Roman Catholics from the state of Goa in Western India, where his father was an executive with Johnson & Johnson and his mother was a housewife. D'Souza attended the Jesuit St. Stanislaus High School in Bombay. He graduated in 1976 and completed his 11th and 12th years at Sydenham College, also in Bombay. In 1978, D'Souza became a foreign exchange student and traveled to the United States under the Rotary Youth Exchange and attended the local public school in Patagonia, Arizona. He went on to matriculate at Dartmouth College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1983 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While at Dartmouth, D'Souza wrote for The Dartmouth Review, an independent, student-edited, alumni and Collegiate Network subsidized publication. D'Souza faced criticism during his time at the Review for authoring an article publicly outing homosexual members of the school's Gay Straight Alliance student organization.
After graduating from Dartmouth, D'Souza became the editor of a monthly journal called The Prospect, a publication financed by a group of Princeton University alumni. The paper and its writers ignited much controversy during D'Souza's editorship by, among other things, criticizing the college's affirmative action policies.
From 1985 to 1987, D'Souza was a contributing editor for Policy Review, a journal then published by The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. In a September 1985 article titled "The Bishops as Pawns," D'Souza theorized that Catholic bishops in the United States were being manipulated by American liberals in agreeing to oppose the U.S. military buildup and use of power abroad when, D'Souza believed, they knew very little about these subjects to which they were lending their religious credibility.
D'Souza was a policy adviser in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. He has been affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
In 1991, D'Souza became a naturalized United States citizen.
Career as author, political commentator, and filmmaker
Authorship
The End of Racism
In 1995 D'Souza published The End of Racism, in which he claimed that exaggerated claims of racism are holding back progress among African Americans in the US; he defended the Southern slave owner, and said that "The American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well". D'Souza also called for a repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and argued: "Given the intensity of black rage and its appeal to a wide constituency, whites are right to be nervous. Black rage is a response to black suffering and failure, and reflects the irresistible temptation to attribute African American problems to a history of white racist oppression."
A reviewer for The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education responded to the book by posting a list of sixteen recent racist incidents against black people. Michael Bérubé, in a lengthy review article, referred to the book as "encyclopedic pseudoscience", calling it illogical and saying some of the book's policy recommendations are fascist; he stated that it is "so egregious an affront to human decency as to set a new and sorry standard for 'intellectual'".
The book was panned by many other critics as well: John David Smith, in The Journal of Southern History, said D'Souza claims blacks are inferior and opines that "D'Souza bases his terribly insensitive, reactionary polemic on sound bite statistical and historical evidence, frequently gleaned out of context and patched together illogically. His book is flawed because he ignores the complex causes and severity of white racism, misrepresents Boas's arguments, and undervalues the matrix of ignorance, fear, and long-term economic inequality that he dubs black cultural pathology. How, according to his own logic, can allegedly inferior people uplift themselves without government assistance", adding that D'Souza's "biased diatribe trivializes serious pathologies, white and black, and adds little to our understanding of America's painful racial dilemma".
Paul Finkelman commented on D'Souza's trivialization of racism, and said, in a review article called "The Rise of the New Racism", that much of what D'Souza says is untrue, and much is only partially true, and described the book as being "like a parody of scholarship, where selected 'facts' are pulled out of any recognizable context, and used to support a particular viewpoint". In Finkelman's opinion, the book exemplifies a "new racism", which "(1) denies the history of racial oppression in America; (2) rejects biological racism in favor of an attack on black culture; and (3) supports formal, de jure equality in order to attack civil rights laws that prohibit private discrimination and in order to undermine any public policies that might monitor equality and give it substantive meaning". The conservative black economist Glenn Loury severed his ties with the American Enterprise Institute over the organization's role in the publication of the book. Loury wrote that the book "violated canons of civility and commonality", with D'Souza "determined to place poor, urban blacks outside the orbit of American civilization."
What's So Great About America
In the second chapter of his 2002 book, What's So Great About America, D'Souza argues that while colonialism was terrible, it had the unintended consequence of lifting third world countries up to Western civilization. D'Souza writes, "I realize that in saying these things I am opening the door for my critics, and the incorrigible enemies of the West, to say that I am justifying colonialism ... This is the purest nonsense. What I am doing is pointing out a historical fact: despite the corrupt and self-serving motives of [its] practitioners ... colonialism ... proved to be the mechanism that brought millions of nonwhite people into the orbit of Western freedom." He holds up the European colonization of India as an example, arguing that in the long run colonization was beneficial for India, because it introduced Western law, universities, infrastructure, and the like, while effectively ending human sacrifice, the practice of Sati, and other "charming indigenous customs".
In a review of the book, economist Thomas Sowell wrote that D'Souza's book exposed the fallacies and hypocrisies of various criticisms of the United States by the Islamic world, "domestic multiculturalist cults," those who seek reparations for slavery, and the worldwide intelligentsia. According to Sowell: "Perhaps it takes somebody from outside to truly appreciate all the blessings that too many native-born Americans take for granted. D'Souza understands how rare—sometimes unique—these blessings are." Sowell also wrote that D'Souza challenges the notion that all world cultures are equal: "D'Souza challenges one of the central premises of today's intelligentsia: The equality of all cultures. 'If one begins with the multicultural premise that all cultures are equal, then the world as it is makes very little sense,' he says. Some cultures have completely outperformed others in providing the things that all people seek—health, food, housing, security, and the amenities of life."
The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11
In early 2007, D'Souza published The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11, in which he argues that the American cultural left was in large part responsible for the Muslim anger that led to the September 11 attacks. He argues that Muslims do not hate America because of its freedom and democracy, but because they perceive America to be imposing its moral depravity (support for sexual licentiousness) on the world. D'Souza also argues that the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse was a result of "the sexual immodesty of liberal America", and asserts that the conditions of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay "are comparable to the accommodations in mid-level Middle Eastern hotels."
The book was criticized in major American newspapers and magazines and described as, among other things, "the worst nonfiction book about terrorism published by a major house since 9/11" and "a national disgrace". Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times described it as "a nasty stewpot of intellectually untenable premises and irresponsible speculation that frequently reads like a Saturday Night Live parody of the crackpot right."
D'Souza's book caused controversy in the conservative movement. His conservative critics widely mocked his thesis that the cultural left was responsible for 9/11. In response, D'Souza posted a 6,500-word essay on National Review Online, and NRO subsequently published a litany of responses from conservative authors who accused D'Souza of character assassination, elitism and pseudo-intellectualism.
The Roots of Obama's Rage
The September 2010 book by D'Souza, The Roots of Obama's Rage (published in condensed form in a September 2010 Forbes op-ed), interprets President Barack Obama's past and how it formed his beliefs. D'Souza states that Obama is "living out his father's dream", so that "[i]ncredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s", who, D'Souza goes on to describe as a "philandering, inebriated African socialist". The book appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for four weeks in October–November 2010.
Ryan Chittum, in an article in the Columbia Journalism Review, described the Forbes article as "a fact-twisting, error-laden piece of paranoia ... the worst kind of smear journalism—a singularly disgusting work". Commentators on both the right and left strongly disputed assertions made about Obama in the book and article. The left-leaning Media Matters for America wrote that "The Roots of Obama's Rage [was] rooted in lies". Daniel Larison of The American Conservative stated: "Dinesh D'Souza has authored what may possibly be the most ridiculous piece of Obama analysis yet written ... All in all, D'Souza's article reads like a bad conspiracy theory." Larison criticized D'Souza's suggestion that Obama is anti-business, citing a lack of evidence. Andrew Ferguson of The Weekly Standard wrote, "D'Souza always sees absence of evidence as evidence of something or other ... There is, indeed, a name for the beliefs that motivate President Obama, but it's not anticolonialism; it's not even socialism. It's liberalism!" The magazine published D'Souza's letter, in which he expressed surprise "at the petty, vindictive tone of Andrew Ferguson's review".
America: Imagine the World Without Her
D'Souza wrote the book America: Imagine the World Without Her on which his 2014 film of the same name is based. When the warehouse club Costco pulled the book from its shelves shortly before the film's release, conservative media and fans on social media criticized the move. Costco said it pulled the book due to low sales. D'Souza disputed the explanation, saying the book had only been out a few weeks and had surged to #1 on Amazon.com, while Costco stocked hundreds of much lower-selling books. He and other conservatives asserted it was pulled because one of Costco's co-founders, James Sinegal, supported Obama's politics. Costco reordered the book and cited the documentary's release and related interest for the reorder.
The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left
In July 2017, D'Souza published The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left. In the book, D'Souza asserts that the 2016 Democratic Party platform was similar to the platform of the Third Reich. The statement received media attention in 2018 when repeated by Donald Trump Jr. PolitiFact gave the claim its "Pants-on-Fire" rating, noting that "only a small number of elements of the two platforms are clearly similar, and those are so uncontroversial that they appear in the Republican platform as well." Historians refuted the assertion, with University of Maryland historian and Barack Obama critic Jeffrey Herf saying, "There is not the slightest, tiny sliver in which this could be even somewhat accurate." In another review of the book, historian Nicole Hemmer, then of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, wrote: "For a book about secret Nazis, The Big Lie is surprisingly dull ... The Big Lie thus adds little to the no-you're-the-fascist genre on the right". New York Times columnist Ross Douthat criticized the book, saying it was a "plea-for-attention" by D'Souza, and that the author had "become a hack". Douthat further stated, "Because D'Souza has become a professional deceiver, what he adds are extraordinary elisions, sweeping calumnies and laughable leaps."
In an article for The American Conservative, historian and philosopher Paul Gottfried, who has written extensively on the subject of fascism, harshly criticized a PragerU video hosted by D'Souza which maintained that fascism was a leftist ideology. D'Souza also maintained that Italian philosopher Giovanni Gentile, who influenced Italian fascism, was a leftist, to which Gottfried noted that this contradicted the research by "almost all scholars of Gentile’s work, from across the political spectrum, who view him, as I do in my study of fascism, as the most distinguished intellectual of the revolutionary right."
Christian apologetics series
D'Souza's Christian apologetics books, What's So Great About Christianity and Life After Death: The Evidence, were both on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Filmmaking
2016: Obama's America film (2012)
D'Souza wrote and co-directed the documentary-style polemical film 2016: Obama's America. Through interviews and reenactments, the film compares the similarities in the lives of D'Souza and President Barack Obama. D'Souza suggested that early influences on Obama affected the decisions he made as president. The film's tagline is "Love him or hate him, you don't know him." The film has been criticized on the grounds that what D'Souza claims to be an investigation of Obama includes considerable projection, speculation, and selective borrowing from Obama's autobiography, to prove D'Souza's own narrative. In a "Fact Check" of the film, the Associated Press found that D'Souza provided little or no evidence for most of his claims, noted that several allegations were factually false, and described the film's central thesis as "almost entirely subjective and a logical stretch at best."
After a limited release beginning July 13, 2012, the film expanded to over 1,000 theaters in late August 2012, and reached more than 2,000 theaters before the end of September 2012, eventually grossing more than $33.4 million. It is the fifth highest-grossing documentary-style in the United States during the last four decades, and the second highest-grossing political documentary.
The Obama administration described the film as "an insidious attempt to dishonestly smear the president". Later, when D'Souza was indicted for violating election law, D'Souza and his co-producers alleged that he was selectively prosecuted, and that the indictment was politically motivated retribution for the success of the film.
America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014)
In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary-style film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America."
Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed , which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.
The film review website Metacritic surveyed and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the , it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporters Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives ... seem thrilled with the movie."
Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)
On July 25, 2016, D'Souza released the documentary film Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party. The film criticizes the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton, the presumptive (and ultimate) Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 2016.
The film was universally panned by professional film critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4%, based on 27 professional reviews, with an average rating of 1.7/10. The critics consensus on the site reads, "Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party finds Dinesh D'Souza once again preaching to the right-wing choir—albeit less effectively than ever." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 2 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". The film has the seventh lowest score of all films on the site.
Peter Sobczynski wrote, "Hillary's America may well be the single dumbest documentary that I have ever seen in my life." A July 2016 review in Variety characterized D'Souza as "a right-wing conspiracy wingnut, the kind of "thinker" who takes off from Barack Obama birther theories and just keeps going, spinning out a web of comic-book liberal evil." Alex Shephard of The New Republic said:
Some conservatives viewed the film more positively. John Fund of the National Review stated that "[the film] is over the top in places and definitely selective, but the troubling facts are accurate and extensively documented in the D'Souza book that accompanies the movie." He also called the film "intensely patriotic". On July 23, 2016, Donald Trump, who was then running as the Republican presidential nominee against Clinton, called on supporters to see the film.
On January 23, 2017 the film was nominated for five Razzies including: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Dinesh D'Souza), Worst Actress (Becky Turner), Worst Director (Dinesh D'Souza and Bruce Schooley), and Worst Screenplay. In response to the Razzie nominations, D'Souza stated that he was "actually quite honored" and called the nominations "petty revenge" in response to Trump's election victory, also stating that "the film might have played an important role in the election." After "winning" four of the five possible Razzies, D'Souza repeated his view that the nominations were awarded in response to Trump's election victory.
Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time? (2018)
Death of a Nation had its world premiere in Los Angeles, California on July 30, 2018. A showing in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 2018 was co-hosted by D'Souza and President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr.
The film Death of a Nation centers around drawing parallels between the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Death of a Nation explores the role of the Democratic Party in opposing both presidents. In the film, D'Souza accuses the Democratic Party—both historically and presently—of racism, white supremacy, and fascism. D'Souza further argues that the political left attempt to falsely push claims of racism, white supremacy, and fascism onto the political right for political gain. He claims that the modern political left is currently using these types of accusations in attempts to remove Trump from office "by any means necessary."
The film includes numerous falsehoods and has received criticism from historians regarding aspects of historical accuracy. The film characterizes Adolf Hitler as a liberal; historians characterize Hitler and the Nazis as being far-right. It also claims that Hitler was a LGBTQ sympathizer, whereas the Nazis murdered thousands of gay men and imprisoned homosexuals in concentration camps.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 0% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 1.9/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 1 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". PostTrak reported that filmgoers gave the film a score of 4 out of 5 stars, while The Hollywood Reporter wrote that those polled by CinemaScore (which was paid by Death of a Nations filmmakers to conduct polls of audiences) gave it a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
On its opening weekend, the film grossed $2.3 million on 1,032 screens, the lowest wide release for a D'Souza film. , the film has grossed .
Media appearances and speaking engagements
D'Souza has appeared on numerous national television networks and programs. Six days after the September 11, 2001, attacks, D'Souza appeared on Politically Incorrect hosted by Bill Maher. He disputed the assertion that terrorists were cowards by saying, "Look at what they did. You have a whole bunch of guys who were willing to give their life; none of them backed out. All of them slammed themselves into pieces of concrete. These are warriors." Maher agreed with D'Souza's comments and said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away."
During an interview on The Colbert Report on January 16, 2007, while promoting his book The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, D'Souza maintained that liberals had some responsibility for the September 11 attacks. He said liberals' "penchant for interference" had a decided effect in convincing the Carter administration to withdraw support from the Shah, which brought on Muslim fundamentalists' control of the Iranian government. He also said that the distorted representation of American culture on television is one source of resentment of the United States by Muslims worldwide. D'Souza believes that traditional Muslims are not too different from traditional Jews and Christians in America. Towards the end of the interview, he admitted that he and Islamic militants share some of the same negative beliefs about liberal Americans.
In late February 2017, students at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, stole more than 200 flyers advertising D'Souza's planned appearance at the university the first week of March. D'Souza called the protest "pathetic", and suggested the demonstrators "Come out and debate me. In the best case you may win; in the worst, you'll learn something". Twin brothers Manfred and Jonah Wendt, co-founders of the student conservative group Tigers for Liberty, had passed around 600 notices of D'Souza's visit to campus. Those returned by the protesters contained negative comments about D'Souza.
Views
D'Souza is generally identified as a neoconservative. He defines conservatism in the American sense as "conserving the principles of the American Revolution." In Letters to a Young Conservative, written as an introduction to conservative ideas for youth, D'Souza argues that it is a blend of classical liberalism and ancient virtue, in particular, "the belief that there are moral standards in the universe and that living up to them is the best way to have a full and happy life." He also argues against what he calls the modern liberal belief that "human nature is intrinsically good," and thus that "the great conflicts in the world ... arise out of terrible misunderstandings that can be corrected through ongoing conversation and through the mediation of the United Nations."
In the book Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (1991), D'Souza argued that intolerance of conservative views is common at many universities. He has attributed many modern social problems to what he calls the "cultural left."
D'Souza has also been critical of feminism, and Bruce Goldner, in a review of D'Souza's Illiberal Education, noted that he "has a tendency to characterize feminists as castrating misanthropes".
Religion
D'Souza attended the evangelical church Calvary Chapel from 2000 to about 2010. While stating his Catholic background is important to him, D'Souza also says he is comfortable with Protestant Reformation theology and identifies as a nondenominational Christian. A writer of Christian apologetics, D'Souza has debated against prominent atheists and critics of Christianity on religious and moral issues. His debate opponents have included Dan Barker, Christopher Hitchens, Peter Singer, Daniel Dennett, Michael Shermer, David Silverman, and Bart D. Ehrman.
As a guest contributor for Christian Science Monitor, D'Souza wrote, "The moral teachings of Jesus provide no support for—indeed they stand as a stern rebuke to—the historical injustices perpetrated in the name of Christianity." He often speaks out against atheism, nonbelief in spirituality, and secularism. D'Souza elaborated on his views in the 2007 book he authored, What's so Great about Christianity. In 2009, he published Life After Death: The Evidence, which argues for an afterlife.
D'Souza has also commented on Islam. He stated in 2007 that "radical Islamic" thinkers have not condemned modernity, science or freedom but only United States' support of "secular dictators in the region" which deny "Muslims freedom and control over their own destiny". He has debated Serge Trifkovic and Robert Spencer, who both deem Islam "inherently aggressive, racist, violent, and intolerant." He has labelled Spencer an "Islamophobe" and "an effective polemicist" in his writings on Islam. D'Souza has also warned against support for "a $100 million mosque scheduled to be built near the site where terrorists in the name of Islam brought down the World Trade Center" (i.e., the Park 51 Islamic community center and mosque project), and the Middle East becoming a "United States of Islam" in his attacks against President Barack Obama.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
D'Souza has promoted several conspiracy theories, such as the false claim that Obama was not born in the United States and the conspiracy theory that the Clintons had murdered people. D'Souza has also promoted conspiracy theories about Hungarian-born Jewish financier George Soros, including the false claim that Soros had collaborated with the Nazis, and that Soros has sponsored Antifa, a left-wing anti-fascist movement. In an August 2016 interview with GQ, D'Souza denied being a conspiracy theorist, stating: "I have never advanced a conspiracy theory in my life."
In August 2017, D'Souza suggested that the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally had been staged. In the same month, D'Souza tweeted that it would be "interesting to see" Soros "extradited to Israel & tried for his complicity in Nazi atrocities against Jews", and referred to Soros as "Hitler's collection boy".
After mail bombing attempts on prominent Democratic politicians occurred in October 2018, D'Souza tweeted: "Fake sexual assault victims. Fake refugees. Now fake mail bombs." D'Souza spread the conspiracy theory that because there was no cancellation mark on the bomb-containing packages, they were not mailed.
In February 2021, after the United States Capitol attack took place, D'Souza suggested that the rioters were little more than "a bunch of rowdy people walking through a hallway". In May, D'Souza tweeted about the attack: "Does this LOOK like an insurrection? A riot? A coup attempt? If it doesn't walk like a duck or talk like a duck then it probably isn't a duck."
Opinions expressed on Twitter
In November 2013, D'Souza received backlash for referring to Obama as "Grown-Up Trayvon" in a tweet. In response to the backlash, D'Souza tweeted: "Feigned outrage on the left over me calling Obama ‘grown up Trayvon’ except that Obama likened himself to Trayvon!". D'Souza later deleted the initial tweet, ostensibly because Obama was referring to his hypothetical son.
In February 2015, D'Souza wrote: "You can take the boy out of the ghetto" in a tweet criticizing Obama for using a selfie stick. After the tweet was criticized as racist, D'Souza tweeted: "I know Obama wasn't actually raised in a ghetto--I'm using the term metaphorically, to suggest his unpresidential conduct".
In January 2017, after civil rights leader and Georgia congressman John Lewis stated that the then-newly elected President Donald Trump was not a "legitimate president", D'Souza tweeted: "The left’s false narrative inflates minor figures like John Lewis, Democrat, & downplays major ones like Frederick Douglass, Republican". D'Souza later tweeted that civil rights activist Rosa Parks' contributions to the civil rights movement were "absurdly inflated" and described her as an "overrated Democrat". D'Souza received criticism for the tweets, with Charles C. W. Cooke of National Review stating: "Not only incorrect, it's an attitude that would never be struck about a soldier on, say, Veterans Day … [E]ven if Parks was a minor player (she wasn't), she'd still deserve to be lionized."
In November 2017, D'Souza mocked Beverly Young Nelson, one of the women who accused Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, and tweeted: "I was lukewarm on Roy Moore until the last-minute smear. Now we must elect him to show that the @washingtonpost sleaze attack failed". David French, then-senior writer at National Review, tweeted "What has happened to you?" in response to D'Souza's tweet about Nelson.
In February 2018, D'Souza was criticized for a series of tweets which mocked the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In response to a photo of survivors reacting to Florida lawmakers voting down a proposed ban on assault weapons in the aftermath of the shooting, D'Souza tweeted "worst news since their parents told them to get summer jobs". D'Souza also accused the survivors of "politically-orchestrated grief" and said that their grief "[struck him] as phony and inauthentic". D'Souza's comments were condemned by both liberal and conservative commentators. Journalist Jonathan M. Katz wrote: "Let it never be said that Dinesh does not actively root for the death of children." Others accused D'Souza of "trolling kids". D'Souza was also denounced by the Conservative Political Action Conference, which removed him from its roster of speakers and stated: "his comments are indefensible". D'Souza subsequently apologized for the initial tweet, saying that it was "aimed at media manipulation" and that he was being "insensitive to students who lost friends in a terrible tragedy."
Presidency of The King's College
In August 2010, D'Souza was named president of The King's College, a Christian liberal arts college then housed in the Empire State Building in Manhattan. In 2012, the college relocated to a larger space next door to the New York Stock Exchange in Lower Manhattan's financial district. On October 18, 2012, D'Souza resigned his post at The King's College following a press report that he—despite being married—had shared a hotel room at a Christian conference with another woman and introduced her to others as his fiancée. D'Souza acknowledged being separated from his wife and having introduced Denise Odie Joseph II as his fiancée at a Christian conference; however, he denied that the two were engaged in an adulterous affair and that he had shared a room with Joseph at the conference, and described the report as "pure libel" that is "worthy of Christian condemnation." After an investigation by officials at The King's College, D'Souza stated that he had suspended his engagement to Joseph.
After D'Souza's indiscretion became public, the trustees of The King's College announced on October 17, 2012 that D'Souza had resigned his position as president of the university "to attend to his personal and family needs".
Campaign finance violation, felony guilty plea, conviction, and pardon
On January 23, 2014, D'Souza was charged with making $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions to the New York Senate campaign of Wendy Long and causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission. His attorney responded to the charges by saying his client "did not act with any corrupt or criminal intent whatsoever" and described the incident as "at most ... an act of misguided friendship".
On May 15, 2014, United States district judge Richard M. Berman rejected the contention that D'Souza was singled out for prosecution, stating, "The court concludes the defendant has respectfully submitted no evidence he was selectively prosecuted."
On May 20, 2014, D'Souza pleaded guilty to one felony count of making illegal contributions in the names of others. On September 23, 2014, the court sentenced D'Souza to five years' probation, eight months in a halfway house (referred to as a "community confinement center") and a $30,000 fine. After D'Souza's conviction, his claim of selective prosecution continued to receive support from some conservative media and commentators.
On May 31, 2018, President Donald Trump pardoned D'Souza. D'Souza thanked Trump for the pardon, tweeting: "Obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both". After fellow Indian-American Preet Bharara criticized Trump's pardon of D'Souza, D'Souza accused Bharara of trying to destroy his career, tweeting: "Bharara & his goons bludgeoned me into the plea by threatening to add a second redundant charge carrying a prison term of FIVE YEARS".
Personal life
D'Souza dated fellow conservatives Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter prior to meeting Dixie Brubaker while working at the White House. D'Souza and Brubaker married in 1992. They have one daughter, Danielle D’Souza Gill, who is a writer and a member of the Women for Trump Coalition. The couple lived together in California until D'Souza moved to New York as president of The King's College in 2010. He maintained a residence near San Diego, California, where his wife and daughter remained. D'Souza and Brubaker divorced in 2012.
While D'Souza was being sentenced for campaign finance fraud in 2014, Brubaker wrote a letter to the judge alleging that D'Souza had physically abused her; she claimed that "in April 2012 … he, using his purple belt karate skills, kicked me in the head and shoulder, knocking me to the ground and creating injuries that pain me to this day." Benjamin Brafman, D'Souza's attorney for his campaign finance case, dismissed Brubaker's allegation as completely false.
On March 19, 2016, D'Souza married Deborah Fancher, a conservative political activist and mother of two. Fancher emigrated from Venezuela at age 10. The wedding was held near San Diego with Rafael Cruz, father of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), officiating.
Works
Books
Books authored by D'Souza include:
Films
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1961 births
Living people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century American criminals
American conspiracy theorists
American people of Goan descent
American people convicted of campaign finance violations
American social commentators
People from San Diego
Writers from New York City
Critics of atheism
Male critics of feminism
Dartmouth College alumni
Hoover Institution people
Indian emigrants to the United States
Indian Christians
National Review people
Christian apologists
Writers from Mumbai
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Reagan administration personnel
The Heritage Foundation
The King's College (New York City) faculty
American male writers of Indian descent
American Christian writers
Recipients of American presidential pardons
American male non-fiction writers
Right-wing politics in the United States
Golden Raspberry Award winners
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
John M. Olin Foundation | false | [
"\"What Else Is There?\" is the third single from the Norwegian duo Röyksopp's second album The Understanding. It features the vocals of Karin Dreijer from the Swedish electronica duo The Knife. The album was released in the UK with the help of Astralwerks.\n\nThe single was used in an O2 television advertisement in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia during 2008. It was also used in the 2006 film Cashback and the 2007 film, Meet Bill. Trentemøller's remix of \"What Else is There?\" was featured in an episode of the HBO show Entourage.\n\nThe song was covered by extreme metal band Enslaved as a bonus track for their album E.\n\nThe song was listed as the 375th best song of the 2000s by Pitchfork Media.\n\nOfficial versions\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Album Version) – 5:17\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Radio Edit) – 3:38\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Jacques Lu Cont Radio Mix) – 3:46\n\"What Else Is There?\" (The Emperor Machine Vocal Version) – 8:03\n\"What Else Is There?\" (The Emperor Machine Dub Version) – 7:51\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Thin White Duke Mix) – 8:25\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Thin White Duke Edit) – 4:50\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Thin White Duke Remix) (Radio Edit) – 3:06\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Trentemøller Remix) – 7:42\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Vitalic Remix) – 5:14\n\nResponse\nThe single was officially released on 5 December 2005 in the UK. The single had a limited release on 21 November 2005 to promote the upcoming album. On the UK Singles Chart, it peaked at number 32, while on the UK Dance Chart, it reached number one.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was directed by Martin de Thurah. It features Norwegian model Marianne Schröder who is shown lip-syncing Dreijer's voice. Schröder is depicted as a floating woman traveling across stormy landscapes and within empty houses. Dreijer makes a cameo appearance as a woman wearing an Elizabethan ruff while dining alone at a festive table.\n\nMovie spots\n\nThe song is also featured in the movie Meet Bill as characters played by Jessica Alba and Aaron Eckhart smoke marijuana while listening to it. It is also part of the end credits music of the film Cashback.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2005 singles\nRöyksopp songs\nAstralwerks singles\nSongs written by Svein Berge\nSongs written by Torbjørn Brundtland\n2004 songs\nSongs written by Roger Greenaway\nSongs written by Olof Dreijer\nSongs written by Karin Dreijer",
"Self Made (Hebrew: Boreg) is a 2014 Israeli film directed by Shira Geffen.\n\nSynopsis\nThe film follows an Israeli artist (Michal) and Palestinian DIY store clerk (Nadine) who swap their lives because of a mix-up at a border security checkpoint.\n\nCast\n\nZidane Awad as Ebrahem\nSarah Adler as Michal\nSamira Saraya as Nadine\nDoraid Liddawi\nNa'ama Shoham\nZiyad Bakri\n\nCritical reception\nThe film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival and at the Jerusalem Film Festival. It was also shown at the opening night of the AICE Israeli Film Festival in Melbourne, Australia.\n\nIn a review for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Clarence Tsui said the film was full of \"black humor\" and \"surreal episodes to talk about gritty issues in reality.\" She added, \"What Geffen is trying to put across is how an individual's appearance is just a façade.\" She concluded that it was, \"an entertaining and pensive thought about the straitjackets imposed on women or maybe just about everyone else too.\"\n\nReferences\n\n2014 films\nIsraeli films"
]
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"Dinesh D'Souza",
"America: Imagine the World Without Her",
"What books did D'Souza write?",
"D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release",
"What was the film about?",
"Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but \"we do have us\" in \"our struggle for the restoration of America.",
"Was the film popular?",
"The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.",
"How did critics receive the film?",
"It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates \"overwhelming dislike\".",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive.",
"What did people have to say about the film?",
"CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an \"A+\" grade.",
"What else was said about the film?",
"Bond reported, \"Conservatives... seem thrilled with the movie."
]
| C_31bfdcd402d44289a6206d9b34765869_1 | What is the topic of the film? | 8 | What is the topic of the film "America: Imagine the World Without Her"? | Dinesh D'Souza | In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America." Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014. The film review website Metacritic surveyed 11 movie critics and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the 24 reviews, it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporter's Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives... seem thrilled with the movie." John Fund of National Review said the documentary was a response to U.S. progressive critique of the country, "D'Souza's film and his accompanying book are a no-holds-barred assault on the contemporary doctrine of political correctness." Fund said D'Souza's message was "deeply pessimistic" but concluded, "Most people will leave the theater with a more optimistic conclusion: Much of the criticism of America taught in the nation's schools is easily refuted, America is worth saving, and we have the tools to do so in our DNA, just waiting to be harnessed." National Review's Jay Nordlinger said, "Dinesh is the anti-Moore: taking to the big screen to press conservative points... The shame narrators (let's call them) focus on maybe 20 percent of the American story. Dinesh simply puts the other 80 percent back in." In a second article, Jay Nordlinger said, "The second movie confirms for me that one of Dinesh's great advantages is that he is absolutely clear-eyed about the Third World. While liberal Americans romanticize it, he has lived it." CANNOTANSWER | America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. | Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, provocateur, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. D'Souza has written over a dozen books, several of them New York Times best-sellers.
In 2012, D'Souza released the documentary film 2016: Obama's America, an anti-Obama polemic based on his 2010 book The Roots of Obama's Rage; it earned $33 million, making it the highest-grossing conservative documentary of all time and one of the highest-grossing documentaries of any kind. He has since released four other documentary films: America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014), Hillary's America (2016), Death of a Nation (2018), and Trump Card (2020). D'Souza's films and commentary have generated considerable controversy due to their promotion of conspiracy theories and falsehoods, as well as for their incendiary nature.
Born in Bombay, D'Souza moved to the United States as an exchange student and graduated from Dartmouth College. He became a naturalized citizen in 1991. From 2010 to 2012, he was president of The King's College, a Christian school in New York City until he resigned after an alleged adultery scandal.
In 2012, D’Souza contributed $10,000 to the senate campaign of Wendy Long on behalf of himself and his wife, agreeing in writing to attribute that contribution as $5,000 from his wife and $5,000 from him. He directed two other people to give Long a total of $20,000 additional, which he agreed to reimburse, and later did. At the time, the Election Act limited campaign contributions to $5,000 from any individual to any one candidate. Two years later, D'Souza pleaded guilty in federal court to one felony charge of using a "straw donor" to make the illegal campaign contribution. He was sentenced to eight months in a halfway house near his home in San Diego, five years' probation, and a $30,000 fine. In 2018, D'Souza was issued a pardon by President Donald Trump.
Early life and career
Dinesh Joseph D'Souza was born in Bombay in 1961. D'Souza grew up in a middle-class family; his parents were Roman Catholics from the state of Goa in Western India, where his father was an executive with Johnson & Johnson and his mother was a housewife. D'Souza attended the Jesuit St. Stanislaus High School in Bombay. He graduated in 1976 and completed his 11th and 12th years at Sydenham College, also in Bombay. In 1978, D'Souza became a foreign exchange student and traveled to the United States under the Rotary Youth Exchange and attended the local public school in Patagonia, Arizona. He went on to matriculate at Dartmouth College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1983 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While at Dartmouth, D'Souza wrote for The Dartmouth Review, an independent, student-edited, alumni and Collegiate Network subsidized publication. D'Souza faced criticism during his time at the Review for authoring an article publicly outing homosexual members of the school's Gay Straight Alliance student organization.
After graduating from Dartmouth, D'Souza became the editor of a monthly journal called The Prospect, a publication financed by a group of Princeton University alumni. The paper and its writers ignited much controversy during D'Souza's editorship by, among other things, criticizing the college's affirmative action policies.
From 1985 to 1987, D'Souza was a contributing editor for Policy Review, a journal then published by The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. In a September 1985 article titled "The Bishops as Pawns," D'Souza theorized that Catholic bishops in the United States were being manipulated by American liberals in agreeing to oppose the U.S. military buildup and use of power abroad when, D'Souza believed, they knew very little about these subjects to which they were lending their religious credibility.
D'Souza was a policy adviser in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. He has been affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
In 1991, D'Souza became a naturalized United States citizen.
Career as author, political commentator, and filmmaker
Authorship
The End of Racism
In 1995 D'Souza published The End of Racism, in which he claimed that exaggerated claims of racism are holding back progress among African Americans in the US; he defended the Southern slave owner, and said that "The American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well". D'Souza also called for a repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and argued: "Given the intensity of black rage and its appeal to a wide constituency, whites are right to be nervous. Black rage is a response to black suffering and failure, and reflects the irresistible temptation to attribute African American problems to a history of white racist oppression."
A reviewer for The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education responded to the book by posting a list of sixteen recent racist incidents against black people. Michael Bérubé, in a lengthy review article, referred to the book as "encyclopedic pseudoscience", calling it illogical and saying some of the book's policy recommendations are fascist; he stated that it is "so egregious an affront to human decency as to set a new and sorry standard for 'intellectual'".
The book was panned by many other critics as well: John David Smith, in The Journal of Southern History, said D'Souza claims blacks are inferior and opines that "D'Souza bases his terribly insensitive, reactionary polemic on sound bite statistical and historical evidence, frequently gleaned out of context and patched together illogically. His book is flawed because he ignores the complex causes and severity of white racism, misrepresents Boas's arguments, and undervalues the matrix of ignorance, fear, and long-term economic inequality that he dubs black cultural pathology. How, according to his own logic, can allegedly inferior people uplift themselves without government assistance", adding that D'Souza's "biased diatribe trivializes serious pathologies, white and black, and adds little to our understanding of America's painful racial dilemma".
Paul Finkelman commented on D'Souza's trivialization of racism, and said, in a review article called "The Rise of the New Racism", that much of what D'Souza says is untrue, and much is only partially true, and described the book as being "like a parody of scholarship, where selected 'facts' are pulled out of any recognizable context, and used to support a particular viewpoint". In Finkelman's opinion, the book exemplifies a "new racism", which "(1) denies the history of racial oppression in America; (2) rejects biological racism in favor of an attack on black culture; and (3) supports formal, de jure equality in order to attack civil rights laws that prohibit private discrimination and in order to undermine any public policies that might monitor equality and give it substantive meaning". The conservative black economist Glenn Loury severed his ties with the American Enterprise Institute over the organization's role in the publication of the book. Loury wrote that the book "violated canons of civility and commonality", with D'Souza "determined to place poor, urban blacks outside the orbit of American civilization."
What's So Great About America
In the second chapter of his 2002 book, What's So Great About America, D'Souza argues that while colonialism was terrible, it had the unintended consequence of lifting third world countries up to Western civilization. D'Souza writes, "I realize that in saying these things I am opening the door for my critics, and the incorrigible enemies of the West, to say that I am justifying colonialism ... This is the purest nonsense. What I am doing is pointing out a historical fact: despite the corrupt and self-serving motives of [its] practitioners ... colonialism ... proved to be the mechanism that brought millions of nonwhite people into the orbit of Western freedom." He holds up the European colonization of India as an example, arguing that in the long run colonization was beneficial for India, because it introduced Western law, universities, infrastructure, and the like, while effectively ending human sacrifice, the practice of Sati, and other "charming indigenous customs".
In a review of the book, economist Thomas Sowell wrote that D'Souza's book exposed the fallacies and hypocrisies of various criticisms of the United States by the Islamic world, "domestic multiculturalist cults," those who seek reparations for slavery, and the worldwide intelligentsia. According to Sowell: "Perhaps it takes somebody from outside to truly appreciate all the blessings that too many native-born Americans take for granted. D'Souza understands how rare—sometimes unique—these blessings are." Sowell also wrote that D'Souza challenges the notion that all world cultures are equal: "D'Souza challenges one of the central premises of today's intelligentsia: The equality of all cultures. 'If one begins with the multicultural premise that all cultures are equal, then the world as it is makes very little sense,' he says. Some cultures have completely outperformed others in providing the things that all people seek—health, food, housing, security, and the amenities of life."
The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11
In early 2007, D'Souza published The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11, in which he argues that the American cultural left was in large part responsible for the Muslim anger that led to the September 11 attacks. He argues that Muslims do not hate America because of its freedom and democracy, but because they perceive America to be imposing its moral depravity (support for sexual licentiousness) on the world. D'Souza also argues that the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse was a result of "the sexual immodesty of liberal America", and asserts that the conditions of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay "are comparable to the accommodations in mid-level Middle Eastern hotels."
The book was criticized in major American newspapers and magazines and described as, among other things, "the worst nonfiction book about terrorism published by a major house since 9/11" and "a national disgrace". Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times described it as "a nasty stewpot of intellectually untenable premises and irresponsible speculation that frequently reads like a Saturday Night Live parody of the crackpot right."
D'Souza's book caused controversy in the conservative movement. His conservative critics widely mocked his thesis that the cultural left was responsible for 9/11. In response, D'Souza posted a 6,500-word essay on National Review Online, and NRO subsequently published a litany of responses from conservative authors who accused D'Souza of character assassination, elitism and pseudo-intellectualism.
The Roots of Obama's Rage
The September 2010 book by D'Souza, The Roots of Obama's Rage (published in condensed form in a September 2010 Forbes op-ed), interprets President Barack Obama's past and how it formed his beliefs. D'Souza states that Obama is "living out his father's dream", so that "[i]ncredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s", who, D'Souza goes on to describe as a "philandering, inebriated African socialist". The book appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for four weeks in October–November 2010.
Ryan Chittum, in an article in the Columbia Journalism Review, described the Forbes article as "a fact-twisting, error-laden piece of paranoia ... the worst kind of smear journalism—a singularly disgusting work". Commentators on both the right and left strongly disputed assertions made about Obama in the book and article. The left-leaning Media Matters for America wrote that "The Roots of Obama's Rage [was] rooted in lies". Daniel Larison of The American Conservative stated: "Dinesh D'Souza has authored what may possibly be the most ridiculous piece of Obama analysis yet written ... All in all, D'Souza's article reads like a bad conspiracy theory." Larison criticized D'Souza's suggestion that Obama is anti-business, citing a lack of evidence. Andrew Ferguson of The Weekly Standard wrote, "D'Souza always sees absence of evidence as evidence of something or other ... There is, indeed, a name for the beliefs that motivate President Obama, but it's not anticolonialism; it's not even socialism. It's liberalism!" The magazine published D'Souza's letter, in which he expressed surprise "at the petty, vindictive tone of Andrew Ferguson's review".
America: Imagine the World Without Her
D'Souza wrote the book America: Imagine the World Without Her on which his 2014 film of the same name is based. When the warehouse club Costco pulled the book from its shelves shortly before the film's release, conservative media and fans on social media criticized the move. Costco said it pulled the book due to low sales. D'Souza disputed the explanation, saying the book had only been out a few weeks and had surged to #1 on Amazon.com, while Costco stocked hundreds of much lower-selling books. He and other conservatives asserted it was pulled because one of Costco's co-founders, James Sinegal, supported Obama's politics. Costco reordered the book and cited the documentary's release and related interest for the reorder.
The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left
In July 2017, D'Souza published The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left. In the book, D'Souza asserts that the 2016 Democratic Party platform was similar to the platform of the Third Reich. The statement received media attention in 2018 when repeated by Donald Trump Jr. PolitiFact gave the claim its "Pants-on-Fire" rating, noting that "only a small number of elements of the two platforms are clearly similar, and those are so uncontroversial that they appear in the Republican platform as well." Historians refuted the assertion, with University of Maryland historian and Barack Obama critic Jeffrey Herf saying, "There is not the slightest, tiny sliver in which this could be even somewhat accurate." In another review of the book, historian Nicole Hemmer, then of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, wrote: "For a book about secret Nazis, The Big Lie is surprisingly dull ... The Big Lie thus adds little to the no-you're-the-fascist genre on the right". New York Times columnist Ross Douthat criticized the book, saying it was a "plea-for-attention" by D'Souza, and that the author had "become a hack". Douthat further stated, "Because D'Souza has become a professional deceiver, what he adds are extraordinary elisions, sweeping calumnies and laughable leaps."
In an article for The American Conservative, historian and philosopher Paul Gottfried, who has written extensively on the subject of fascism, harshly criticized a PragerU video hosted by D'Souza which maintained that fascism was a leftist ideology. D'Souza also maintained that Italian philosopher Giovanni Gentile, who influenced Italian fascism, was a leftist, to which Gottfried noted that this contradicted the research by "almost all scholars of Gentile’s work, from across the political spectrum, who view him, as I do in my study of fascism, as the most distinguished intellectual of the revolutionary right."
Christian apologetics series
D'Souza's Christian apologetics books, What's So Great About Christianity and Life After Death: The Evidence, were both on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Filmmaking
2016: Obama's America film (2012)
D'Souza wrote and co-directed the documentary-style polemical film 2016: Obama's America. Through interviews and reenactments, the film compares the similarities in the lives of D'Souza and President Barack Obama. D'Souza suggested that early influences on Obama affected the decisions he made as president. The film's tagline is "Love him or hate him, you don't know him." The film has been criticized on the grounds that what D'Souza claims to be an investigation of Obama includes considerable projection, speculation, and selective borrowing from Obama's autobiography, to prove D'Souza's own narrative. In a "Fact Check" of the film, the Associated Press found that D'Souza provided little or no evidence for most of his claims, noted that several allegations were factually false, and described the film's central thesis as "almost entirely subjective and a logical stretch at best."
After a limited release beginning July 13, 2012, the film expanded to over 1,000 theaters in late August 2012, and reached more than 2,000 theaters before the end of September 2012, eventually grossing more than $33.4 million. It is the fifth highest-grossing documentary-style in the United States during the last four decades, and the second highest-grossing political documentary.
The Obama administration described the film as "an insidious attempt to dishonestly smear the president". Later, when D'Souza was indicted for violating election law, D'Souza and his co-producers alleged that he was selectively prosecuted, and that the indictment was politically motivated retribution for the success of the film.
America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014)
In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary-style film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America."
Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed , which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.
The film review website Metacritic surveyed and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the , it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporters Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives ... seem thrilled with the movie."
Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)
On July 25, 2016, D'Souza released the documentary film Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party. The film criticizes the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton, the presumptive (and ultimate) Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 2016.
The film was universally panned by professional film critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4%, based on 27 professional reviews, with an average rating of 1.7/10. The critics consensus on the site reads, "Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party finds Dinesh D'Souza once again preaching to the right-wing choir—albeit less effectively than ever." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 2 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". The film has the seventh lowest score of all films on the site.
Peter Sobczynski wrote, "Hillary's America may well be the single dumbest documentary that I have ever seen in my life." A July 2016 review in Variety characterized D'Souza as "a right-wing conspiracy wingnut, the kind of "thinker" who takes off from Barack Obama birther theories and just keeps going, spinning out a web of comic-book liberal evil." Alex Shephard of The New Republic said:
Some conservatives viewed the film more positively. John Fund of the National Review stated that "[the film] is over the top in places and definitely selective, but the troubling facts are accurate and extensively documented in the D'Souza book that accompanies the movie." He also called the film "intensely patriotic". On July 23, 2016, Donald Trump, who was then running as the Republican presidential nominee against Clinton, called on supporters to see the film.
On January 23, 2017 the film was nominated for five Razzies including: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Dinesh D'Souza), Worst Actress (Becky Turner), Worst Director (Dinesh D'Souza and Bruce Schooley), and Worst Screenplay. In response to the Razzie nominations, D'Souza stated that he was "actually quite honored" and called the nominations "petty revenge" in response to Trump's election victory, also stating that "the film might have played an important role in the election." After "winning" four of the five possible Razzies, D'Souza repeated his view that the nominations were awarded in response to Trump's election victory.
Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time? (2018)
Death of a Nation had its world premiere in Los Angeles, California on July 30, 2018. A showing in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 2018 was co-hosted by D'Souza and President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr.
The film Death of a Nation centers around drawing parallels between the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Death of a Nation explores the role of the Democratic Party in opposing both presidents. In the film, D'Souza accuses the Democratic Party—both historically and presently—of racism, white supremacy, and fascism. D'Souza further argues that the political left attempt to falsely push claims of racism, white supremacy, and fascism onto the political right for political gain. He claims that the modern political left is currently using these types of accusations in attempts to remove Trump from office "by any means necessary."
The film includes numerous falsehoods and has received criticism from historians regarding aspects of historical accuracy. The film characterizes Adolf Hitler as a liberal; historians characterize Hitler and the Nazis as being far-right. It also claims that Hitler was a LGBTQ sympathizer, whereas the Nazis murdered thousands of gay men and imprisoned homosexuals in concentration camps.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 0% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 1.9/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 1 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". PostTrak reported that filmgoers gave the film a score of 4 out of 5 stars, while The Hollywood Reporter wrote that those polled by CinemaScore (which was paid by Death of a Nations filmmakers to conduct polls of audiences) gave it a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
On its opening weekend, the film grossed $2.3 million on 1,032 screens, the lowest wide release for a D'Souza film. , the film has grossed .
Media appearances and speaking engagements
D'Souza has appeared on numerous national television networks and programs. Six days after the September 11, 2001, attacks, D'Souza appeared on Politically Incorrect hosted by Bill Maher. He disputed the assertion that terrorists were cowards by saying, "Look at what they did. You have a whole bunch of guys who were willing to give their life; none of them backed out. All of them slammed themselves into pieces of concrete. These are warriors." Maher agreed with D'Souza's comments and said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away."
During an interview on The Colbert Report on January 16, 2007, while promoting his book The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, D'Souza maintained that liberals had some responsibility for the September 11 attacks. He said liberals' "penchant for interference" had a decided effect in convincing the Carter administration to withdraw support from the Shah, which brought on Muslim fundamentalists' control of the Iranian government. He also said that the distorted representation of American culture on television is one source of resentment of the United States by Muslims worldwide. D'Souza believes that traditional Muslims are not too different from traditional Jews and Christians in America. Towards the end of the interview, he admitted that he and Islamic militants share some of the same negative beliefs about liberal Americans.
In late February 2017, students at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, stole more than 200 flyers advertising D'Souza's planned appearance at the university the first week of March. D'Souza called the protest "pathetic", and suggested the demonstrators "Come out and debate me. In the best case you may win; in the worst, you'll learn something". Twin brothers Manfred and Jonah Wendt, co-founders of the student conservative group Tigers for Liberty, had passed around 600 notices of D'Souza's visit to campus. Those returned by the protesters contained negative comments about D'Souza.
Views
D'Souza is generally identified as a neoconservative. He defines conservatism in the American sense as "conserving the principles of the American Revolution." In Letters to a Young Conservative, written as an introduction to conservative ideas for youth, D'Souza argues that it is a blend of classical liberalism and ancient virtue, in particular, "the belief that there are moral standards in the universe and that living up to them is the best way to have a full and happy life." He also argues against what he calls the modern liberal belief that "human nature is intrinsically good," and thus that "the great conflicts in the world ... arise out of terrible misunderstandings that can be corrected through ongoing conversation and through the mediation of the United Nations."
In the book Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (1991), D'Souza argued that intolerance of conservative views is common at many universities. He has attributed many modern social problems to what he calls the "cultural left."
D'Souza has also been critical of feminism, and Bruce Goldner, in a review of D'Souza's Illiberal Education, noted that he "has a tendency to characterize feminists as castrating misanthropes".
Religion
D'Souza attended the evangelical church Calvary Chapel from 2000 to about 2010. While stating his Catholic background is important to him, D'Souza also says he is comfortable with Protestant Reformation theology and identifies as a nondenominational Christian. A writer of Christian apologetics, D'Souza has debated against prominent atheists and critics of Christianity on religious and moral issues. His debate opponents have included Dan Barker, Christopher Hitchens, Peter Singer, Daniel Dennett, Michael Shermer, David Silverman, and Bart D. Ehrman.
As a guest contributor for Christian Science Monitor, D'Souza wrote, "The moral teachings of Jesus provide no support for—indeed they stand as a stern rebuke to—the historical injustices perpetrated in the name of Christianity." He often speaks out against atheism, nonbelief in spirituality, and secularism. D'Souza elaborated on his views in the 2007 book he authored, What's so Great about Christianity. In 2009, he published Life After Death: The Evidence, which argues for an afterlife.
D'Souza has also commented on Islam. He stated in 2007 that "radical Islamic" thinkers have not condemned modernity, science or freedom but only United States' support of "secular dictators in the region" which deny "Muslims freedom and control over their own destiny". He has debated Serge Trifkovic and Robert Spencer, who both deem Islam "inherently aggressive, racist, violent, and intolerant." He has labelled Spencer an "Islamophobe" and "an effective polemicist" in his writings on Islam. D'Souza has also warned against support for "a $100 million mosque scheduled to be built near the site where terrorists in the name of Islam brought down the World Trade Center" (i.e., the Park 51 Islamic community center and mosque project), and the Middle East becoming a "United States of Islam" in his attacks against President Barack Obama.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
D'Souza has promoted several conspiracy theories, such as the false claim that Obama was not born in the United States and the conspiracy theory that the Clintons had murdered people. D'Souza has also promoted conspiracy theories about Hungarian-born Jewish financier George Soros, including the false claim that Soros had collaborated with the Nazis, and that Soros has sponsored Antifa, a left-wing anti-fascist movement. In an August 2016 interview with GQ, D'Souza denied being a conspiracy theorist, stating: "I have never advanced a conspiracy theory in my life."
In August 2017, D'Souza suggested that the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally had been staged. In the same month, D'Souza tweeted that it would be "interesting to see" Soros "extradited to Israel & tried for his complicity in Nazi atrocities against Jews", and referred to Soros as "Hitler's collection boy".
After mail bombing attempts on prominent Democratic politicians occurred in October 2018, D'Souza tweeted: "Fake sexual assault victims. Fake refugees. Now fake mail bombs." D'Souza spread the conspiracy theory that because there was no cancellation mark on the bomb-containing packages, they were not mailed.
In February 2021, after the United States Capitol attack took place, D'Souza suggested that the rioters were little more than "a bunch of rowdy people walking through a hallway". In May, D'Souza tweeted about the attack: "Does this LOOK like an insurrection? A riot? A coup attempt? If it doesn't walk like a duck or talk like a duck then it probably isn't a duck."
Opinions expressed on Twitter
In November 2013, D'Souza received backlash for referring to Obama as "Grown-Up Trayvon" in a tweet. In response to the backlash, D'Souza tweeted: "Feigned outrage on the left over me calling Obama ‘grown up Trayvon’ except that Obama likened himself to Trayvon!". D'Souza later deleted the initial tweet, ostensibly because Obama was referring to his hypothetical son.
In February 2015, D'Souza wrote: "You can take the boy out of the ghetto" in a tweet criticizing Obama for using a selfie stick. After the tweet was criticized as racist, D'Souza tweeted: "I know Obama wasn't actually raised in a ghetto--I'm using the term metaphorically, to suggest his unpresidential conduct".
In January 2017, after civil rights leader and Georgia congressman John Lewis stated that the then-newly elected President Donald Trump was not a "legitimate president", D'Souza tweeted: "The left’s false narrative inflates minor figures like John Lewis, Democrat, & downplays major ones like Frederick Douglass, Republican". D'Souza later tweeted that civil rights activist Rosa Parks' contributions to the civil rights movement were "absurdly inflated" and described her as an "overrated Democrat". D'Souza received criticism for the tweets, with Charles C. W. Cooke of National Review stating: "Not only incorrect, it's an attitude that would never be struck about a soldier on, say, Veterans Day … [E]ven if Parks was a minor player (she wasn't), she'd still deserve to be lionized."
In November 2017, D'Souza mocked Beverly Young Nelson, one of the women who accused Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, and tweeted: "I was lukewarm on Roy Moore until the last-minute smear. Now we must elect him to show that the @washingtonpost sleaze attack failed". David French, then-senior writer at National Review, tweeted "What has happened to you?" in response to D'Souza's tweet about Nelson.
In February 2018, D'Souza was criticized for a series of tweets which mocked the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In response to a photo of survivors reacting to Florida lawmakers voting down a proposed ban on assault weapons in the aftermath of the shooting, D'Souza tweeted "worst news since their parents told them to get summer jobs". D'Souza also accused the survivors of "politically-orchestrated grief" and said that their grief "[struck him] as phony and inauthentic". D'Souza's comments were condemned by both liberal and conservative commentators. Journalist Jonathan M. Katz wrote: "Let it never be said that Dinesh does not actively root for the death of children." Others accused D'Souza of "trolling kids". D'Souza was also denounced by the Conservative Political Action Conference, which removed him from its roster of speakers and stated: "his comments are indefensible". D'Souza subsequently apologized for the initial tweet, saying that it was "aimed at media manipulation" and that he was being "insensitive to students who lost friends in a terrible tragedy."
Presidency of The King's College
In August 2010, D'Souza was named president of The King's College, a Christian liberal arts college then housed in the Empire State Building in Manhattan. In 2012, the college relocated to a larger space next door to the New York Stock Exchange in Lower Manhattan's financial district. On October 18, 2012, D'Souza resigned his post at The King's College following a press report that he—despite being married—had shared a hotel room at a Christian conference with another woman and introduced her to others as his fiancée. D'Souza acknowledged being separated from his wife and having introduced Denise Odie Joseph II as his fiancée at a Christian conference; however, he denied that the two were engaged in an adulterous affair and that he had shared a room with Joseph at the conference, and described the report as "pure libel" that is "worthy of Christian condemnation." After an investigation by officials at The King's College, D'Souza stated that he had suspended his engagement to Joseph.
After D'Souza's indiscretion became public, the trustees of The King's College announced on October 17, 2012 that D'Souza had resigned his position as president of the university "to attend to his personal and family needs".
Campaign finance violation, felony guilty plea, conviction, and pardon
On January 23, 2014, D'Souza was charged with making $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions to the New York Senate campaign of Wendy Long and causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission. His attorney responded to the charges by saying his client "did not act with any corrupt or criminal intent whatsoever" and described the incident as "at most ... an act of misguided friendship".
On May 15, 2014, United States district judge Richard M. Berman rejected the contention that D'Souza was singled out for prosecution, stating, "The court concludes the defendant has respectfully submitted no evidence he was selectively prosecuted."
On May 20, 2014, D'Souza pleaded guilty to one felony count of making illegal contributions in the names of others. On September 23, 2014, the court sentenced D'Souza to five years' probation, eight months in a halfway house (referred to as a "community confinement center") and a $30,000 fine. After D'Souza's conviction, his claim of selective prosecution continued to receive support from some conservative media and commentators.
On May 31, 2018, President Donald Trump pardoned D'Souza. D'Souza thanked Trump for the pardon, tweeting: "Obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both". After fellow Indian-American Preet Bharara criticized Trump's pardon of D'Souza, D'Souza accused Bharara of trying to destroy his career, tweeting: "Bharara & his goons bludgeoned me into the plea by threatening to add a second redundant charge carrying a prison term of FIVE YEARS".
Personal life
D'Souza dated fellow conservatives Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter prior to meeting Dixie Brubaker while working at the White House. D'Souza and Brubaker married in 1992. They have one daughter, Danielle D’Souza Gill, who is a writer and a member of the Women for Trump Coalition. The couple lived together in California until D'Souza moved to New York as president of The King's College in 2010. He maintained a residence near San Diego, California, where his wife and daughter remained. D'Souza and Brubaker divorced in 2012.
While D'Souza was being sentenced for campaign finance fraud in 2014, Brubaker wrote a letter to the judge alleging that D'Souza had physically abused her; she claimed that "in April 2012 … he, using his purple belt karate skills, kicked me in the head and shoulder, knocking me to the ground and creating injuries that pain me to this day." Benjamin Brafman, D'Souza's attorney for his campaign finance case, dismissed Brubaker's allegation as completely false.
On March 19, 2016, D'Souza married Deborah Fancher, a conservative political activist and mother of two. Fancher emigrated from Venezuela at age 10. The wedding was held near San Diego with Rafael Cruz, father of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), officiating.
Works
Books
Books authored by D'Souza include:
Films
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1961 births
Living people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century American criminals
American conspiracy theorists
American people of Goan descent
American people convicted of campaign finance violations
American social commentators
People from San Diego
Writers from New York City
Critics of atheism
Male critics of feminism
Dartmouth College alumni
Hoover Institution people
Indian emigrants to the United States
Indian Christians
National Review people
Christian apologists
Writers from Mumbai
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Reagan administration personnel
The Heritage Foundation
The King's College (New York City) faculty
American male writers of Indian descent
American Christian writers
Recipients of American presidential pardons
American male non-fiction writers
Right-wing politics in the United States
Golden Raspberry Award winners
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
John M. Olin Foundation | true | [
"A discourse topic is the central participant or idea of a stretch of connected discourse or dialogue. The topic is what the discourse is about. The notion is often confused with the related notion of sentence-level topic/theme, which is frequently defined as \"what the sentence is about\". Discourse topics have been of considerable interest to linguists because of the relations between the topic of a discourse and various aspects of the grammatical structure of the sentence, including strategies for referent-tracking (including the use of voice, inversion, switch-reference markers, and obviation), topic-chaining, and pronominalization.\n\nReferences\n\nDiscourse analysis",
"In expository writing, a topic sentence is a sentence that summarizes the main idea of a paragraph. It is usually the first sentence in a paragraph.\n\nAlso known as the main idea what the writer’s position on that topic, it encapsulates or organizes an entire paragraph. Although topic sentences may appear anywhere in a paragraph, in academic essays they often appear at the beginning. The topic sentence acts as a kind of summary, and offers the reader an insightful view of the writer’s main ideas for the following paragraph. More than just being a mere summary, however, a topic sentence often provides a claim or an insight directly or indirectly related to the thesis. It adds cohesion to a paper and helps organize ideas both within the paragraph and the whole body of work at large. As the topic sentence encapsulates the idea of the paragraph, serving as a sub-thesis, it remains general enough to cover the support given in the body paragraph while being more direct than the thesis of the paper.\n\nForms\n\nComplex sentences \n\nA complex sentence is one that has a main clause which could stand alone and a dependent clause which cannot by itself be a sentence. Using a complex sentence is a great way to refer to the content of the paragraph above (dependent clause) and then bring in the content of the new paragraph (the independent clause). Here is a typical example: \n\nThe beginning, dependent, clause probably refers to the content of a preceding paragraph that presented the ant as a community-focused worker. As suggested by the main clause, which is the second within the sentence, the new paragraph will address how the ant works to benefit herself as well.\n\nQuestions \n\nQuestions at the beginning of new paragraphs can make topic sentences which both remind the reader of what was in the previous paragraph and signal the introduction of something new. Consider this example of a question for a topic sentence:\n\nThis question refers to the content of the previous paragraph, but it introduces the content for the new one – how the budget cuts may not in fact be enough to balance the budget.\n\nBridge sentences \n\nA \"bridge sentence\" reminds the reader of what went before and does not signal what is to come. It merely hints that something new is about to be introduced. Example:\n\nPivots \n\nPivot topic sentences will come somewhere in the middle of a paragraph, and usually announce that the content will be changing in a different direction. These are often used when there are two differing opinions about something or when two \"experts\" are being quoted or referred to that may have a different opinion or approach to something. A paragraph may begin something like this:\n\nThe first part of this paragraph addresses Kubler and Kessler; the second part will obviously address another opinion. The topic sentence is underlined to show the pivot point in the paragraph. Pivot topic sentences will always have some clue word, such as \"yet,\" \"sometimes,\" or \"however.\"\n\nSee also\nEssay\nLead paragraph\nThesis statement\n\nReferences\n\nSyntactic entities"
]
|
[
"Dinesh D'Souza",
"America: Imagine the World Without Her",
"What books did D'Souza write?",
"D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release",
"What was the film about?",
"Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but \"we do have us\" in \"our struggle for the restoration of America.",
"Was the film popular?",
"The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.",
"How did critics receive the film?",
"It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates \"overwhelming dislike\".",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive.",
"What did people have to say about the film?",
"CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an \"A+\" grade.",
"What else was said about the film?",
"Bond reported, \"Conservatives... seem thrilled with the movie.",
"What is the topic of the film?",
"America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms."
]
| C_31bfdcd402d44289a6206d9b34765869_1 | Does the film address religion? | 9 | Does the film "America: Imagine the World Without Her" address religion? | Dinesh D'Souza | In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America." Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014. The film review website Metacritic surveyed 11 movie critics and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the 24 reviews, it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporter's Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives... seem thrilled with the movie." John Fund of National Review said the documentary was a response to U.S. progressive critique of the country, "D'Souza's film and his accompanying book are a no-holds-barred assault on the contemporary doctrine of political correctness." Fund said D'Souza's message was "deeply pessimistic" but concluded, "Most people will leave the theater with a more optimistic conclusion: Much of the criticism of America taught in the nation's schools is easily refuted, America is worth saving, and we have the tools to do so in our DNA, just waiting to be harnessed." National Review's Jay Nordlinger said, "Dinesh is the anti-Moore: taking to the big screen to press conservative points... The shame narrators (let's call them) focus on maybe 20 percent of the American story. Dinesh simply puts the other 80 percent back in." In a second article, Jay Nordlinger said, "The second movie confirms for me that one of Dinesh's great advantages is that he is absolutely clear-eyed about the Third World. While liberal Americans romanticize it, he has lived it." CANNOTANSWER | harnessed." National Review's Jay Nordlinger said, "Dinesh is the anti-Moore: taking to the big screen to press conservative points... | Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, provocateur, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. D'Souza has written over a dozen books, several of them New York Times best-sellers.
In 2012, D'Souza released the documentary film 2016: Obama's America, an anti-Obama polemic based on his 2010 book The Roots of Obama's Rage; it earned $33 million, making it the highest-grossing conservative documentary of all time and one of the highest-grossing documentaries of any kind. He has since released four other documentary films: America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014), Hillary's America (2016), Death of a Nation (2018), and Trump Card (2020). D'Souza's films and commentary have generated considerable controversy due to their promotion of conspiracy theories and falsehoods, as well as for their incendiary nature.
Born in Bombay, D'Souza moved to the United States as an exchange student and graduated from Dartmouth College. He became a naturalized citizen in 1991. From 2010 to 2012, he was president of The King's College, a Christian school in New York City until he resigned after an alleged adultery scandal.
In 2012, D’Souza contributed $10,000 to the senate campaign of Wendy Long on behalf of himself and his wife, agreeing in writing to attribute that contribution as $5,000 from his wife and $5,000 from him. He directed two other people to give Long a total of $20,000 additional, which he agreed to reimburse, and later did. At the time, the Election Act limited campaign contributions to $5,000 from any individual to any one candidate. Two years later, D'Souza pleaded guilty in federal court to one felony charge of using a "straw donor" to make the illegal campaign contribution. He was sentenced to eight months in a halfway house near his home in San Diego, five years' probation, and a $30,000 fine. In 2018, D'Souza was issued a pardon by President Donald Trump.
Early life and career
Dinesh Joseph D'Souza was born in Bombay in 1961. D'Souza grew up in a middle-class family; his parents were Roman Catholics from the state of Goa in Western India, where his father was an executive with Johnson & Johnson and his mother was a housewife. D'Souza attended the Jesuit St. Stanislaus High School in Bombay. He graduated in 1976 and completed his 11th and 12th years at Sydenham College, also in Bombay. In 1978, D'Souza became a foreign exchange student and traveled to the United States under the Rotary Youth Exchange and attended the local public school in Patagonia, Arizona. He went on to matriculate at Dartmouth College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1983 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. While at Dartmouth, D'Souza wrote for The Dartmouth Review, an independent, student-edited, alumni and Collegiate Network subsidized publication. D'Souza faced criticism during his time at the Review for authoring an article publicly outing homosexual members of the school's Gay Straight Alliance student organization.
After graduating from Dartmouth, D'Souza became the editor of a monthly journal called The Prospect, a publication financed by a group of Princeton University alumni. The paper and its writers ignited much controversy during D'Souza's editorship by, among other things, criticizing the college's affirmative action policies.
From 1985 to 1987, D'Souza was a contributing editor for Policy Review, a journal then published by The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. In a September 1985 article titled "The Bishops as Pawns," D'Souza theorized that Catholic bishops in the United States were being manipulated by American liberals in agreeing to oppose the U.S. military buildup and use of power abroad when, D'Souza believed, they knew very little about these subjects to which they were lending their religious credibility.
D'Souza was a policy adviser in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. He has been affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
In 1991, D'Souza became a naturalized United States citizen.
Career as author, political commentator, and filmmaker
Authorship
The End of Racism
In 1995 D'Souza published The End of Racism, in which he claimed that exaggerated claims of racism are holding back progress among African Americans in the US; he defended the Southern slave owner, and said that "The American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well". D'Souza also called for a repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and argued: "Given the intensity of black rage and its appeal to a wide constituency, whites are right to be nervous. Black rage is a response to black suffering and failure, and reflects the irresistible temptation to attribute African American problems to a history of white racist oppression."
A reviewer for The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education responded to the book by posting a list of sixteen recent racist incidents against black people. Michael Bérubé, in a lengthy review article, referred to the book as "encyclopedic pseudoscience", calling it illogical and saying some of the book's policy recommendations are fascist; he stated that it is "so egregious an affront to human decency as to set a new and sorry standard for 'intellectual'".
The book was panned by many other critics as well: John David Smith, in The Journal of Southern History, said D'Souza claims blacks are inferior and opines that "D'Souza bases his terribly insensitive, reactionary polemic on sound bite statistical and historical evidence, frequently gleaned out of context and patched together illogically. His book is flawed because he ignores the complex causes and severity of white racism, misrepresents Boas's arguments, and undervalues the matrix of ignorance, fear, and long-term economic inequality that he dubs black cultural pathology. How, according to his own logic, can allegedly inferior people uplift themselves without government assistance", adding that D'Souza's "biased diatribe trivializes serious pathologies, white and black, and adds little to our understanding of America's painful racial dilemma".
Paul Finkelman commented on D'Souza's trivialization of racism, and said, in a review article called "The Rise of the New Racism", that much of what D'Souza says is untrue, and much is only partially true, and described the book as being "like a parody of scholarship, where selected 'facts' are pulled out of any recognizable context, and used to support a particular viewpoint". In Finkelman's opinion, the book exemplifies a "new racism", which "(1) denies the history of racial oppression in America; (2) rejects biological racism in favor of an attack on black culture; and (3) supports formal, de jure equality in order to attack civil rights laws that prohibit private discrimination and in order to undermine any public policies that might monitor equality and give it substantive meaning". The conservative black economist Glenn Loury severed his ties with the American Enterprise Institute over the organization's role in the publication of the book. Loury wrote that the book "violated canons of civility and commonality", with D'Souza "determined to place poor, urban blacks outside the orbit of American civilization."
What's So Great About America
In the second chapter of his 2002 book, What's So Great About America, D'Souza argues that while colonialism was terrible, it had the unintended consequence of lifting third world countries up to Western civilization. D'Souza writes, "I realize that in saying these things I am opening the door for my critics, and the incorrigible enemies of the West, to say that I am justifying colonialism ... This is the purest nonsense. What I am doing is pointing out a historical fact: despite the corrupt and self-serving motives of [its] practitioners ... colonialism ... proved to be the mechanism that brought millions of nonwhite people into the orbit of Western freedom." He holds up the European colonization of India as an example, arguing that in the long run colonization was beneficial for India, because it introduced Western law, universities, infrastructure, and the like, while effectively ending human sacrifice, the practice of Sati, and other "charming indigenous customs".
In a review of the book, economist Thomas Sowell wrote that D'Souza's book exposed the fallacies and hypocrisies of various criticisms of the United States by the Islamic world, "domestic multiculturalist cults," those who seek reparations for slavery, and the worldwide intelligentsia. According to Sowell: "Perhaps it takes somebody from outside to truly appreciate all the blessings that too many native-born Americans take for granted. D'Souza understands how rare—sometimes unique—these blessings are." Sowell also wrote that D'Souza challenges the notion that all world cultures are equal: "D'Souza challenges one of the central premises of today's intelligentsia: The equality of all cultures. 'If one begins with the multicultural premise that all cultures are equal, then the world as it is makes very little sense,' he says. Some cultures have completely outperformed others in providing the things that all people seek—health, food, housing, security, and the amenities of life."
The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11
In early 2007, D'Souza published The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11, in which he argues that the American cultural left was in large part responsible for the Muslim anger that led to the September 11 attacks. He argues that Muslims do not hate America because of its freedom and democracy, but because they perceive America to be imposing its moral depravity (support for sexual licentiousness) on the world. D'Souza also argues that the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse was a result of "the sexual immodesty of liberal America", and asserts that the conditions of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay "are comparable to the accommodations in mid-level Middle Eastern hotels."
The book was criticized in major American newspapers and magazines and described as, among other things, "the worst nonfiction book about terrorism published by a major house since 9/11" and "a national disgrace". Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times described it as "a nasty stewpot of intellectually untenable premises and irresponsible speculation that frequently reads like a Saturday Night Live parody of the crackpot right."
D'Souza's book caused controversy in the conservative movement. His conservative critics widely mocked his thesis that the cultural left was responsible for 9/11. In response, D'Souza posted a 6,500-word essay on National Review Online, and NRO subsequently published a litany of responses from conservative authors who accused D'Souza of character assassination, elitism and pseudo-intellectualism.
The Roots of Obama's Rage
The September 2010 book by D'Souza, The Roots of Obama's Rage (published in condensed form in a September 2010 Forbes op-ed), interprets President Barack Obama's past and how it formed his beliefs. D'Souza states that Obama is "living out his father's dream", so that "[i]ncredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s", who, D'Souza goes on to describe as a "philandering, inebriated African socialist". The book appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for four weeks in October–November 2010.
Ryan Chittum, in an article in the Columbia Journalism Review, described the Forbes article as "a fact-twisting, error-laden piece of paranoia ... the worst kind of smear journalism—a singularly disgusting work". Commentators on both the right and left strongly disputed assertions made about Obama in the book and article. The left-leaning Media Matters for America wrote that "The Roots of Obama's Rage [was] rooted in lies". Daniel Larison of The American Conservative stated: "Dinesh D'Souza has authored what may possibly be the most ridiculous piece of Obama analysis yet written ... All in all, D'Souza's article reads like a bad conspiracy theory." Larison criticized D'Souza's suggestion that Obama is anti-business, citing a lack of evidence. Andrew Ferguson of The Weekly Standard wrote, "D'Souza always sees absence of evidence as evidence of something or other ... There is, indeed, a name for the beliefs that motivate President Obama, but it's not anticolonialism; it's not even socialism. It's liberalism!" The magazine published D'Souza's letter, in which he expressed surprise "at the petty, vindictive tone of Andrew Ferguson's review".
America: Imagine the World Without Her
D'Souza wrote the book America: Imagine the World Without Her on which his 2014 film of the same name is based. When the warehouse club Costco pulled the book from its shelves shortly before the film's release, conservative media and fans on social media criticized the move. Costco said it pulled the book due to low sales. D'Souza disputed the explanation, saying the book had only been out a few weeks and had surged to #1 on Amazon.com, while Costco stocked hundreds of much lower-selling books. He and other conservatives asserted it was pulled because one of Costco's co-founders, James Sinegal, supported Obama's politics. Costco reordered the book and cited the documentary's release and related interest for the reorder.
The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left
In July 2017, D'Souza published The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left. In the book, D'Souza asserts that the 2016 Democratic Party platform was similar to the platform of the Third Reich. The statement received media attention in 2018 when repeated by Donald Trump Jr. PolitiFact gave the claim its "Pants-on-Fire" rating, noting that "only a small number of elements of the two platforms are clearly similar, and those are so uncontroversial that they appear in the Republican platform as well." Historians refuted the assertion, with University of Maryland historian and Barack Obama critic Jeffrey Herf saying, "There is not the slightest, tiny sliver in which this could be even somewhat accurate." In another review of the book, historian Nicole Hemmer, then of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, wrote: "For a book about secret Nazis, The Big Lie is surprisingly dull ... The Big Lie thus adds little to the no-you're-the-fascist genre on the right". New York Times columnist Ross Douthat criticized the book, saying it was a "plea-for-attention" by D'Souza, and that the author had "become a hack". Douthat further stated, "Because D'Souza has become a professional deceiver, what he adds are extraordinary elisions, sweeping calumnies and laughable leaps."
In an article for The American Conservative, historian and philosopher Paul Gottfried, who has written extensively on the subject of fascism, harshly criticized a PragerU video hosted by D'Souza which maintained that fascism was a leftist ideology. D'Souza also maintained that Italian philosopher Giovanni Gentile, who influenced Italian fascism, was a leftist, to which Gottfried noted that this contradicted the research by "almost all scholars of Gentile’s work, from across the political spectrum, who view him, as I do in my study of fascism, as the most distinguished intellectual of the revolutionary right."
Christian apologetics series
D'Souza's Christian apologetics books, What's So Great About Christianity and Life After Death: The Evidence, were both on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Filmmaking
2016: Obama's America film (2012)
D'Souza wrote and co-directed the documentary-style polemical film 2016: Obama's America. Through interviews and reenactments, the film compares the similarities in the lives of D'Souza and President Barack Obama. D'Souza suggested that early influences on Obama affected the decisions he made as president. The film's tagline is "Love him or hate him, you don't know him." The film has been criticized on the grounds that what D'Souza claims to be an investigation of Obama includes considerable projection, speculation, and selective borrowing from Obama's autobiography, to prove D'Souza's own narrative. In a "Fact Check" of the film, the Associated Press found that D'Souza provided little or no evidence for most of his claims, noted that several allegations were factually false, and described the film's central thesis as "almost entirely subjective and a logical stretch at best."
After a limited release beginning July 13, 2012, the film expanded to over 1,000 theaters in late August 2012, and reached more than 2,000 theaters before the end of September 2012, eventually grossing more than $33.4 million. It is the fifth highest-grossing documentary-style in the United States during the last four decades, and the second highest-grossing political documentary.
The Obama administration described the film as "an insidious attempt to dishonestly smear the president". Later, when D'Souza was indicted for violating election law, D'Souza and his co-producers alleged that he was selectively prosecuted, and that the indictment was politically motivated retribution for the success of the film.
America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014)
In March 2013, D'Souza announced work on a documentary-style film titled America: Imagine the World Without Her for release in 2014. America was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. The Washington Times states that D'Souza is saying that Americans no longer have past heroes like Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan, but "we do have us" in "our struggle for the restoration of America."
Lions Gate Entertainment released America in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. CinemaScore reported that the opening-weekend audiences gave the film an "A+" grade. The film grossed , which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014.
The film review website Metacritic surveyed and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". The similar website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the , it determined an average rating of 2.9 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and said of the consensus, "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir." The Hollywood Reporters Paul Bond said the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives ... seem thrilled with the movie."
Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)
On July 25, 2016, D'Souza released the documentary film Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party. The film criticizes the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton, the presumptive (and ultimate) Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 2016.
The film was universally panned by professional film critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4%, based on 27 professional reviews, with an average rating of 1.7/10. The critics consensus on the site reads, "Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party finds Dinesh D'Souza once again preaching to the right-wing choir—albeit less effectively than ever." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 2 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". The film has the seventh lowest score of all films on the site.
Peter Sobczynski wrote, "Hillary's America may well be the single dumbest documentary that I have ever seen in my life." A July 2016 review in Variety characterized D'Souza as "a right-wing conspiracy wingnut, the kind of "thinker" who takes off from Barack Obama birther theories and just keeps going, spinning out a web of comic-book liberal evil." Alex Shephard of The New Republic said:
Some conservatives viewed the film more positively. John Fund of the National Review stated that "[the film] is over the top in places and definitely selective, but the troubling facts are accurate and extensively documented in the D'Souza book that accompanies the movie." He also called the film "intensely patriotic". On July 23, 2016, Donald Trump, who was then running as the Republican presidential nominee against Clinton, called on supporters to see the film.
On January 23, 2017 the film was nominated for five Razzies including: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Dinesh D'Souza), Worst Actress (Becky Turner), Worst Director (Dinesh D'Souza and Bruce Schooley), and Worst Screenplay. In response to the Razzie nominations, D'Souza stated that he was "actually quite honored" and called the nominations "petty revenge" in response to Trump's election victory, also stating that "the film might have played an important role in the election." After "winning" four of the five possible Razzies, D'Souza repeated his view that the nominations were awarded in response to Trump's election victory.
Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time? (2018)
Death of a Nation had its world premiere in Los Angeles, California on July 30, 2018. A showing in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 2018 was co-hosted by D'Souza and President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr.
The film Death of a Nation centers around drawing parallels between the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Death of a Nation explores the role of the Democratic Party in opposing both presidents. In the film, D'Souza accuses the Democratic Party—both historically and presently—of racism, white supremacy, and fascism. D'Souza further argues that the political left attempt to falsely push claims of racism, white supremacy, and fascism onto the political right for political gain. He claims that the modern political left is currently using these types of accusations in attempts to remove Trump from office "by any means necessary."
The film includes numerous falsehoods and has received criticism from historians regarding aspects of historical accuracy. The film characterizes Adolf Hitler as a liberal; historians characterize Hitler and the Nazis as being far-right. It also claims that Hitler was a LGBTQ sympathizer, whereas the Nazis murdered thousands of gay men and imprisoned homosexuals in concentration camps.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 0% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 1.9/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 1 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". PostTrak reported that filmgoers gave the film a score of 4 out of 5 stars, while The Hollywood Reporter wrote that those polled by CinemaScore (which was paid by Death of a Nations filmmakers to conduct polls of audiences) gave it a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
On its opening weekend, the film grossed $2.3 million on 1,032 screens, the lowest wide release for a D'Souza film. , the film has grossed .
Media appearances and speaking engagements
D'Souza has appeared on numerous national television networks and programs. Six days after the September 11, 2001, attacks, D'Souza appeared on Politically Incorrect hosted by Bill Maher. He disputed the assertion that terrorists were cowards by saying, "Look at what they did. You have a whole bunch of guys who were willing to give their life; none of them backed out. All of them slammed themselves into pieces of concrete. These are warriors." Maher agreed with D'Souza's comments and said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away."
During an interview on The Colbert Report on January 16, 2007, while promoting his book The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, D'Souza maintained that liberals had some responsibility for the September 11 attacks. He said liberals' "penchant for interference" had a decided effect in convincing the Carter administration to withdraw support from the Shah, which brought on Muslim fundamentalists' control of the Iranian government. He also said that the distorted representation of American culture on television is one source of resentment of the United States by Muslims worldwide. D'Souza believes that traditional Muslims are not too different from traditional Jews and Christians in America. Towards the end of the interview, he admitted that he and Islamic militants share some of the same negative beliefs about liberal Americans.
In late February 2017, students at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, stole more than 200 flyers advertising D'Souza's planned appearance at the university the first week of March. D'Souza called the protest "pathetic", and suggested the demonstrators "Come out and debate me. In the best case you may win; in the worst, you'll learn something". Twin brothers Manfred and Jonah Wendt, co-founders of the student conservative group Tigers for Liberty, had passed around 600 notices of D'Souza's visit to campus. Those returned by the protesters contained negative comments about D'Souza.
Views
D'Souza is generally identified as a neoconservative. He defines conservatism in the American sense as "conserving the principles of the American Revolution." In Letters to a Young Conservative, written as an introduction to conservative ideas for youth, D'Souza argues that it is a blend of classical liberalism and ancient virtue, in particular, "the belief that there are moral standards in the universe and that living up to them is the best way to have a full and happy life." He also argues against what he calls the modern liberal belief that "human nature is intrinsically good," and thus that "the great conflicts in the world ... arise out of terrible misunderstandings that can be corrected through ongoing conversation and through the mediation of the United Nations."
In the book Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (1991), D'Souza argued that intolerance of conservative views is common at many universities. He has attributed many modern social problems to what he calls the "cultural left."
D'Souza has also been critical of feminism, and Bruce Goldner, in a review of D'Souza's Illiberal Education, noted that he "has a tendency to characterize feminists as castrating misanthropes".
Religion
D'Souza attended the evangelical church Calvary Chapel from 2000 to about 2010. While stating his Catholic background is important to him, D'Souza also says he is comfortable with Protestant Reformation theology and identifies as a nondenominational Christian. A writer of Christian apologetics, D'Souza has debated against prominent atheists and critics of Christianity on religious and moral issues. His debate opponents have included Dan Barker, Christopher Hitchens, Peter Singer, Daniel Dennett, Michael Shermer, David Silverman, and Bart D. Ehrman.
As a guest contributor for Christian Science Monitor, D'Souza wrote, "The moral teachings of Jesus provide no support for—indeed they stand as a stern rebuke to—the historical injustices perpetrated in the name of Christianity." He often speaks out against atheism, nonbelief in spirituality, and secularism. D'Souza elaborated on his views in the 2007 book he authored, What's so Great about Christianity. In 2009, he published Life After Death: The Evidence, which argues for an afterlife.
D'Souza has also commented on Islam. He stated in 2007 that "radical Islamic" thinkers have not condemned modernity, science or freedom but only United States' support of "secular dictators in the region" which deny "Muslims freedom and control over their own destiny". He has debated Serge Trifkovic and Robert Spencer, who both deem Islam "inherently aggressive, racist, violent, and intolerant." He has labelled Spencer an "Islamophobe" and "an effective polemicist" in his writings on Islam. D'Souza has also warned against support for "a $100 million mosque scheduled to be built near the site where terrorists in the name of Islam brought down the World Trade Center" (i.e., the Park 51 Islamic community center and mosque project), and the Middle East becoming a "United States of Islam" in his attacks against President Barack Obama.
Promotion of conspiracy theories
D'Souza has promoted several conspiracy theories, such as the false claim that Obama was not born in the United States and the conspiracy theory that the Clintons had murdered people. D'Souza has also promoted conspiracy theories about Hungarian-born Jewish financier George Soros, including the false claim that Soros had collaborated with the Nazis, and that Soros has sponsored Antifa, a left-wing anti-fascist movement. In an August 2016 interview with GQ, D'Souza denied being a conspiracy theorist, stating: "I have never advanced a conspiracy theory in my life."
In August 2017, D'Souza suggested that the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally had been staged. In the same month, D'Souza tweeted that it would be "interesting to see" Soros "extradited to Israel & tried for his complicity in Nazi atrocities against Jews", and referred to Soros as "Hitler's collection boy".
After mail bombing attempts on prominent Democratic politicians occurred in October 2018, D'Souza tweeted: "Fake sexual assault victims. Fake refugees. Now fake mail bombs." D'Souza spread the conspiracy theory that because there was no cancellation mark on the bomb-containing packages, they were not mailed.
In February 2021, after the United States Capitol attack took place, D'Souza suggested that the rioters were little more than "a bunch of rowdy people walking through a hallway". In May, D'Souza tweeted about the attack: "Does this LOOK like an insurrection? A riot? A coup attempt? If it doesn't walk like a duck or talk like a duck then it probably isn't a duck."
Opinions expressed on Twitter
In November 2013, D'Souza received backlash for referring to Obama as "Grown-Up Trayvon" in a tweet. In response to the backlash, D'Souza tweeted: "Feigned outrage on the left over me calling Obama ‘grown up Trayvon’ except that Obama likened himself to Trayvon!". D'Souza later deleted the initial tweet, ostensibly because Obama was referring to his hypothetical son.
In February 2015, D'Souza wrote: "You can take the boy out of the ghetto" in a tweet criticizing Obama for using a selfie stick. After the tweet was criticized as racist, D'Souza tweeted: "I know Obama wasn't actually raised in a ghetto--I'm using the term metaphorically, to suggest his unpresidential conduct".
In January 2017, after civil rights leader and Georgia congressman John Lewis stated that the then-newly elected President Donald Trump was not a "legitimate president", D'Souza tweeted: "The left’s false narrative inflates minor figures like John Lewis, Democrat, & downplays major ones like Frederick Douglass, Republican". D'Souza later tweeted that civil rights activist Rosa Parks' contributions to the civil rights movement were "absurdly inflated" and described her as an "overrated Democrat". D'Souza received criticism for the tweets, with Charles C. W. Cooke of National Review stating: "Not only incorrect, it's an attitude that would never be struck about a soldier on, say, Veterans Day … [E]ven if Parks was a minor player (she wasn't), she'd still deserve to be lionized."
In November 2017, D'Souza mocked Beverly Young Nelson, one of the women who accused Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, and tweeted: "I was lukewarm on Roy Moore until the last-minute smear. Now we must elect him to show that the @washingtonpost sleaze attack failed". David French, then-senior writer at National Review, tweeted "What has happened to you?" in response to D'Souza's tweet about Nelson.
In February 2018, D'Souza was criticized for a series of tweets which mocked the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In response to a photo of survivors reacting to Florida lawmakers voting down a proposed ban on assault weapons in the aftermath of the shooting, D'Souza tweeted "worst news since their parents told them to get summer jobs". D'Souza also accused the survivors of "politically-orchestrated grief" and said that their grief "[struck him] as phony and inauthentic". D'Souza's comments were condemned by both liberal and conservative commentators. Journalist Jonathan M. Katz wrote: "Let it never be said that Dinesh does not actively root for the death of children." Others accused D'Souza of "trolling kids". D'Souza was also denounced by the Conservative Political Action Conference, which removed him from its roster of speakers and stated: "his comments are indefensible". D'Souza subsequently apologized for the initial tweet, saying that it was "aimed at media manipulation" and that he was being "insensitive to students who lost friends in a terrible tragedy."
Presidency of The King's College
In August 2010, D'Souza was named president of The King's College, a Christian liberal arts college then housed in the Empire State Building in Manhattan. In 2012, the college relocated to a larger space next door to the New York Stock Exchange in Lower Manhattan's financial district. On October 18, 2012, D'Souza resigned his post at The King's College following a press report that he—despite being married—had shared a hotel room at a Christian conference with another woman and introduced her to others as his fiancée. D'Souza acknowledged being separated from his wife and having introduced Denise Odie Joseph II as his fiancée at a Christian conference; however, he denied that the two were engaged in an adulterous affair and that he had shared a room with Joseph at the conference, and described the report as "pure libel" that is "worthy of Christian condemnation." After an investigation by officials at The King's College, D'Souza stated that he had suspended his engagement to Joseph.
After D'Souza's indiscretion became public, the trustees of The King's College announced on October 17, 2012 that D'Souza had resigned his position as president of the university "to attend to his personal and family needs".
Campaign finance violation, felony guilty plea, conviction, and pardon
On January 23, 2014, D'Souza was charged with making $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions to the New York Senate campaign of Wendy Long and causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission. His attorney responded to the charges by saying his client "did not act with any corrupt or criminal intent whatsoever" and described the incident as "at most ... an act of misguided friendship".
On May 15, 2014, United States district judge Richard M. Berman rejected the contention that D'Souza was singled out for prosecution, stating, "The court concludes the defendant has respectfully submitted no evidence he was selectively prosecuted."
On May 20, 2014, D'Souza pleaded guilty to one felony count of making illegal contributions in the names of others. On September 23, 2014, the court sentenced D'Souza to five years' probation, eight months in a halfway house (referred to as a "community confinement center") and a $30,000 fine. After D'Souza's conviction, his claim of selective prosecution continued to receive support from some conservative media and commentators.
On May 31, 2018, President Donald Trump pardoned D'Souza. D'Souza thanked Trump for the pardon, tweeting: "Obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my American dream & destroy my faith in America. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for fully restoring both". After fellow Indian-American Preet Bharara criticized Trump's pardon of D'Souza, D'Souza accused Bharara of trying to destroy his career, tweeting: "Bharara & his goons bludgeoned me into the plea by threatening to add a second redundant charge carrying a prison term of FIVE YEARS".
Personal life
D'Souza dated fellow conservatives Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter prior to meeting Dixie Brubaker while working at the White House. D'Souza and Brubaker married in 1992. They have one daughter, Danielle D’Souza Gill, who is a writer and a member of the Women for Trump Coalition. The couple lived together in California until D'Souza moved to New York as president of The King's College in 2010. He maintained a residence near San Diego, California, where his wife and daughter remained. D'Souza and Brubaker divorced in 2012.
While D'Souza was being sentenced for campaign finance fraud in 2014, Brubaker wrote a letter to the judge alleging that D'Souza had physically abused her; she claimed that "in April 2012 … he, using his purple belt karate skills, kicked me in the head and shoulder, knocking me to the ground and creating injuries that pain me to this day." Benjamin Brafman, D'Souza's attorney for his campaign finance case, dismissed Brubaker's allegation as completely false.
On March 19, 2016, D'Souza married Deborah Fancher, a conservative political activist and mother of two. Fancher emigrated from Venezuela at age 10. The wedding was held near San Diego with Rafael Cruz, father of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), officiating.
Works
Books
Books authored by D'Souza include:
Films
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1961 births
Living people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century Indian non-fiction writers
21st-century American criminals
American conspiracy theorists
American people of Goan descent
American people convicted of campaign finance violations
American social commentators
People from San Diego
Writers from New York City
Critics of atheism
Male critics of feminism
Dartmouth College alumni
Hoover Institution people
Indian emigrants to the United States
Indian Christians
National Review people
Christian apologists
Writers from Mumbai
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Reagan administration personnel
The Heritage Foundation
The King's College (New York City) faculty
American male writers of Indian descent
American Christian writers
Recipients of American presidential pardons
American male non-fiction writers
Right-wing politics in the United States
Golden Raspberry Award winners
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
John M. Olin Foundation | false | [
"What Is Spiritism? (Qu'Est-ce Que le Spiritisme in French) is a brief introduction to Spiritism written by Allan Kardec in 1859, which is about a quarter of the length of The Spirits Book. Modern editions are augmented by a brief biography of the author, written by Henri Sausse, in 1896 which is mostly focused on his role in the History of Spiritism.\n\nThe book is structured as a series of conferences about Spiritism, intended to quench the public curiosity and dismiss false notions about the doctrine. It is not intended as an initiation and is not seen by Spiritists as strictly canonical but it is very important to understand Kardec's own motivations and commitment to the cause of Spiritism, as the book was entirely penned by himself, without spiritual help. Its central subjects are the following.\n\nCriticism of Spiritism\nKardec tries to address the most common theses argued against Spiritism regarding it as a form of charlatanism. He counters the critics with the following:\n\n Spiritism is not a religion and is not interested on proselytizing.\n Spiritism is not for everyone, only for those who are ready to accept it.\n Spiritism will survive religion because it is not based on blind faith.\n Spiritism does not extort money from followers, everything is taught for free.\n Charges of charlatanism will not affect Spiritism because charlatans are moved by selfishness and usually want to make a stash, so they expose themselves by their own deeds. The public will eventually learn to tell the black sheep apart.\n\nSkepticism\nKardec tries to address skeptical views of Spiritism, regarding its doctrinary uniformity and validity, its scientific character and the novelty of its concepts.\n\n The terms Spiritism and Spiritist are necessary to differ them from generic Spiritualism. They are not vain neologisms.\n The existing of offshoot Spiritist groups is not undesirable, but a consequence of the spreading of the doctrine. Kardec does not claim any form of leadership, except on moral grounds (as the author of the books that first established Spiritism as a coherent doctrine), and does not expect Spiritism to survive him as \"Kardecism\". The only problem is when some group purporting to be \"Spiritist\" spreads false doctrine.\n Spiritism is not superstition. It is a rational explanation of natural phenomena which science cannot assess.\n Spiritism is not witchcraft.\n Spiritism is not inherently dangerous for mental sanity, not if one is aware of the risks and acts with responsibility.\n\nOpposition of the Church\nConfronting the criticism wielded by the Catholic Church, Kardec argues that religious diversity is important and that the existence of only one religion in the Middle Ages was a fertile ground for the Inquisition and cultural backwardness.\n\nDiversity is also important because the coexistence of different doctrines may help people who disagree with one specific doctrine to find one that suits them better. Kardec was one of the earliest proponents of a personal approach to religion. \n\nAlthough Spiritism does not claim for itself the status of a religion, it does not heed by the dogma of any religion. \n\nSpiritism is not similar to Satanism\n\nElementary introduction to Spiritism\nThis chapter summarises the key points of the doctrine, notably:\n\n Origins and different kinds of spirits\n Communication with spirits\n Purpose of spiritual phenomena\n What is Mediumship\n How to determine if a medium is a charlatan\n How to determine whether a given communication is worth\n How to deal with contradictory communications\n\nSpecific aspects of the doctrine\nThis chapter introduces some new doctrine that would be further elaborated on The Gospel According to Spiritism.\n\n Plurality of worlds\n Nature of the soul\n The incarnated spirit\n The disincarnation (death) of a person\n\nSee also\n The Spirits Book\n The Gospel According to Spiritism\n\nBooks about spirituality\nSpiritism",
"A God Who Hates: The Courageous Woman Who Inflamed the Muslim World Speaks Out Against the Evils of Islam is a book written by Wafa Sultan (Arabic: وفاء سلطان; born June 14, 1958, Baniyas, Syria) a medical doctor who trained as a psychiatrist in Syria, and later emigrated to the United States, where she became an author and critic of Muslim society and Islam.\n\nThe book was published in 2009 by St. Martin's Press.\n\nIn her book, Sultan relates her life story and personal relationship with Islam. She attempts to address the history of Islam from a psychological perspective, and examine the political ideology of the religion's modern form.\n\nSultan has received death threats since publishing her book.\n\nNotable quotations\n\"The trouble with Islam is deeply rooted in its teachings. Islam is not only a religion. Islam is also a political ideology that preaches violence and applies its agenda by force.\"\n\n\"No one can be a true Muslim and a true American simultaneously. Islam is both a religion and a state, and to be a true Muslim you must believe in Islam as both religion and state. A true Muslim does not acknowledge the U.S. Constitution, and his willingness to live under that constitution is, as far as he is concerned, nothing more than an unavoidable step on the way to the constitution's replacement by Islamic Sharia law.\"\n\nReferences \n\nBooks critical of Islam\n2009 non-fiction books\nSt. Martin's Press books"
]
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"Nina Simone",
"Temperament"
]
| C_2f9b378d18cc4e11a1ba402806902443_0 | What was her temperament? | 1 | What was Nina Simone temperament? | Nina Simone | Simone was known for her temper and frequent outbursts. Simone abandoned her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly for years in Mount Vernon after relocating to Liberia. When they reunited in West Africa, Simone became abusive. "She went from being my comfort to the monster in my life. Now she was the person doing the beating, and she was beating me." The abuse became so unbearable that Kelly became suicidal and moved back to New York to stay with her father, Andrew Stroud. In 1985, she fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration. According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on. All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down and Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004, after her death. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier, at gunpoint, to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused. CANNOTANSWER | Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on. | Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel and pop.
The sixth of eight children born to a poor family in Tryon, North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a few supporters in her hometown, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she was denied admission despite a well received audition, which she attributed to racism. In 2003, just days before her death, the Institute awarded her an honorary degree.
To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States in 1958 with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.
Biography
1933–1954: Early life
Simone was born on February 21, 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at the age of three or four; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the piano, she performed at her local church. Her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was 12. Simone later said that during this performance, her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. She said that she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front, and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement. Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon (née Irvin, November 20, 1901 – April 30, 2001), was a Methodist minister and a housemaid. Her father, Rev. John Devan Waymon (June 24, 1898 – October 23, 1972), was a handyman who at one time owned a dry-cleaning business, but also suffered bouts of ill health. Simone's music teacher helped establish a special fund to pay for her education. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist her continued education. With the help of this scholarship money, she was able to attend Allen High School for Girls in Asheville, North Carolina.
After her graduation, Simone spent the summer of 1950 at the Juilliard School as a student of Carl Friedberg, preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her application, however, was denied. Only 3 of 72 applicants were accepted that year, but as her family had relocated to Philadelphia in the expectation of her entry to Curtis, the blow to her aspirations was particularly heavy. For the rest of her life, she suspected that her application had been denied because of racial prejudice, a charge the staff at Curtis have denied. Discouraged, she took private piano lessons with Vladimir Sokoloff, a professor at Curtis, but never could re-apply due to the fact that at the time the Curtis institute did not accept students over 21. She took a job as a photographer's assistant, but also found work as an accompanist at Arlene Smith's vocal studio and taught piano from her home in Philadelphia.
1954–1959: Early success
In order to fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano, which increased her income to $90 a week. In 1954, she adopted the stage name "Nina Simone". "Nina", derived from niña, was a nickname given to her by a boyfriend named Chico, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the 1952 movie Casque d'Or. Knowing her mother would not approve of playing "the Devil's music", she used her new stage name to remain undetected. Simone's mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small but loyal fan base.
In 1958, she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage. Playing in small clubs in the same year, she recorded George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 20 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue followed in February 1959 on Bethlehem Records. Because she had sold her rights outright for $3,000, Simone lost more than $1 million in royalties (notably for the 1980s re-release of her version of the jazz standard "My Baby Just Cares for Me") and never benefited financially from the album's sales.
1959–1964: Burgeoning popularity
After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records and recorded a multitude of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. After the release of her live album Nina Simone at Town Hall, Simone became a favorite performer in Greenwich Village. By this time, Simone performed pop music only to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.
Simone married a New York police detective, Drew Stroud, in December 1961. In a few years he became her manager and the father of her daughter Lisa, but later he abused Simone psychologically and physically.
1964–1974: Civil Rights era
In 1964, Simone changed record distributors from Colpix, an American company, to the Dutch Philips Records, which meant a change in the content of her recordings. She had always included songs in her repertoire that drew on her African-American heritage, such as "Brown Baby" by Oscar Brown and "Zungo" by Michael Olatunji on her album Nina at the Village Gate in 1962. On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone in Concert (1964), for the first time she addressed racial inequality in the United States in the song "Mississippi Goddam". This was her response to the June 12, 1963, murder of Medgar Evers and the September 15, 1963, bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four young black girls and partly blinded a fifth. She said that the song was "like throwing ten bullets back at them", becoming one of many other protest songs written by Simone. The song was released as a single, and it was boycotted in some southern states. Promotional copies were smashed by a Carolina radio station and returned to Philips. She later recalled how "Mississippi Goddam" was her "first civil rights song" and that the song came to her "in a rush of fury, hatred and determination". The song challenged the belief that race relations could change gradually and called for more immediate developments: "me and my people are just about due". It was a key moment in her path to Civil Rights activism. "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow laws. After "Mississippi Goddam", a civil rights message was the norm in Simone's recordings and became part of her concerts. As her political activism rose, the rate of release of her music slowed.
Simone performed and spoke at civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches. Like Malcolm X, her neighbor in Mount Vernon, New York, she supported black nationalism and advocated violent revolution rather than Martin Luther King Jr.'s non-violent approach. She hoped that African Americans could use armed combat to form a separate state, though she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal.
In 1967, Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor. She sang "Backlash Blues" written by her friend, Harlem Renaissance leader Langston Hughes, on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album 'Nuff Said! (1968) contained live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair of April 7, 1968, three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. She dedicated the performance to him and sang "Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor. In 1969, she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park, immortalized in Questlove's 2021 documentary Summer of Soul.
Simone and Weldon Irvine turned the unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry into a civil rights song of the same name. She credited her friend Hansberry with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black) and Donny Hathaway. When reflecting on this period, she wrote in her autobiography, "I felt more alive then than I feel now because I was needed, and I could sing something to help my people".
1974–1993: Later life
In an interview for Jet magazine, Simone stated that her controversial song "Mississippi Goddam" harmed her career. She claimed that the music industry punished her by boycotting her records. Hurt and disappointed, Simone left the US in September 1970, flying to Barbados and expecting her husband and manager (Andrew Stroud) to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of her desire for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.
When Simone returned to the United States, she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (unpaid as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War), and returned to Barbados to evade the authorities and prosecution. Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time, and had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow. A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia. When Simone relocated, she abandoned her daughter Lisa in Mount Vernon. Lisa eventually reunited with Simone in Liberia, but, according to Lisa, her mother was physically and mentally abusive. The abuse was so unbearable that Lisa became suicidal and she moved back to New York to live with her father Andrew Stroud. Simone recorded her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, in 1974, and did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor. The result was the album Baltimore, which, while not a commercial success, was fairly well received critically and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output. Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl". Four years later, Simone recorded Fodder on My Wings on a French label, Studio Davout.
During the 1980s, Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott's in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging with her audiences sometimes, by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. By this time she stayed everywhere and nowhere. She lived in Liberia, Barbados and Switzerland and eventually ended up in Paris. There she regularly performed in a small jazz club called Aux Trois Mailletz for relatively small financial reward. The performances were sometimes brilliant and at other times Nina Simone gave up after fifteen minutes. Often she was too drunk to sing or play the piano properly. At other times she scolded the audience. The end of Nina Simone seemed in sight. Manager Raymond Gonzalez, guitarist Al Schackman and Gerrit de Bruin, a Dutch friend of hers, decided to intervene.
Simone moved to Nijmegen in the Netherlands in the spring of 1988. She had just scored a huge European hit with the song "My Baby Just Cares for Me". Recorded by her for the first time in 1958, the song was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume in Europe, leading to a re-release of the recording. This stormed to number 4 on the UK's NME singles chart, giving Simone a brief surge in popularity in the UK and elsewhere.
In 1988 she bought an apartment next to the Belvoir Hotel with view of the Waalbrug and Ooijpolder, with the help of her friend Gerrit de Bruin, who lived with his family a few corners away and kept an eye on her. The idea was to bring Simone to Nijmegen to relax and get back on track. A daily caretaker, Jackie Hammond from London, was hired for her. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. Unfortunately, the tantrums followed her to Nijmegen. Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder by a friend of De Bruin, who prescribed Trilafon for her. Despite the miserable illness, it was generally a happy time for Simone in Nijmegen, where she could lead a fairly anonymous life. Only a few recognized her, but most Nijmegen people did not know who she was. Slowly but surely her life started to improve, and she was even able to make money from the Chanel commercial after a legal battle. In 1991 Nina Simone exchanged Nijmegen for the more lively Amsterdam, where she lived for two years with friends and Hammond.
1993–2003: Final years, illness and death
In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence in southern France (Bouches-du-Rhône). In the same year, her final album, A Single Woman, was released. She variously contended that she married or had a love affair with a Tunisian around this time, but that their relationship ended because, "His family didn't want him to move to France, and France didn't want him because he's a North African." During a 1998 performance in Newark, she announced, "If you're going to come see me again, you've got to come to France, because I am not coming back." She suffered from breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet (Bouches-du-Rhône), on April 21, 2003. Her Catholic funeral service at the local parish was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti LaBelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, and hundreds of others. Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. Her daughter Lisa Celeste Stroud is an actress and singer who took the stage name Simone, and who has appeared on Broadway in Aida.
Activism
Influence
Simone's consciousness on the racial and social discourse was prompted by her friendship with black playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Simone stated that during her conversations with Hansberry "we never talked about men or clothes. It was always Marx, Lenin and revolution – real girls’ talk". The influence of Hansberry planted the seed for the provocative social commentary that became an expectation in Simone's repertoire. One of Nina's more hopeful activism anthems, "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", was written with collaborator Weldon Irvine in the years following the playwright's passing, acquiring the title of one of Hansberry's unpublished plays. Simone's social circles included notable black leftists such as James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael and Langston Hughes: the lyrics of her song "Backlash Blues" were written by the latter.
Beyond the civil rights movement
Simone's social commentary was not limited to the civil rights movement; the song "Four Women" exposed the eurocentric appearance standards imposed on black women in America, as it explored the internalized dilemma of beauty that is experienced between four black women with skin tones ranging from light to dark. She explains in her autobiography I Put a Spell on You that the purpose of the song was to inspire black women to define beauty and identity for themselves without the influence of societal impositions. Chardine Taylor-Stone has noted that, beyond the politics of beauty, the song also describes the stereotypical roles that many black women have historically been restricted to: the mammy, the tragic mulatto, the sex worker and the angry black woman.
Artistry
Simone standards
Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that became standards in her repertoire. Some were songs that she wrote herself, while others were new arrangements of other standards, and others had been written especially for the singer. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 on the Billboard magazine Hot 100 chart.
During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, after it was featured in a 1986 Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was also created by Aardman Studios. Well-known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964); "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne me quitte pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song), and "Feeling Good" on I Put a Spell On You (1965); and "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966).
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and her takes on "Feeling Good" and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have remained popular in cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals), sample usage, and their use on soundtracks for various movies, television series, and video games. "Sinnerman" has been featured in the films The Crimson Pirate (1952), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), High Crimes (2002), Cellular (2004), Déjà Vu (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Golden Door (2006), Inland Empire (2006), and Harriet (2019), as well as in TV series such as Homicide: Life on the Street (1998, "Sins of the Father"), Nash Bridges (2000, "Jackpot"), Scrubs (2001, "My Own Personal Jesus"), Boomtown (2003, "The Big Picture"), Person of Interest (2011, "Witness"), Shameless (2011, "Kidnap and Ransom"), Love/Hate (2011, "Episode 1"), Sherlock (2012, "The Reichenbach Fall"), The Blacklist (2013, "The Freelancer"), Vinyl (2016, "The Racket"), Lucifer (2017, "Favorite Son"), and The Umbrella Academy (2019, "Extra Ordinary"), and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli (2003, "Get By"), Timbaland (2007, "Oh Timbaland"), and Flying Lotus (2012, "Until the Quiet Comes"). The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III. "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album 808s & Heartbreak. The 1965 rendition of "Strange Fruit", originally recorded by Billie Holiday, was sampled by Kanye West for "Blood on the Leaves" on his album Yeezus.
Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned many singles and album tracks that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 2 on the UK Singles Chart and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder.
The following single, a rendition of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody", also reached the UK Top 10 in 1969. "The House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings the Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina at the Village Gate (1962).
Performance style
Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "the High Priestess of Soul". She was a pianist, singer and performer, "separately, and simultaneously." As a composer and arranger, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz, and folk, and to numbers with European classical styling. Besides using Bach-style counterpoint, she called upon the particular virtuosity of the 19th-century Romantic piano repertoire—Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and others. Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis spoke highly of Simone, deeply impressed by her ability to play three-part counterpoint (her two hands on the piano and her voice each providing a separate but complementary melody line). Onstage, she incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element. Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman. She was known to pay close attention to the design and acoustics of each venue, tailoring her performances to individual venues.
Simone was perceived as a sometimes difficult or unpredictable performer, occasionally hectoring the audience if she felt they were disrespectful. Schackman would try to calm Simone during these episodes, performing solo until she calmed offstage and returned to finish the engagement. Her early experiences as a classical pianist had conditioned Simone to expect quiet attentive audiences, and her anger tended to flare up at nightclubs, lounges, or other locations where patrons were less attentive. Schackman described her live appearances as hit or miss, either reaching heights of hypnotic brilliance or on the other hand mechanically playing a few songs and then abruptly ending concerts early.
Critical reputation
Simone is regarded as one of the most influential recording artist of 20th-century jazz, cabaret and R&B genres. According to Rickey Vincent, she was a pioneering musician whose career was characterized by "fits of outrage and improvisational genius". Pointing to her composition of "Mississippi Goddam", Vincent said Simone broke the mold, having the courage as "an established black musical entertainer to break from the norms of the industry and produce direct social commentary in her music during the early 1960s".
In naming Simone the 29th-greatest singer of all time, Rolling Stone wrote that "her honey-coated, slightly adenoidal cry was one of the most affecting voices of the civil rights movement", while making note of her ability to "belt barroom blues, croon cabaret and explore jazz — sometimes all on a single record." In the opinion of AllMusic's Mark Deming, she was "one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic". Creed Taylor, who annotated the liner notes for Simone's 1978 Baltimore album, said the singer possessed a "magnificent intensity" that "turns everything—even the most simple, mundane phrase or lyric—into a radiant, poetic message". Jim Fusilli, music critic for The Wall Street Journal, writes that Simone's music is still relevant today: "it didn't adhere to ephemeral trends, it isn't a relic of a bygone era; her vocal delivery and technical skills as a pianist still dazzle; and her emotional performances have a visceral impact."
"She is loved or feared, adored or disliked", Maya Angelou wrote in 1970, "but few who have met her music or glimpsed her soul react with moderation". Robert Christgau, who disliked Simone, wrote that her "penchant for the mundane renders her intensity as bogus as her mannered melismas and pronunciation (move over, Inspector Clouseau) and the rote flatting of her vocal improvisations." Regarding her piano playing, he dismissed Simone as a "middlebrow keyboard tickler ... whose histrionic rolls insert unconvincing emotion into a song". He later attributed his generally negative appraisal to Simone's consistent seriousness of manner, depressive tendencies, and classical background.
Mental health
Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. In 1985, Simone fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995 while living in France, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration and she perceived his response to her complaints as racial insults; she was sentenced to eight months in jail, which was suspended pending a psychiatric evaluation and treatment.
According to a biographer, Simone took medication from the mid-1960s onward, although this was supposedly only known to a small group of intimates. After her death the medication was confirmed as the anti-psychotic Trilafon, which Simone's friends and caretakers sometimes surreptitiously mixed into her food when she refused to follow her treatment plan. This fact was kept out of public view until 2004 when a biography, Break Down and Let It All Out, written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan (of her UK fan club), was published posthumously. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier at gunpoint to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused.
Awards and recognition
Simone was the recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 for her interpretation of "I Loves You, Porgy." On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Simone.
Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities, from Amherst College and Malcolm X College. She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
Two days before her death, Simone learned she would be awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute of Music, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.
Simone has received four career Grammy Award nominations, two during her lifetime and two posthumously. In 1968, she received her first nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the track "(You'll) Go to Hell" from her thirteenth album Silk & Soul (1967). The award went to "Respect" by Aretha Franklin.
Simone garnered a second nomination in the category in 1971, for her Black Gold album, when she again lost to Franklin for "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)". Franklin would again win for her cover of Simone's "Young, Gifted and Black" two years later in the same category. In 2016, Simone posthumously received a nomination for Best Music Film for the Netflix documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? and in 2018 she received a nomination for Best Rap Song as a songwriter for Jay-Z's "The Story of O.J." from his 4:44 album which contained a sample of "Four Women" by Simone.
In 2018, Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by fellow R&B artist Mary J. Blige.
In 2019, "Mississippi Goddam" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Legacy and influence
Music
Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Elton John (who named one of his pianos after her), Madonna, Aretha Franklin, Adele, David Bowie, Patti LaBelle, Boy George, Emeli Sandé, Antony and the Johnsons, Dianne Reeves, Sade, Janis Joplin, Nick Cave, Van Morrison, Christina Aguilera, Elkie Brooks, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lena Horne, Bono, John Legend, Elizabeth Fraser, Cat Stevens, Anna Calvi, Cat Power, Lykke Li, Peter Gabriel, Justin Hayward, Maynard James Keenan, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mary J. Blige, Fantasia Barrino, Michael Gira, Angela McCluskey, Lauryn Hill, Patrice Babatunde, Alicia Keys, Alex Turner, Lana Del Rey, Hozier, Matt Bellamy, Ian MacKaye, Kerry Brothers, Jr., Krucial, Amanda Palmer, Steve Adey and Jeff Buckley. John Lennon cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles' song "Michelle". American singer Meshell Ndegeocello released her own tribute album Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone in 2012. The following year, experimental band Xiu Xiu released a cover album, Nina. In late 2019, American rapper Wale released an album titled Wow... That's Crazy, containing a track called "Love Me Nina/Semiautomatic" which contains audio clips from Simone.
Simone's music has been featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games, including La Femme Nikita (1990), Point of No Return (1993), Shallow Grave (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998), Any Given Sunday (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Disappearing Acts (2000), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (2002), Before Sunset (2004), Cellular (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Sex and the City (2008), The World Unseen (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), Home (2008), Watchmen (2009), The Saboteur (2009), Repo Men (2010), Beyond the Lights (2014), and "Nobody" (2021). Frequently her music is used in remixes, commercials, and TV series including "Feeling Good", which featured prominently in the Season Four Promo of Six Feet Under (2004). Simone's "Take Care of Business" is the closing theme of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Simone's cover of Janis Ian's "Stars" is played during the final moments of the season 3 finale of BoJack Horseman (2016), and "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" were included in the film Acrimony (2018).
Film
The documentary Nina Simone: La légende (The Legend) was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers and based on her autobiography I Put a Spell on You. It features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with family, various interviews with Simone then living in the Netherlands, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply Nina. Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment and is screened annually in New York City at an event called "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976" which is curated by Tom Blunt.
Footage of Simone singing "Mississippi Goddam" for 40,000 marchers at the end of the Selma to Montgomery marches can be seen in the 1970 documentary King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis and the 2015 Liz Garbus documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?
Plans for a Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006; Simone's daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, has since refuted the existence of a romantic relationship between Simone and Henderson on account of his homosexuality. Cynthia Mort (screenwriter of Will & Grace and Roseanne), wrote the screenplay and directed the 2016 film Nina, starring Zoe Saldana who has since openly apologized for taking the controversial title role.
In 2015, two documentary features about Simone's life and music were released. The first, directed by Liz Garbus, What Happened, Miss Simone? was produced in cooperation with Simone's estate and her daughter, who also served as the film's executive producer. The film was produced as a counterpoint to the unauthorized Cynthia Mort film (Nina, 2016), and featured previously unreleased archival footage. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015 and was distributed by Netflix on June 26, 2015. It was nominated on January 14, 2016, for a 2016 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The second documentary in 2015, The Amazing Nina Simone is an independent film written and directed by Jeff L. Lieberman, who initially consulted with Simone's daughter, Lisa before going the independent route and then worked closely with Simone's siblings, predominantly Sam Waymon. The film debuted in cinemas in October 2015, and has since played more than 100 theatres in 10 countries.
Drama
She is the subject of Nina: A Story About Me and Nina Simone, a one-woman show first performed in 2016 at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool — a "deeply personal and often searing show inspired by the singer and activist Nina Simone" — and which in July 2017 ran at the Young Vic, before being scheduled to move to Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre.
Books
As well as her 1992 autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992), written with Stephen Cleary, Simone has been the subject of several books. They include Nina Simone: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (2002) by Richard Williams; Nina Simone: Break Down and Let It All Out (2004) by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan; Princess Noire (2010) by Nadine Cohodas; Nina Simone (2004) by Kerry Acker; Nina Simone, Black is the Color (2005) by Andrew Stroud; and What Happened, Miss Simone? (2016) by Alan Light.
Simone inspired a book of poetry, Me and Nina, by Monica Hand, and is the focus of musician Warren Ellis's book Nina Simone's Gum (2021).
Honors
In 2002, the city of Nijmegen, Netherlands, named a street after her, as "Nina Simone Street": she had lived in Nijmegen between 1988 and 1990. On August 29, 2005, the city of Nijmegen, the De Vereeniging concert hall, and more than 50 artists (among whom were Frank Boeijen, Rood Adeo, and Fay Claassen) honored Simone with the tribute concert Greetings from Nijmegen.
Simone was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
In 2010, a statue in her honor was erected on Trade Street in her native Tryon, North Carolina.
The promotion from the French Institute of Political Studies of Lille (Sciences Po Lille), due to obtain their master's degree in 2021, named themselves in her honor. The decision was made that this promotion was henceforth to be known as 'la promotion Nina Simone' after a vote in 2017.
Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
The Proms paid a homage to Nina Simone in 2019, an event called Mississippi Goddamn was performed by The Metropole Orkest at Royal Albert Hall led by Jules Buckley. Ledisi, Lisa Fischer and Jazz Trio, LaSharVu provided vocals.
Discography
References
Sources
External links
The Amazing Nina Simone: A Documentary Film
1933 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American pianists
20th-century African-American women singers
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from North Carolina
African-American activists
African-American Christians
African-American women singer-songwriters
African and Black nationalists
American contraltos
American expatriates in France
American expatriates in Liberia
American expatriates in Switzerland
American expatriates in the Netherlands
American women jazz singers
American jazz pianists
American women pianists
American jazz singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul musicians
American tax resisters
American women activists
Bethlehem Records artists
Charly Records artists
Colpix Records artists
Deaths from breast cancer
Deaths from cancer in France
Elektra Records artists
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Jazz musicians from North Carolina
Jazz songwriters
Juilliard School alumni
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Nightclub performers
People from Tryon, North Carolina
People from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
People with bipolar disorder
Philips Records artists
RCA Victor artists
Soul-jazz musicians
Torch singers
Verve Records artists
African-American Catholics
African-American pianists
Roman Catholic activists
American socialists | false | [
"Mary Klevjord Rothbart (born May 22, 1940, in Lewistown, Montana) is professor emerita of psychology at the University of Oregon. She is known for her research in the fields of temperament and social development, emotional development, and development of attention. She has founded Birth to Three, which is a parent support and education program. She has written over 159 articles related to educational psychology, developmental psychology, developmental cognitive neuroscience and biological psychology. Rothbart has also authored and co-authored many books, including Becoming Who We Are, for which she received the Eleanor Maccoby Book Award from the American Psychological Association. Two other popular volumes by Rothbart are Temperament, a Handbook of Child Psychology, and Attention in Early Development: Themes and Variations.\n\nPersonal life\nRothbart was born in Lewistown, Montana, in May 1940 to Mary Louise Klevjord. Her father, who came from Norway, was a teacher and her mother was a housewife. Rothbart was the oldest of four daughters. Though born in Montana, Rothbart's father joined the military during World War II, which resulted in most of her early years living in Utah and Washington. After attending high school in Utah, she then enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. This is where her love of learning was sparked and where she met her husband Myron Rothbart, also a social psychologist. After graduating, both Rothbarts went to Stanford, where she graduated with a doctoral degree in social psychology. While at Stanford Rothbart gave birth to her first son, then 20 months later gave birth to her second son. Her second son was born in Montreal, where Rothbart's husband was working. During her son's early years, she took three years off to stay at home with them, which led her to research development and temperament of children. She had looked into what research was available on child temperament at the time and there was not much work beyond an early study by Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess (New York Longitudinal Study). She would go on to spend countless hours interviewing and observing children and their emotional responses to outside stimuli in the process of developing the Infant Behavior Questionnaire in to define temperament in small children. Rothbart then accepted a teaching position from the University of Oregon, where she spent the rest of her teaching and research career. She is now retired from her teaching career, but continues to conduct research.\n\nEducation\nRothbart earned her B.A in Psychology (1962) from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. She went on to earn her Ph.D in Psychology (1966) from Stanford University. Rothbart worked closely with developmental psychologist Eleanor Maccoby who served as her major advisor and mentor while she attended Stanford University. She has dedicated most of her work to the study of child development and temperament.\n\nProfessional career\n\nAfter receiving her Ph.D., Rothbart became a faculty member at the University of Oregon, where she conducted research on the development of emotions and attention in early childhood and infancy. She is best known for her research with individual differences in infant temperament. Although her primary focus was on researching with infants, Rothbart also conducted research on temperament in early childhood all the way to adolescence. Rothbart has also conducted research on attention, the development of emotions, and social development.\n\nRothbart retired as a Professor Emerita of Psychology from the University of Oregon. Although retired, Rothbart continues to assist her peers including Dr. Michael Posner in her field of expertise. Rothbart continues to focus on educational and developmental psychology.\n\nContributions\nRothbart is a leading expert in infant temperament development and has authored many articles and books on this subject. She drew generalizations about the development of temperament in small children by identifying emotional reactions. Rothbart developed parent- and self-report questionnaires for assessing temperament in infancy, childhood, early adolescence, and adulthood. She has also developed standardized laboratory assessments of temperament, and has conducted extensive laboratory work on the early development of the emotions, impulsivity, activity, and attention. In her work, she drew distinctions between \"effortless control\" used to inhibit a dominant response in order to perform a subdominant response and \"effortful control\" consisting of abilities required to voluntarily manage attention regulation. This work examined the development of control behaviors needed to adapt to situations and suppress impulsivity, especially when the child did not particularly want to do so.\n\nHer methods of assessing infant temperament would evolve into the infant Behavior Questionnaire, developed in 1981 and still widely used today. This technique, called the Infant Behavior Questionnaire, is commonly used among researchers studying infant behavior and temperament today.\n\nUsing this questionnaire in combination with home and laboratory observations has helped infant researchers obtain more accurate data on their participants. Rothbart also uses self-report surveys for her participants, but only when she is assessing participants who are old enough to give accurate self-report data.\n\nRothbart conducted important research with Doug Derryberry to observe the emotional reactions and the different temperaments of children between the ages of three to eight. Another important collaboration involved psychologist Michael Posner, and resulted in a number of seminal papers on development of self-regulation, as well as publication of the book Educating the Human Brain.\n\nCognitive development\n\nRothbart has also done significant research on cognitive development. In 2007 she researched the differences in the human brain and how it changes over the years. She also did research on differences in education style and how this influences development. She also worked within the realm of social psychology in 2011 doing research on the brain states involved in hypnosis. She has used her knowledge on temperament in the varying ages of individuals and has begun applying it to other areas of psychology. In 2015 Rothbart did research involving the use of temperament in how mental disorders are viewed and categorized. Her most recent work done in 2016 was the role of temperament in personality.\n\nBirth to Three\nRothbart is also the founder of Birth to Three, a program that aims to serve children who have disabilities in cognitive, physical, communication, emotional, and social development. This program has helped reach parents and children across the United States to offer support and education for infant development. Because of her tremendous contributions to the Birth to Three program, Rothbart was awarded the Birth to Three's Champion of Children award.\n\nAwards\nDr. Rothbart has received several awards for her contributions in social and developmental psychology. In 2009, she received the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Science of Psychology from the American Psychological Foundation. She is also the recipient of the Block Award from the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Child Development from the Society for Research in Child Development, and the G. Stanley Hall Award for Distinguished Contribution to Developmental Psychology from the American Psychological Association.\n\nDr. Rothbart was also awarded the Elenor Maccoby Book Award from Division 7 (Developmental Psychology) of the American Psychological Association for her book Becoming Who We Are. This book discusses the role of temperament in developing personality traits as well as biological and social influences on temperament. Becoming Who We Are combines theories on temperament with research that Rothbart and other leading temperament researchers have conducted in order to give more detail about temperament and its implications in later life. She also discusses intervention plans in order to help children who have a difficult temperament.\n\nOther major awards\nBirth to Three's Champion of Children Award (Birth to Three)\nBlock Award (SPSP) award for research accomplishment in personality research.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n SRCD Oral History Interview - Mary K. Rothbart\n Mary K. Rothbart - CAS Department of Psychology\n Mary Rothbart's Temperament Questionnaires\n Mary K. Rothbart - Guildford Press\n\nAmerican psychologists\nAmerican women psychologists\nDevelopmental psychologists\n1940 births\nLiving people\nPeople from Lewistown, Montana\nUniversity of Oregon faculty\nReed College alumni\nStanford University alumni\nAmerican women academics",
"The phrase temperament ordinaire (French tempérament ordinaire, meaning literally \"ordinary temperament\" or \"usual temperament\") is a term for musical intonation, particularly the tempered tuning of keyboard instruments. In modern usage, it usually refers to temperaments falling within the range (as understood broadly) of tunings\nnow known as \"well-tempered\".\n\nThe expression occurs primarily in French-language works of the 17th and 18th centuries concerning theory and practice of musical intonation with regard to keyboard instruments. It is discussed again, in the same or a similar musical application, in modern literature concerned with historical practices relating to keyboard instruments and performance.\n\n17th-century usage and application \n\nOne of the early historical documents in which the phrase was used is Christiaan Huygens' \"Lettre touchant le cycle harmonique\", (\"Letter concerning the harmonic cycle\") of 1691. This refers several times, in a comparative way, to \"temperament ordinaire\". The main purpose of Huygens' letter was to describe and discuss an unconventional 31-fold division of the octave. He did this by first recapitulating a conventional known temperament of his time, and then he compared that with his new scheme (which actually had been approximately conceived before, albeit without Huygens' mathematical precision); and he discussed the differences. Huygens' description of the conventional arrangement was quite precise, and it is clearly identifiable with what is now classified as (quarter-comma) meantone temperament.\n\n(A little calculation is needed to see the matching correspondence between, on the one hand, the figures in the right hand column of Huygens' table of 1691, which is headed 'Division of the octave following the temperament ordinaire', and on the other hand, the interval-values in the quarter-comma mean-tone scale. Huygens' figures are in base-10 logarithms, but in the inverse sense, and offset by 5: they range from 5 at the lower C, to (5-log10(2)) at the C an octave above. If H is Huygens' number for any note, then in modern terms, the number of cents in the interval that it makes with the lower C is ( 1200 / log10(2) ) * (5-H), and its frequency-ratio with the lower C is antilog10( 5-H ). Thus Huygens' value for G natural, 4.8252574989, corresponds to ~696.578... cents, and to a ratio of 1.495348...; and so on.)\n\nHuygens referred to this conventional arrangement, variously, in the course of his comparisons, as \"the Temperament that I have just explained\", \"the Temperament\", \"the ordinary Temperament\" (temperament ordinaire), \"the Ordinary Temperament\" (with both words capitalized), and then by mentioning \"the new Temperament\" as contrasted with \"the one that everyone uses\".\n\nAccordingly, it does appear that for Huygens in 1691, \"temperament ordinaire\" was a phrase denoting just the temperament in ordinary use, with no sign that he was using this expression as a proper or conventional name or label; and it also appears that for him, the one in ordinary use was (quarter-comma) meantone temperament.\n\n18th century \n\nThe term was later used in the Encyclopédie of Diderot and D'Alembert, published in Paris in 1751–1772, which contains an article on temperament written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The article discusses the contrasting merits of equal temperament and of an arrangement referred to as \"temperament ordinaire\", \"temperament\" (without qualifier), and also as \"the common rule of temperament\", and gives practical instructions how to tune a keyboard to this temperament.\n\nIn regard to the use of the expressions denoting the temperament in this article, it is noticeable that while all occurrences of the word 'temperament' in the original article stand italicized, the accompanying words, including 'ordinaire', never are. That seems to show that Rousseau was using the phrase just to denote descriptively what he regarded as usual, rather than as a proper name or conventional designatory label.\n\nAs for the nature and identity of the temperament that Rousseau called the common one, the content of the article (see instructions reproduced below) leaves it clear that it was a circulating temperament, rather than the quarter-comma meantone referred to by Huygens about 60 years previously.\n\nIt is relevant to reproduce here the actual instructions from the Encyclopedie (in translation) for tuning to \"the common rule of temperament\", so as to leave it clear where they are specific, and where they are vague:\n\n\"To do this: 1st, start with the middle C of the keyboard, and narrow the first four fifths going up, until the fourth, E, makes a very true major third with the first note C; this is called 'the proof'. 2nd, Continuing to tune by fifths, as soon as one has arrived at the sharp notes, one then widens the fifths – even though the thirds suffer by it – and one stops when one has arrived at G#. 3rd, Return to C and tune the fifths going down, that is, F, B flat, and so on, widening them all the time, until one has arrived at D flat, which – when taken as C# - ought to be in harmony as a fifth with the G# where one stopped before. The final fifths will be a little too wide, like the thirds. But the harshness will be tolerable if the tuning across the octaves is done properly, and besides, these fifths are so situated that they are rarely used.\"\n\nAmong the notable points of this description:\n\n1: there is a possible misprint or similar thoughtless mistake, or else an instruction to cover some of the ground twice, in that the third-stage stopping point, D flat, would have been tuned already as C# before the G#, and so the expected stopping point of the third stage might more naturally be E flat/D#, to be checked against the G#. So D flat (re bemol) might have been a misprint etc. for E flat (mi bemol).\n\n2: There might have been no need for the user to actually widen any of the fifths, if only the ones between CGDAE had been narrowed: things should have worked out if all the others had just been left pure. This highlights also that the instructions are not quite specific on what to do about the fifths E->B and B->F#: to narrow them like the earlier ones? (which would necessitate some widening further along the chain), or to leave them pure? (in which case all the rest could be pure too). And then, how to distribute the amounts of any widening of the remaining fifths?\n\n3: According to the degree of any widening used, some of the thirds would actually be made worse than necessary. This point seems possibly to have escaped the originators and users of the method described here, as of other methods involving widening fifths.\n\nPerhaps it is possible to be too precise about this kind of thing.\n\nMaybe the intent of an 18th-century description, such as the one referenced and discussed above, was that complete precision was not sought at all, rather to give a guideline for completion in practice, according to the taste and ear of the individual musician.\n\nThe two scales, both referred to as temperament ordinaire by Huygens and by Rousseau/Encyclopedie, have in common the degree of tempering applied to the fifths CGDAE. The difference between them is that the 'wolf' error arising in the chain of fifths is either left whole in only one of those remaining fifths (meantone), or else divided up and distributed amongst them.\n\nThe two examples of usage given above do not seem to show any sign that the expression \"temperament ordinaire\" (in its 17th-18th-century French usages) was anything more than a descriptive or denotative phrase, denoting whatever was to be referred to as \"the usual temperament\": and the examples also make clear that other similar indicative words might equally be used instead, e.g. \"the common rule\", or \"the one that everyone uses\". Some of the modern literature might seem to apply \"temperament ordinaire\" as if it is (or might have been, in the 17th or 18th centuries) a kind of proper name or conventional label of some particular tuning arrangement(s). Perhaps it is an open question whether this was ever so. The status that the phrase actually had at that time is relevant in turn to the substantive question of what actual tuning (or range of tunings) the phrase was then used to refer to. The examples above show, at least, that the temperament so referred to was not uniquely identified.\n\nIn summary, it seems that once the 18th century had got well under way, the expression 'temperament ordinaire' could refer in the French literature to a circulating irregular keyboard temperament with some slightly widened fifths as well as some narrowed ones: and that in the late 17th century it could refer to what is now called quarter-comma mean-tone temperament. It seems not impossible that both usages might have been at some time concurrent.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Text (French) of reference Huygens (1691)\n Text (French) of section T from the Encyclopédie, including reference (Rousseau, 1751)\n Discussion and links to sources of French Baroque irregular keyboard temperaments\nRosetta Revisited: Bach's Very Ordinary Temperament Dominic Eckersley.\n\nMusical temperaments"
]
|
[
"Nina Simone",
"Temperament",
"What was her temperament?",
"Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on."
]
| C_2f9b378d18cc4e11a1ba402806902443_0 | How was she received? | 2 | How Nina Simone was received ? | Nina Simone | Simone was known for her temper and frequent outbursts. Simone abandoned her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly for years in Mount Vernon after relocating to Liberia. When they reunited in West Africa, Simone became abusive. "She went from being my comfort to the monster in my life. Now she was the person doing the beating, and she was beating me." The abuse became so unbearable that Kelly became suicidal and moved back to New York to stay with her father, Andrew Stroud. In 1985, she fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration. According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on. All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down and Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004, after her death. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier, at gunpoint, to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused. CANNOTANSWER | Simone was known for her temper and frequent outbursts. | Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel and pop.
The sixth of eight children born to a poor family in Tryon, North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a few supporters in her hometown, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she was denied admission despite a well received audition, which she attributed to racism. In 2003, just days before her death, the Institute awarded her an honorary degree.
To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States in 1958 with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.
Biography
1933–1954: Early life
Simone was born on February 21, 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at the age of three or four; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the piano, she performed at her local church. Her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was 12. Simone later said that during this performance, her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. She said that she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front, and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement. Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon (née Irvin, November 20, 1901 – April 30, 2001), was a Methodist minister and a housemaid. Her father, Rev. John Devan Waymon (June 24, 1898 – October 23, 1972), was a handyman who at one time owned a dry-cleaning business, but also suffered bouts of ill health. Simone's music teacher helped establish a special fund to pay for her education. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist her continued education. With the help of this scholarship money, she was able to attend Allen High School for Girls in Asheville, North Carolina.
After her graduation, Simone spent the summer of 1950 at the Juilliard School as a student of Carl Friedberg, preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her application, however, was denied. Only 3 of 72 applicants were accepted that year, but as her family had relocated to Philadelphia in the expectation of her entry to Curtis, the blow to her aspirations was particularly heavy. For the rest of her life, she suspected that her application had been denied because of racial prejudice, a charge the staff at Curtis have denied. Discouraged, she took private piano lessons with Vladimir Sokoloff, a professor at Curtis, but never could re-apply due to the fact that at the time the Curtis institute did not accept students over 21. She took a job as a photographer's assistant, but also found work as an accompanist at Arlene Smith's vocal studio and taught piano from her home in Philadelphia.
1954–1959: Early success
In order to fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano, which increased her income to $90 a week. In 1954, she adopted the stage name "Nina Simone". "Nina", derived from niña, was a nickname given to her by a boyfriend named Chico, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the 1952 movie Casque d'Or. Knowing her mother would not approve of playing "the Devil's music", she used her new stage name to remain undetected. Simone's mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small but loyal fan base.
In 1958, she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage. Playing in small clubs in the same year, she recorded George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 20 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue followed in February 1959 on Bethlehem Records. Because she had sold her rights outright for $3,000, Simone lost more than $1 million in royalties (notably for the 1980s re-release of her version of the jazz standard "My Baby Just Cares for Me") and never benefited financially from the album's sales.
1959–1964: Burgeoning popularity
After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records and recorded a multitude of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. After the release of her live album Nina Simone at Town Hall, Simone became a favorite performer in Greenwich Village. By this time, Simone performed pop music only to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.
Simone married a New York police detective, Drew Stroud, in December 1961. In a few years he became her manager and the father of her daughter Lisa, but later he abused Simone psychologically and physically.
1964–1974: Civil Rights era
In 1964, Simone changed record distributors from Colpix, an American company, to the Dutch Philips Records, which meant a change in the content of her recordings. She had always included songs in her repertoire that drew on her African-American heritage, such as "Brown Baby" by Oscar Brown and "Zungo" by Michael Olatunji on her album Nina at the Village Gate in 1962. On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone in Concert (1964), for the first time she addressed racial inequality in the United States in the song "Mississippi Goddam". This was her response to the June 12, 1963, murder of Medgar Evers and the September 15, 1963, bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four young black girls and partly blinded a fifth. She said that the song was "like throwing ten bullets back at them", becoming one of many other protest songs written by Simone. The song was released as a single, and it was boycotted in some southern states. Promotional copies were smashed by a Carolina radio station and returned to Philips. She later recalled how "Mississippi Goddam" was her "first civil rights song" and that the song came to her "in a rush of fury, hatred and determination". The song challenged the belief that race relations could change gradually and called for more immediate developments: "me and my people are just about due". It was a key moment in her path to Civil Rights activism. "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow laws. After "Mississippi Goddam", a civil rights message was the norm in Simone's recordings and became part of her concerts. As her political activism rose, the rate of release of her music slowed.
Simone performed and spoke at civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches. Like Malcolm X, her neighbor in Mount Vernon, New York, she supported black nationalism and advocated violent revolution rather than Martin Luther King Jr.'s non-violent approach. She hoped that African Americans could use armed combat to form a separate state, though she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal.
In 1967, Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor. She sang "Backlash Blues" written by her friend, Harlem Renaissance leader Langston Hughes, on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album 'Nuff Said! (1968) contained live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair of April 7, 1968, three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. She dedicated the performance to him and sang "Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor. In 1969, she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park, immortalized in Questlove's 2021 documentary Summer of Soul.
Simone and Weldon Irvine turned the unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry into a civil rights song of the same name. She credited her friend Hansberry with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black) and Donny Hathaway. When reflecting on this period, she wrote in her autobiography, "I felt more alive then than I feel now because I was needed, and I could sing something to help my people".
1974–1993: Later life
In an interview for Jet magazine, Simone stated that her controversial song "Mississippi Goddam" harmed her career. She claimed that the music industry punished her by boycotting her records. Hurt and disappointed, Simone left the US in September 1970, flying to Barbados and expecting her husband and manager (Andrew Stroud) to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of her desire for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.
When Simone returned to the United States, she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (unpaid as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War), and returned to Barbados to evade the authorities and prosecution. Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time, and had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow. A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia. When Simone relocated, she abandoned her daughter Lisa in Mount Vernon. Lisa eventually reunited with Simone in Liberia, but, according to Lisa, her mother was physically and mentally abusive. The abuse was so unbearable that Lisa became suicidal and she moved back to New York to live with her father Andrew Stroud. Simone recorded her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, in 1974, and did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor. The result was the album Baltimore, which, while not a commercial success, was fairly well received critically and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output. Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl". Four years later, Simone recorded Fodder on My Wings on a French label, Studio Davout.
During the 1980s, Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott's in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging with her audiences sometimes, by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. By this time she stayed everywhere and nowhere. She lived in Liberia, Barbados and Switzerland and eventually ended up in Paris. There she regularly performed in a small jazz club called Aux Trois Mailletz for relatively small financial reward. The performances were sometimes brilliant and at other times Nina Simone gave up after fifteen minutes. Often she was too drunk to sing or play the piano properly. At other times she scolded the audience. The end of Nina Simone seemed in sight. Manager Raymond Gonzalez, guitarist Al Schackman and Gerrit de Bruin, a Dutch friend of hers, decided to intervene.
Simone moved to Nijmegen in the Netherlands in the spring of 1988. She had just scored a huge European hit with the song "My Baby Just Cares for Me". Recorded by her for the first time in 1958, the song was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume in Europe, leading to a re-release of the recording. This stormed to number 4 on the UK's NME singles chart, giving Simone a brief surge in popularity in the UK and elsewhere.
In 1988 she bought an apartment next to the Belvoir Hotel with view of the Waalbrug and Ooijpolder, with the help of her friend Gerrit de Bruin, who lived with his family a few corners away and kept an eye on her. The idea was to bring Simone to Nijmegen to relax and get back on track. A daily caretaker, Jackie Hammond from London, was hired for her. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. Unfortunately, the tantrums followed her to Nijmegen. Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder by a friend of De Bruin, who prescribed Trilafon for her. Despite the miserable illness, it was generally a happy time for Simone in Nijmegen, where she could lead a fairly anonymous life. Only a few recognized her, but most Nijmegen people did not know who she was. Slowly but surely her life started to improve, and she was even able to make money from the Chanel commercial after a legal battle. In 1991 Nina Simone exchanged Nijmegen for the more lively Amsterdam, where she lived for two years with friends and Hammond.
1993–2003: Final years, illness and death
In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence in southern France (Bouches-du-Rhône). In the same year, her final album, A Single Woman, was released. She variously contended that she married or had a love affair with a Tunisian around this time, but that their relationship ended because, "His family didn't want him to move to France, and France didn't want him because he's a North African." During a 1998 performance in Newark, she announced, "If you're going to come see me again, you've got to come to France, because I am not coming back." She suffered from breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet (Bouches-du-Rhône), on April 21, 2003. Her Catholic funeral service at the local parish was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti LaBelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, and hundreds of others. Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. Her daughter Lisa Celeste Stroud is an actress and singer who took the stage name Simone, and who has appeared on Broadway in Aida.
Activism
Influence
Simone's consciousness on the racial and social discourse was prompted by her friendship with black playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Simone stated that during her conversations with Hansberry "we never talked about men or clothes. It was always Marx, Lenin and revolution – real girls’ talk". The influence of Hansberry planted the seed for the provocative social commentary that became an expectation in Simone's repertoire. One of Nina's more hopeful activism anthems, "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", was written with collaborator Weldon Irvine in the years following the playwright's passing, acquiring the title of one of Hansberry's unpublished plays. Simone's social circles included notable black leftists such as James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael and Langston Hughes: the lyrics of her song "Backlash Blues" were written by the latter.
Beyond the civil rights movement
Simone's social commentary was not limited to the civil rights movement; the song "Four Women" exposed the eurocentric appearance standards imposed on black women in America, as it explored the internalized dilemma of beauty that is experienced between four black women with skin tones ranging from light to dark. She explains in her autobiography I Put a Spell on You that the purpose of the song was to inspire black women to define beauty and identity for themselves without the influence of societal impositions. Chardine Taylor-Stone has noted that, beyond the politics of beauty, the song also describes the stereotypical roles that many black women have historically been restricted to: the mammy, the tragic mulatto, the sex worker and the angry black woman.
Artistry
Simone standards
Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that became standards in her repertoire. Some were songs that she wrote herself, while others were new arrangements of other standards, and others had been written especially for the singer. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 on the Billboard magazine Hot 100 chart.
During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, after it was featured in a 1986 Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was also created by Aardman Studios. Well-known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964); "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne me quitte pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song), and "Feeling Good" on I Put a Spell On You (1965); and "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966).
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and her takes on "Feeling Good" and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have remained popular in cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals), sample usage, and their use on soundtracks for various movies, television series, and video games. "Sinnerman" has been featured in the films The Crimson Pirate (1952), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), High Crimes (2002), Cellular (2004), Déjà Vu (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Golden Door (2006), Inland Empire (2006), and Harriet (2019), as well as in TV series such as Homicide: Life on the Street (1998, "Sins of the Father"), Nash Bridges (2000, "Jackpot"), Scrubs (2001, "My Own Personal Jesus"), Boomtown (2003, "The Big Picture"), Person of Interest (2011, "Witness"), Shameless (2011, "Kidnap and Ransom"), Love/Hate (2011, "Episode 1"), Sherlock (2012, "The Reichenbach Fall"), The Blacklist (2013, "The Freelancer"), Vinyl (2016, "The Racket"), Lucifer (2017, "Favorite Son"), and The Umbrella Academy (2019, "Extra Ordinary"), and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli (2003, "Get By"), Timbaland (2007, "Oh Timbaland"), and Flying Lotus (2012, "Until the Quiet Comes"). The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III. "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album 808s & Heartbreak. The 1965 rendition of "Strange Fruit", originally recorded by Billie Holiday, was sampled by Kanye West for "Blood on the Leaves" on his album Yeezus.
Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned many singles and album tracks that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 2 on the UK Singles Chart and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder.
The following single, a rendition of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody", also reached the UK Top 10 in 1969. "The House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings the Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina at the Village Gate (1962).
Performance style
Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "the High Priestess of Soul". She was a pianist, singer and performer, "separately, and simultaneously." As a composer and arranger, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz, and folk, and to numbers with European classical styling. Besides using Bach-style counterpoint, she called upon the particular virtuosity of the 19th-century Romantic piano repertoire—Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and others. Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis spoke highly of Simone, deeply impressed by her ability to play three-part counterpoint (her two hands on the piano and her voice each providing a separate but complementary melody line). Onstage, she incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element. Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman. She was known to pay close attention to the design and acoustics of each venue, tailoring her performances to individual venues.
Simone was perceived as a sometimes difficult or unpredictable performer, occasionally hectoring the audience if she felt they were disrespectful. Schackman would try to calm Simone during these episodes, performing solo until she calmed offstage and returned to finish the engagement. Her early experiences as a classical pianist had conditioned Simone to expect quiet attentive audiences, and her anger tended to flare up at nightclubs, lounges, or other locations where patrons were less attentive. Schackman described her live appearances as hit or miss, either reaching heights of hypnotic brilliance or on the other hand mechanically playing a few songs and then abruptly ending concerts early.
Critical reputation
Simone is regarded as one of the most influential recording artist of 20th-century jazz, cabaret and R&B genres. According to Rickey Vincent, she was a pioneering musician whose career was characterized by "fits of outrage and improvisational genius". Pointing to her composition of "Mississippi Goddam", Vincent said Simone broke the mold, having the courage as "an established black musical entertainer to break from the norms of the industry and produce direct social commentary in her music during the early 1960s".
In naming Simone the 29th-greatest singer of all time, Rolling Stone wrote that "her honey-coated, slightly adenoidal cry was one of the most affecting voices of the civil rights movement", while making note of her ability to "belt barroom blues, croon cabaret and explore jazz — sometimes all on a single record." In the opinion of AllMusic's Mark Deming, she was "one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic". Creed Taylor, who annotated the liner notes for Simone's 1978 Baltimore album, said the singer possessed a "magnificent intensity" that "turns everything—even the most simple, mundane phrase or lyric—into a radiant, poetic message". Jim Fusilli, music critic for The Wall Street Journal, writes that Simone's music is still relevant today: "it didn't adhere to ephemeral trends, it isn't a relic of a bygone era; her vocal delivery and technical skills as a pianist still dazzle; and her emotional performances have a visceral impact."
"She is loved or feared, adored or disliked", Maya Angelou wrote in 1970, "but few who have met her music or glimpsed her soul react with moderation". Robert Christgau, who disliked Simone, wrote that her "penchant for the mundane renders her intensity as bogus as her mannered melismas and pronunciation (move over, Inspector Clouseau) and the rote flatting of her vocal improvisations." Regarding her piano playing, he dismissed Simone as a "middlebrow keyboard tickler ... whose histrionic rolls insert unconvincing emotion into a song". He later attributed his generally negative appraisal to Simone's consistent seriousness of manner, depressive tendencies, and classical background.
Mental health
Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. In 1985, Simone fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995 while living in France, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration and she perceived his response to her complaints as racial insults; she was sentenced to eight months in jail, which was suspended pending a psychiatric evaluation and treatment.
According to a biographer, Simone took medication from the mid-1960s onward, although this was supposedly only known to a small group of intimates. After her death the medication was confirmed as the anti-psychotic Trilafon, which Simone's friends and caretakers sometimes surreptitiously mixed into her food when she refused to follow her treatment plan. This fact was kept out of public view until 2004 when a biography, Break Down and Let It All Out, written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan (of her UK fan club), was published posthumously. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier at gunpoint to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused.
Awards and recognition
Simone was the recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 for her interpretation of "I Loves You, Porgy." On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Simone.
Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities, from Amherst College and Malcolm X College. She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
Two days before her death, Simone learned she would be awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute of Music, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.
Simone has received four career Grammy Award nominations, two during her lifetime and two posthumously. In 1968, she received her first nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the track "(You'll) Go to Hell" from her thirteenth album Silk & Soul (1967). The award went to "Respect" by Aretha Franklin.
Simone garnered a second nomination in the category in 1971, for her Black Gold album, when she again lost to Franklin for "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)". Franklin would again win for her cover of Simone's "Young, Gifted and Black" two years later in the same category. In 2016, Simone posthumously received a nomination for Best Music Film for the Netflix documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? and in 2018 she received a nomination for Best Rap Song as a songwriter for Jay-Z's "The Story of O.J." from his 4:44 album which contained a sample of "Four Women" by Simone.
In 2018, Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by fellow R&B artist Mary J. Blige.
In 2019, "Mississippi Goddam" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Legacy and influence
Music
Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Elton John (who named one of his pianos after her), Madonna, Aretha Franklin, Adele, David Bowie, Patti LaBelle, Boy George, Emeli Sandé, Antony and the Johnsons, Dianne Reeves, Sade, Janis Joplin, Nick Cave, Van Morrison, Christina Aguilera, Elkie Brooks, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lena Horne, Bono, John Legend, Elizabeth Fraser, Cat Stevens, Anna Calvi, Cat Power, Lykke Li, Peter Gabriel, Justin Hayward, Maynard James Keenan, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mary J. Blige, Fantasia Barrino, Michael Gira, Angela McCluskey, Lauryn Hill, Patrice Babatunde, Alicia Keys, Alex Turner, Lana Del Rey, Hozier, Matt Bellamy, Ian MacKaye, Kerry Brothers, Jr., Krucial, Amanda Palmer, Steve Adey and Jeff Buckley. John Lennon cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles' song "Michelle". American singer Meshell Ndegeocello released her own tribute album Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone in 2012. The following year, experimental band Xiu Xiu released a cover album, Nina. In late 2019, American rapper Wale released an album titled Wow... That's Crazy, containing a track called "Love Me Nina/Semiautomatic" which contains audio clips from Simone.
Simone's music has been featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games, including La Femme Nikita (1990), Point of No Return (1993), Shallow Grave (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998), Any Given Sunday (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Disappearing Acts (2000), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (2002), Before Sunset (2004), Cellular (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Sex and the City (2008), The World Unseen (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), Home (2008), Watchmen (2009), The Saboteur (2009), Repo Men (2010), Beyond the Lights (2014), and "Nobody" (2021). Frequently her music is used in remixes, commercials, and TV series including "Feeling Good", which featured prominently in the Season Four Promo of Six Feet Under (2004). Simone's "Take Care of Business" is the closing theme of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Simone's cover of Janis Ian's "Stars" is played during the final moments of the season 3 finale of BoJack Horseman (2016), and "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" were included in the film Acrimony (2018).
Film
The documentary Nina Simone: La légende (The Legend) was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers and based on her autobiography I Put a Spell on You. It features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with family, various interviews with Simone then living in the Netherlands, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply Nina. Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment and is screened annually in New York City at an event called "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976" which is curated by Tom Blunt.
Footage of Simone singing "Mississippi Goddam" for 40,000 marchers at the end of the Selma to Montgomery marches can be seen in the 1970 documentary King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis and the 2015 Liz Garbus documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?
Plans for a Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006; Simone's daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, has since refuted the existence of a romantic relationship between Simone and Henderson on account of his homosexuality. Cynthia Mort (screenwriter of Will & Grace and Roseanne), wrote the screenplay and directed the 2016 film Nina, starring Zoe Saldana who has since openly apologized for taking the controversial title role.
In 2015, two documentary features about Simone's life and music were released. The first, directed by Liz Garbus, What Happened, Miss Simone? was produced in cooperation with Simone's estate and her daughter, who also served as the film's executive producer. The film was produced as a counterpoint to the unauthorized Cynthia Mort film (Nina, 2016), and featured previously unreleased archival footage. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015 and was distributed by Netflix on June 26, 2015. It was nominated on January 14, 2016, for a 2016 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The second documentary in 2015, The Amazing Nina Simone is an independent film written and directed by Jeff L. Lieberman, who initially consulted with Simone's daughter, Lisa before going the independent route and then worked closely with Simone's siblings, predominantly Sam Waymon. The film debuted in cinemas in October 2015, and has since played more than 100 theatres in 10 countries.
Drama
She is the subject of Nina: A Story About Me and Nina Simone, a one-woman show first performed in 2016 at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool — a "deeply personal and often searing show inspired by the singer and activist Nina Simone" — and which in July 2017 ran at the Young Vic, before being scheduled to move to Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre.
Books
As well as her 1992 autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992), written with Stephen Cleary, Simone has been the subject of several books. They include Nina Simone: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (2002) by Richard Williams; Nina Simone: Break Down and Let It All Out (2004) by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan; Princess Noire (2010) by Nadine Cohodas; Nina Simone (2004) by Kerry Acker; Nina Simone, Black is the Color (2005) by Andrew Stroud; and What Happened, Miss Simone? (2016) by Alan Light.
Simone inspired a book of poetry, Me and Nina, by Monica Hand, and is the focus of musician Warren Ellis's book Nina Simone's Gum (2021).
Honors
In 2002, the city of Nijmegen, Netherlands, named a street after her, as "Nina Simone Street": she had lived in Nijmegen between 1988 and 1990. On August 29, 2005, the city of Nijmegen, the De Vereeniging concert hall, and more than 50 artists (among whom were Frank Boeijen, Rood Adeo, and Fay Claassen) honored Simone with the tribute concert Greetings from Nijmegen.
Simone was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
In 2010, a statue in her honor was erected on Trade Street in her native Tryon, North Carolina.
The promotion from the French Institute of Political Studies of Lille (Sciences Po Lille), due to obtain their master's degree in 2021, named themselves in her honor. The decision was made that this promotion was henceforth to be known as 'la promotion Nina Simone' after a vote in 2017.
Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
The Proms paid a homage to Nina Simone in 2019, an event called Mississippi Goddamn was performed by The Metropole Orkest at Royal Albert Hall led by Jules Buckley. Ledisi, Lisa Fischer and Jazz Trio, LaSharVu provided vocals.
Discography
References
Sources
External links
The Amazing Nina Simone: A Documentary Film
1933 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American pianists
20th-century African-American women singers
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from North Carolina
African-American activists
African-American Christians
African-American women singer-songwriters
African and Black nationalists
American contraltos
American expatriates in France
American expatriates in Liberia
American expatriates in Switzerland
American expatriates in the Netherlands
American women jazz singers
American jazz pianists
American women pianists
American jazz singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul musicians
American tax resisters
American women activists
Bethlehem Records artists
Charly Records artists
Colpix Records artists
Deaths from breast cancer
Deaths from cancer in France
Elektra Records artists
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Jazz musicians from North Carolina
Jazz songwriters
Juilliard School alumni
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Nightclub performers
People from Tryon, North Carolina
People from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
People with bipolar disorder
Philips Records artists
RCA Victor artists
Soul-jazz musicians
Torch singers
Verve Records artists
African-American Catholics
African-American pianists
Roman Catholic activists
American socialists | false | [
"\"How Blue\" is a song written by John Moffat, and recorded by American country music artist Reba McEntire. It was released in September 1984 as the first single from the album My Kind of Country. It was her third number one single on the Billboard country music chart and would be the first of a series of number one singles during the 1980s and 1990s.\n\nBackground\n\"How Blue\" was recorded at the MCA studio in Nashville, Tennessee in 1984. The song was one of several new tracks released on McEntire's second MCA album, My Kind of Country, which mainly included cover versions of traditional country songs. The song itself was considered a departure from any of McEntire's previously released singles, as it contained a traditional sound, with fiddle and steel guitar in the background.\n\nContent\nThe song describes a woman who asks herself \"how blue\" or lonely she can feel until she has gotten over her lover, whom she had recently broken up with. The song's chorus explains the storyline:\n\nHow blue can you make me\nHow long till I heal\nHow can I go on loving you when you're gone\nHow blue can I feel?\n\nCritical reception \nSince its release as a single, \"How Blue\" has received positive critical reception from critics. Kurt Wolff of the book, Country Music: The Rough Guide called the song, \"one of rootsiest songs she has ever recorded.\" AllMusic's William Ruhlmann called the song, \"the breakthrough she was looking for,\" and Rolling Stone also received \"How Blue\" well, eventually putting McEntire on their list of their \"Top 5 Favorite Country Artists.\" The country music website, My Kind of Country also praised \"How Blue,\" commenting that it was a departure from any of McEntire's previous releases, stating, \"The stripped-down, acoustic guitar and fiddle-driven arrangement was a far cry from anything McEntire had recorded before. Producer Harold Shedd had found the song and had to convince a reluctant Reba to record it. She initially felt that it was a man’s song, but she reconsidered when the line “ain’t you got a heart left in your breast” was changed to “chest”.\"\n\nRelease and chart performance \n\"How Blue\" was released on September 24, 1984 on MCA Nashville Records. The song reached number one on the Billboard Magazine country music chart months before My Kind of Country'''s release, reaching the top spot in January 1985. The song also peaked at number 6 on the Canadian RPM'' Country Tracks charts around the same time. The song helped McEntire to win the Country Music Association Awards' \"Female Vocalist of the Year\" honor and was also regarded as a \"new traditionalist\" by many music critics, along with country artists, George Strait and Ricky Skaggs.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences \n\n1984 singles\nReba McEntire songs\nSong recordings produced by Harold Shedd\nMCA Records singles\n1984 songs",
"Angela Diller (August 1, 1877 – May 1, 1968) was a pianist and music educator.\n\nEarly life and education \nMary Angela Diller was born on August 1, 1877, to William Augustus Muhlenberg Diller and Mary Abigail Welles. She was the youngest of four children. Diller taught herself how to play the piano at an early age. Her older sister Ellen taught her how to read sheet music. As a teenager, she received lessons from Alice Fowler between 1892 and 1895.\n\nCareer \nIn 1899, she founded the Diller-Quaile Institute with Elizabeth Quaile. Diller and Quaile wanted books for the teachers at the school and wrote the Diller-Quaile Series. In 1941 Diller retired from managing the school.\n\nPersonal life \nDiller was raised an Episcopalian and was influenced by New Thought. She never married and was childless.\n\nDeath \nNear the end of her life, she lived in the Courtland Gardens Health Center in Stamford, Connecticut. Her funeral was held by her nieces and nephews.\n\nReferences \n\n1877 births\n1968 deaths\nAmerican women pianists\nAmerican women music educators"
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| C_2f9b378d18cc4e11a1ba402806902443_0 | Did her temper hurt her career? | 3 | Did Nina Simone temper hurt her entire career? | Nina Simone | Simone was known for her temper and frequent outbursts. Simone abandoned her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly for years in Mount Vernon after relocating to Liberia. When they reunited in West Africa, Simone became abusive. "She went from being my comfort to the monster in my life. Now she was the person doing the beating, and she was beating me." The abuse became so unbearable that Kelly became suicidal and moved back to New York to stay with her father, Andrew Stroud. In 1985, she fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration. According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on. All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down and Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004, after her death. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier, at gunpoint, to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused. CANNOTANSWER | she fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed | Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel and pop.
The sixth of eight children born to a poor family in Tryon, North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a few supporters in her hometown, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she was denied admission despite a well received audition, which she attributed to racism. In 2003, just days before her death, the Institute awarded her an honorary degree.
To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States in 1958 with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.
Biography
1933–1954: Early life
Simone was born on February 21, 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at the age of three or four; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the piano, she performed at her local church. Her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was 12. Simone later said that during this performance, her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. She said that she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front, and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement. Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon (née Irvin, November 20, 1901 – April 30, 2001), was a Methodist minister and a housemaid. Her father, Rev. John Devan Waymon (June 24, 1898 – October 23, 1972), was a handyman who at one time owned a dry-cleaning business, but also suffered bouts of ill health. Simone's music teacher helped establish a special fund to pay for her education. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist her continued education. With the help of this scholarship money, she was able to attend Allen High School for Girls in Asheville, North Carolina.
After her graduation, Simone spent the summer of 1950 at the Juilliard School as a student of Carl Friedberg, preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her application, however, was denied. Only 3 of 72 applicants were accepted that year, but as her family had relocated to Philadelphia in the expectation of her entry to Curtis, the blow to her aspirations was particularly heavy. For the rest of her life, she suspected that her application had been denied because of racial prejudice, a charge the staff at Curtis have denied. Discouraged, she took private piano lessons with Vladimir Sokoloff, a professor at Curtis, but never could re-apply due to the fact that at the time the Curtis institute did not accept students over 21. She took a job as a photographer's assistant, but also found work as an accompanist at Arlene Smith's vocal studio and taught piano from her home in Philadelphia.
1954–1959: Early success
In order to fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano, which increased her income to $90 a week. In 1954, she adopted the stage name "Nina Simone". "Nina", derived from niña, was a nickname given to her by a boyfriend named Chico, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the 1952 movie Casque d'Or. Knowing her mother would not approve of playing "the Devil's music", she used her new stage name to remain undetected. Simone's mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small but loyal fan base.
In 1958, she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage. Playing in small clubs in the same year, she recorded George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 20 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue followed in February 1959 on Bethlehem Records. Because she had sold her rights outright for $3,000, Simone lost more than $1 million in royalties (notably for the 1980s re-release of her version of the jazz standard "My Baby Just Cares for Me") and never benefited financially from the album's sales.
1959–1964: Burgeoning popularity
After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records and recorded a multitude of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. After the release of her live album Nina Simone at Town Hall, Simone became a favorite performer in Greenwich Village. By this time, Simone performed pop music only to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.
Simone married a New York police detective, Drew Stroud, in December 1961. In a few years he became her manager and the father of her daughter Lisa, but later he abused Simone psychologically and physically.
1964–1974: Civil Rights era
In 1964, Simone changed record distributors from Colpix, an American company, to the Dutch Philips Records, which meant a change in the content of her recordings. She had always included songs in her repertoire that drew on her African-American heritage, such as "Brown Baby" by Oscar Brown and "Zungo" by Michael Olatunji on her album Nina at the Village Gate in 1962. On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone in Concert (1964), for the first time she addressed racial inequality in the United States in the song "Mississippi Goddam". This was her response to the June 12, 1963, murder of Medgar Evers and the September 15, 1963, bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four young black girls and partly blinded a fifth. She said that the song was "like throwing ten bullets back at them", becoming one of many other protest songs written by Simone. The song was released as a single, and it was boycotted in some southern states. Promotional copies were smashed by a Carolina radio station and returned to Philips. She later recalled how "Mississippi Goddam" was her "first civil rights song" and that the song came to her "in a rush of fury, hatred and determination". The song challenged the belief that race relations could change gradually and called for more immediate developments: "me and my people are just about due". It was a key moment in her path to Civil Rights activism. "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow laws. After "Mississippi Goddam", a civil rights message was the norm in Simone's recordings and became part of her concerts. As her political activism rose, the rate of release of her music slowed.
Simone performed and spoke at civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches. Like Malcolm X, her neighbor in Mount Vernon, New York, she supported black nationalism and advocated violent revolution rather than Martin Luther King Jr.'s non-violent approach. She hoped that African Americans could use armed combat to form a separate state, though she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal.
In 1967, Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor. She sang "Backlash Blues" written by her friend, Harlem Renaissance leader Langston Hughes, on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album 'Nuff Said! (1968) contained live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair of April 7, 1968, three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. She dedicated the performance to him and sang "Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor. In 1969, she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park, immortalized in Questlove's 2021 documentary Summer of Soul.
Simone and Weldon Irvine turned the unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry into a civil rights song of the same name. She credited her friend Hansberry with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black) and Donny Hathaway. When reflecting on this period, she wrote in her autobiography, "I felt more alive then than I feel now because I was needed, and I could sing something to help my people".
1974–1993: Later life
In an interview for Jet magazine, Simone stated that her controversial song "Mississippi Goddam" harmed her career. She claimed that the music industry punished her by boycotting her records. Hurt and disappointed, Simone left the US in September 1970, flying to Barbados and expecting her husband and manager (Andrew Stroud) to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of her desire for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.
When Simone returned to the United States, she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (unpaid as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War), and returned to Barbados to evade the authorities and prosecution. Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time, and had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow. A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia. When Simone relocated, she abandoned her daughter Lisa in Mount Vernon. Lisa eventually reunited with Simone in Liberia, but, according to Lisa, her mother was physically and mentally abusive. The abuse was so unbearable that Lisa became suicidal and she moved back to New York to live with her father Andrew Stroud. Simone recorded her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, in 1974, and did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor. The result was the album Baltimore, which, while not a commercial success, was fairly well received critically and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output. Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl". Four years later, Simone recorded Fodder on My Wings on a French label, Studio Davout.
During the 1980s, Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott's in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging with her audiences sometimes, by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. By this time she stayed everywhere and nowhere. She lived in Liberia, Barbados and Switzerland and eventually ended up in Paris. There she regularly performed in a small jazz club called Aux Trois Mailletz for relatively small financial reward. The performances were sometimes brilliant and at other times Nina Simone gave up after fifteen minutes. Often she was too drunk to sing or play the piano properly. At other times she scolded the audience. The end of Nina Simone seemed in sight. Manager Raymond Gonzalez, guitarist Al Schackman and Gerrit de Bruin, a Dutch friend of hers, decided to intervene.
Simone moved to Nijmegen in the Netherlands in the spring of 1988. She had just scored a huge European hit with the song "My Baby Just Cares for Me". Recorded by her for the first time in 1958, the song was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume in Europe, leading to a re-release of the recording. This stormed to number 4 on the UK's NME singles chart, giving Simone a brief surge in popularity in the UK and elsewhere.
In 1988 she bought an apartment next to the Belvoir Hotel with view of the Waalbrug and Ooijpolder, with the help of her friend Gerrit de Bruin, who lived with his family a few corners away and kept an eye on her. The idea was to bring Simone to Nijmegen to relax and get back on track. A daily caretaker, Jackie Hammond from London, was hired for her. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. Unfortunately, the tantrums followed her to Nijmegen. Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder by a friend of De Bruin, who prescribed Trilafon for her. Despite the miserable illness, it was generally a happy time for Simone in Nijmegen, where she could lead a fairly anonymous life. Only a few recognized her, but most Nijmegen people did not know who she was. Slowly but surely her life started to improve, and she was even able to make money from the Chanel commercial after a legal battle. In 1991 Nina Simone exchanged Nijmegen for the more lively Amsterdam, where she lived for two years with friends and Hammond.
1993–2003: Final years, illness and death
In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence in southern France (Bouches-du-Rhône). In the same year, her final album, A Single Woman, was released. She variously contended that she married or had a love affair with a Tunisian around this time, but that their relationship ended because, "His family didn't want him to move to France, and France didn't want him because he's a North African." During a 1998 performance in Newark, she announced, "If you're going to come see me again, you've got to come to France, because I am not coming back." She suffered from breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet (Bouches-du-Rhône), on April 21, 2003. Her Catholic funeral service at the local parish was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti LaBelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, and hundreds of others. Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. Her daughter Lisa Celeste Stroud is an actress and singer who took the stage name Simone, and who has appeared on Broadway in Aida.
Activism
Influence
Simone's consciousness on the racial and social discourse was prompted by her friendship with black playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Simone stated that during her conversations with Hansberry "we never talked about men or clothes. It was always Marx, Lenin and revolution – real girls’ talk". The influence of Hansberry planted the seed for the provocative social commentary that became an expectation in Simone's repertoire. One of Nina's more hopeful activism anthems, "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", was written with collaborator Weldon Irvine in the years following the playwright's passing, acquiring the title of one of Hansberry's unpublished plays. Simone's social circles included notable black leftists such as James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael and Langston Hughes: the lyrics of her song "Backlash Blues" were written by the latter.
Beyond the civil rights movement
Simone's social commentary was not limited to the civil rights movement; the song "Four Women" exposed the eurocentric appearance standards imposed on black women in America, as it explored the internalized dilemma of beauty that is experienced between four black women with skin tones ranging from light to dark. She explains in her autobiography I Put a Spell on You that the purpose of the song was to inspire black women to define beauty and identity for themselves without the influence of societal impositions. Chardine Taylor-Stone has noted that, beyond the politics of beauty, the song also describes the stereotypical roles that many black women have historically been restricted to: the mammy, the tragic mulatto, the sex worker and the angry black woman.
Artistry
Simone standards
Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that became standards in her repertoire. Some were songs that she wrote herself, while others were new arrangements of other standards, and others had been written especially for the singer. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 on the Billboard magazine Hot 100 chart.
During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, after it was featured in a 1986 Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was also created by Aardman Studios. Well-known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964); "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne me quitte pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song), and "Feeling Good" on I Put a Spell On You (1965); and "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966).
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and her takes on "Feeling Good" and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have remained popular in cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals), sample usage, and their use on soundtracks for various movies, television series, and video games. "Sinnerman" has been featured in the films The Crimson Pirate (1952), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), High Crimes (2002), Cellular (2004), Déjà Vu (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Golden Door (2006), Inland Empire (2006), and Harriet (2019), as well as in TV series such as Homicide: Life on the Street (1998, "Sins of the Father"), Nash Bridges (2000, "Jackpot"), Scrubs (2001, "My Own Personal Jesus"), Boomtown (2003, "The Big Picture"), Person of Interest (2011, "Witness"), Shameless (2011, "Kidnap and Ransom"), Love/Hate (2011, "Episode 1"), Sherlock (2012, "The Reichenbach Fall"), The Blacklist (2013, "The Freelancer"), Vinyl (2016, "The Racket"), Lucifer (2017, "Favorite Son"), and The Umbrella Academy (2019, "Extra Ordinary"), and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli (2003, "Get By"), Timbaland (2007, "Oh Timbaland"), and Flying Lotus (2012, "Until the Quiet Comes"). The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III. "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album 808s & Heartbreak. The 1965 rendition of "Strange Fruit", originally recorded by Billie Holiday, was sampled by Kanye West for "Blood on the Leaves" on his album Yeezus.
Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned many singles and album tracks that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 2 on the UK Singles Chart and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder.
The following single, a rendition of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody", also reached the UK Top 10 in 1969. "The House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings the Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina at the Village Gate (1962).
Performance style
Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "the High Priestess of Soul". She was a pianist, singer and performer, "separately, and simultaneously." As a composer and arranger, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz, and folk, and to numbers with European classical styling. Besides using Bach-style counterpoint, she called upon the particular virtuosity of the 19th-century Romantic piano repertoire—Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and others. Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis spoke highly of Simone, deeply impressed by her ability to play three-part counterpoint (her two hands on the piano and her voice each providing a separate but complementary melody line). Onstage, she incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element. Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman. She was known to pay close attention to the design and acoustics of each venue, tailoring her performances to individual venues.
Simone was perceived as a sometimes difficult or unpredictable performer, occasionally hectoring the audience if she felt they were disrespectful. Schackman would try to calm Simone during these episodes, performing solo until she calmed offstage and returned to finish the engagement. Her early experiences as a classical pianist had conditioned Simone to expect quiet attentive audiences, and her anger tended to flare up at nightclubs, lounges, or other locations where patrons were less attentive. Schackman described her live appearances as hit or miss, either reaching heights of hypnotic brilliance or on the other hand mechanically playing a few songs and then abruptly ending concerts early.
Critical reputation
Simone is regarded as one of the most influential recording artist of 20th-century jazz, cabaret and R&B genres. According to Rickey Vincent, she was a pioneering musician whose career was characterized by "fits of outrage and improvisational genius". Pointing to her composition of "Mississippi Goddam", Vincent said Simone broke the mold, having the courage as "an established black musical entertainer to break from the norms of the industry and produce direct social commentary in her music during the early 1960s".
In naming Simone the 29th-greatest singer of all time, Rolling Stone wrote that "her honey-coated, slightly adenoidal cry was one of the most affecting voices of the civil rights movement", while making note of her ability to "belt barroom blues, croon cabaret and explore jazz — sometimes all on a single record." In the opinion of AllMusic's Mark Deming, she was "one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic". Creed Taylor, who annotated the liner notes for Simone's 1978 Baltimore album, said the singer possessed a "magnificent intensity" that "turns everything—even the most simple, mundane phrase or lyric—into a radiant, poetic message". Jim Fusilli, music critic for The Wall Street Journal, writes that Simone's music is still relevant today: "it didn't adhere to ephemeral trends, it isn't a relic of a bygone era; her vocal delivery and technical skills as a pianist still dazzle; and her emotional performances have a visceral impact."
"She is loved or feared, adored or disliked", Maya Angelou wrote in 1970, "but few who have met her music or glimpsed her soul react with moderation". Robert Christgau, who disliked Simone, wrote that her "penchant for the mundane renders her intensity as bogus as her mannered melismas and pronunciation (move over, Inspector Clouseau) and the rote flatting of her vocal improvisations." Regarding her piano playing, he dismissed Simone as a "middlebrow keyboard tickler ... whose histrionic rolls insert unconvincing emotion into a song". He later attributed his generally negative appraisal to Simone's consistent seriousness of manner, depressive tendencies, and classical background.
Mental health
Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. In 1985, Simone fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995 while living in France, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration and she perceived his response to her complaints as racial insults; she was sentenced to eight months in jail, which was suspended pending a psychiatric evaluation and treatment.
According to a biographer, Simone took medication from the mid-1960s onward, although this was supposedly only known to a small group of intimates. After her death the medication was confirmed as the anti-psychotic Trilafon, which Simone's friends and caretakers sometimes surreptitiously mixed into her food when she refused to follow her treatment plan. This fact was kept out of public view until 2004 when a biography, Break Down and Let It All Out, written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan (of her UK fan club), was published posthumously. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier at gunpoint to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused.
Awards and recognition
Simone was the recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 for her interpretation of "I Loves You, Porgy." On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Simone.
Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities, from Amherst College and Malcolm X College. She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
Two days before her death, Simone learned she would be awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute of Music, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.
Simone has received four career Grammy Award nominations, two during her lifetime and two posthumously. In 1968, she received her first nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the track "(You'll) Go to Hell" from her thirteenth album Silk & Soul (1967). The award went to "Respect" by Aretha Franklin.
Simone garnered a second nomination in the category in 1971, for her Black Gold album, when she again lost to Franklin for "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)". Franklin would again win for her cover of Simone's "Young, Gifted and Black" two years later in the same category. In 2016, Simone posthumously received a nomination for Best Music Film for the Netflix documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? and in 2018 she received a nomination for Best Rap Song as a songwriter for Jay-Z's "The Story of O.J." from his 4:44 album which contained a sample of "Four Women" by Simone.
In 2018, Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by fellow R&B artist Mary J. Blige.
In 2019, "Mississippi Goddam" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Legacy and influence
Music
Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Elton John (who named one of his pianos after her), Madonna, Aretha Franklin, Adele, David Bowie, Patti LaBelle, Boy George, Emeli Sandé, Antony and the Johnsons, Dianne Reeves, Sade, Janis Joplin, Nick Cave, Van Morrison, Christina Aguilera, Elkie Brooks, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lena Horne, Bono, John Legend, Elizabeth Fraser, Cat Stevens, Anna Calvi, Cat Power, Lykke Li, Peter Gabriel, Justin Hayward, Maynard James Keenan, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mary J. Blige, Fantasia Barrino, Michael Gira, Angela McCluskey, Lauryn Hill, Patrice Babatunde, Alicia Keys, Alex Turner, Lana Del Rey, Hozier, Matt Bellamy, Ian MacKaye, Kerry Brothers, Jr., Krucial, Amanda Palmer, Steve Adey and Jeff Buckley. John Lennon cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles' song "Michelle". American singer Meshell Ndegeocello released her own tribute album Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone in 2012. The following year, experimental band Xiu Xiu released a cover album, Nina. In late 2019, American rapper Wale released an album titled Wow... That's Crazy, containing a track called "Love Me Nina/Semiautomatic" which contains audio clips from Simone.
Simone's music has been featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games, including La Femme Nikita (1990), Point of No Return (1993), Shallow Grave (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998), Any Given Sunday (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Disappearing Acts (2000), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (2002), Before Sunset (2004), Cellular (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Sex and the City (2008), The World Unseen (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), Home (2008), Watchmen (2009), The Saboteur (2009), Repo Men (2010), Beyond the Lights (2014), and "Nobody" (2021). Frequently her music is used in remixes, commercials, and TV series including "Feeling Good", which featured prominently in the Season Four Promo of Six Feet Under (2004). Simone's "Take Care of Business" is the closing theme of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Simone's cover of Janis Ian's "Stars" is played during the final moments of the season 3 finale of BoJack Horseman (2016), and "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" were included in the film Acrimony (2018).
Film
The documentary Nina Simone: La légende (The Legend) was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers and based on her autobiography I Put a Spell on You. It features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with family, various interviews with Simone then living in the Netherlands, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply Nina. Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment and is screened annually in New York City at an event called "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976" which is curated by Tom Blunt.
Footage of Simone singing "Mississippi Goddam" for 40,000 marchers at the end of the Selma to Montgomery marches can be seen in the 1970 documentary King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis and the 2015 Liz Garbus documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?
Plans for a Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006; Simone's daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, has since refuted the existence of a romantic relationship between Simone and Henderson on account of his homosexuality. Cynthia Mort (screenwriter of Will & Grace and Roseanne), wrote the screenplay and directed the 2016 film Nina, starring Zoe Saldana who has since openly apologized for taking the controversial title role.
In 2015, two documentary features about Simone's life and music were released. The first, directed by Liz Garbus, What Happened, Miss Simone? was produced in cooperation with Simone's estate and her daughter, who also served as the film's executive producer. The film was produced as a counterpoint to the unauthorized Cynthia Mort film (Nina, 2016), and featured previously unreleased archival footage. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015 and was distributed by Netflix on June 26, 2015. It was nominated on January 14, 2016, for a 2016 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The second documentary in 2015, The Amazing Nina Simone is an independent film written and directed by Jeff L. Lieberman, who initially consulted with Simone's daughter, Lisa before going the independent route and then worked closely with Simone's siblings, predominantly Sam Waymon. The film debuted in cinemas in October 2015, and has since played more than 100 theatres in 10 countries.
Drama
She is the subject of Nina: A Story About Me and Nina Simone, a one-woman show first performed in 2016 at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool — a "deeply personal and often searing show inspired by the singer and activist Nina Simone" — and which in July 2017 ran at the Young Vic, before being scheduled to move to Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre.
Books
As well as her 1992 autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992), written with Stephen Cleary, Simone has been the subject of several books. They include Nina Simone: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (2002) by Richard Williams; Nina Simone: Break Down and Let It All Out (2004) by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan; Princess Noire (2010) by Nadine Cohodas; Nina Simone (2004) by Kerry Acker; Nina Simone, Black is the Color (2005) by Andrew Stroud; and What Happened, Miss Simone? (2016) by Alan Light.
Simone inspired a book of poetry, Me and Nina, by Monica Hand, and is the focus of musician Warren Ellis's book Nina Simone's Gum (2021).
Honors
In 2002, the city of Nijmegen, Netherlands, named a street after her, as "Nina Simone Street": she had lived in Nijmegen between 1988 and 1990. On August 29, 2005, the city of Nijmegen, the De Vereeniging concert hall, and more than 50 artists (among whom were Frank Boeijen, Rood Adeo, and Fay Claassen) honored Simone with the tribute concert Greetings from Nijmegen.
Simone was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
In 2010, a statue in her honor was erected on Trade Street in her native Tryon, North Carolina.
The promotion from the French Institute of Political Studies of Lille (Sciences Po Lille), due to obtain their master's degree in 2021, named themselves in her honor. The decision was made that this promotion was henceforth to be known as 'la promotion Nina Simone' after a vote in 2017.
Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
The Proms paid a homage to Nina Simone in 2019, an event called Mississippi Goddamn was performed by The Metropole Orkest at Royal Albert Hall led by Jules Buckley. Ledisi, Lisa Fischer and Jazz Trio, LaSharVu provided vocals.
Discography
References
Sources
External links
The Amazing Nina Simone: A Documentary Film
1933 births
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20th-century American pianists
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Roman Catholic activists
American socialists | false | [
"Melanie Williams (born 28 October 1964) is a British singer. She sang on the hit single \"Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)\" alongside the Manchester-based electronic group Sub Sub.\n\nCareer\nWilliams was a friend of Sub Sub at the time, and the band, searching for a female guest vocalist, featured her vocals. This helped expose her talents to the public, and was followed by further critical success.\n\nWilliams and her writing colleague Eric Gooden, found Square One Studios in Bury, Greater Manchester. The proprietor Trevor Taylor, liked what he heard and they began recording a string of tracks assisted by house engineer and musician Stephen Boyce-Buckley. They released the single \"Showdown\" under the name No Sovereign on Geffen Records in 1987, and subsequently landed a recording contract with 10 Records; a sub-division of Virgin Records. They released a self-titled album as the duo Temper Temper in 1991.\n\nWilliams launched a solo career in 1994 as a soul/dance singer, signed to Columbia Records. Her debut solo single, \"All Cried Out!\" peaked at No. 60 on the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up, \"Everyday Thang\", did better, hitting the UK top 40, peaking at No. 38. Her next single, the ballad \"Not Enough?\" managed a No. 65 chart placing. Her debut album, Human Cradle, failed to reach the UK Albums Chart.\n\nWilliams has also featured on the Adrian Snell album, Father, in which she read Psalm 139.\n\nEarly in 1995, Williams returned to the UK top 40 with a cover of \"You Are Everything\" (a duet with Joe Roberts). The song reached No. 28. Williams and Roberts teamed up again in 2001 and released the album Feed My Soul as Dark Flower. They re-teamed in 2007 to release the single \"Mire\" as Bodhi. They then changed their name to Butterfly Jam and released the album Bodhi in 2011 and the single \"Wag\" in 2014.\n\nThe Other Two's second album, Super Highways, featured Williams on some tracks as co-writer and guest vocalist.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\nSolo\nHuman Cradle (1994)\n\nAs Temper Temper\nTemper Temper (1991)\n\nAs Dark Flower\nFeed My Soul (2001)\n\nAs Butterfly Jam\nBodhi (2011)\n\nAlbum appearances\nAdrian Snell - Father (reading of Psalm 139) (1990)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Melanie Williams at discogs.com\n\n1964 births\nLiving people\nBritish dance musicians\nBritish women singers\nBritish women in electronic music\nPlace of birth missing (living people)",
"Apoorva Srinivasan is an Indian actress who works primarily in Telugu-language films. She is known for her roles in Temper (2015) and Jyothi Lakshmi (2015).\n\nCareer \nIn 2012, she won the Hyderabad Times Fresh Face contest and subsequently received several film offers including the Telugu-language film Temper (2015). She also played a supporting role opposite Priyadarshi Pulikonda in Tholi Prema (2018). She starred in the web series Chithram Vichitram on Zee5. She made her lead and Kannada debut with Randhawa (2019).\n\nFilmography \nAll films are in Telugu, unless otherwise noted.\n\nAwards and nominations\n1st IIFA Utsavam - Performance In A Supporting Role - Female - Temper - Nominated\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\nActresses in Telugu cinema\nActresses in Kannada cinema\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nIndian film actresses\n21st-century Indian actresses"
]
|
[
"Nina Simone",
"Temperament",
"What was her temperament?",
"Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on.",
"How was she received?",
"Simone was known for her temper and frequent outbursts.",
"Did her temper hurt her career?",
"she fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she \"tried to kill him\" but \"missed"
]
| C_2f9b378d18cc4e11a1ba402806902443_0 | Was she arrested? | 4 | Whether Nina Simone was arrested? | Nina Simone | Simone was known for her temper and frequent outbursts. Simone abandoned her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly for years in Mount Vernon after relocating to Liberia. When they reunited in West Africa, Simone became abusive. "She went from being my comfort to the monster in my life. Now she was the person doing the beating, and she was beating me." The abuse became so unbearable that Kelly became suicidal and moved back to New York to stay with her father, Andrew Stroud. In 1985, she fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration. According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on. All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down and Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004, after her death. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier, at gunpoint, to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel and pop.
The sixth of eight children born to a poor family in Tryon, North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a few supporters in her hometown, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she was denied admission despite a well received audition, which she attributed to racism. In 2003, just days before her death, the Institute awarded her an honorary degree.
To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States in 1958 with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.
Biography
1933–1954: Early life
Simone was born on February 21, 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at the age of three or four; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the piano, she performed at her local church. Her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was 12. Simone later said that during this performance, her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. She said that she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front, and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement. Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon (née Irvin, November 20, 1901 – April 30, 2001), was a Methodist minister and a housemaid. Her father, Rev. John Devan Waymon (June 24, 1898 – October 23, 1972), was a handyman who at one time owned a dry-cleaning business, but also suffered bouts of ill health. Simone's music teacher helped establish a special fund to pay for her education. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist her continued education. With the help of this scholarship money, she was able to attend Allen High School for Girls in Asheville, North Carolina.
After her graduation, Simone spent the summer of 1950 at the Juilliard School as a student of Carl Friedberg, preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her application, however, was denied. Only 3 of 72 applicants were accepted that year, but as her family had relocated to Philadelphia in the expectation of her entry to Curtis, the blow to her aspirations was particularly heavy. For the rest of her life, she suspected that her application had been denied because of racial prejudice, a charge the staff at Curtis have denied. Discouraged, she took private piano lessons with Vladimir Sokoloff, a professor at Curtis, but never could re-apply due to the fact that at the time the Curtis institute did not accept students over 21. She took a job as a photographer's assistant, but also found work as an accompanist at Arlene Smith's vocal studio and taught piano from her home in Philadelphia.
1954–1959: Early success
In order to fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano, which increased her income to $90 a week. In 1954, she adopted the stage name "Nina Simone". "Nina", derived from niña, was a nickname given to her by a boyfriend named Chico, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the 1952 movie Casque d'Or. Knowing her mother would not approve of playing "the Devil's music", she used her new stage name to remain undetected. Simone's mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small but loyal fan base.
In 1958, she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage. Playing in small clubs in the same year, she recorded George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 20 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue followed in February 1959 on Bethlehem Records. Because she had sold her rights outright for $3,000, Simone lost more than $1 million in royalties (notably for the 1980s re-release of her version of the jazz standard "My Baby Just Cares for Me") and never benefited financially from the album's sales.
1959–1964: Burgeoning popularity
After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records and recorded a multitude of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. After the release of her live album Nina Simone at Town Hall, Simone became a favorite performer in Greenwich Village. By this time, Simone performed pop music only to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.
Simone married a New York police detective, Drew Stroud, in December 1961. In a few years he became her manager and the father of her daughter Lisa, but later he abused Simone psychologically and physically.
1964–1974: Civil Rights era
In 1964, Simone changed record distributors from Colpix, an American company, to the Dutch Philips Records, which meant a change in the content of her recordings. She had always included songs in her repertoire that drew on her African-American heritage, such as "Brown Baby" by Oscar Brown and "Zungo" by Michael Olatunji on her album Nina at the Village Gate in 1962. On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone in Concert (1964), for the first time she addressed racial inequality in the United States in the song "Mississippi Goddam". This was her response to the June 12, 1963, murder of Medgar Evers and the September 15, 1963, bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four young black girls and partly blinded a fifth. She said that the song was "like throwing ten bullets back at them", becoming one of many other protest songs written by Simone. The song was released as a single, and it was boycotted in some southern states. Promotional copies were smashed by a Carolina radio station and returned to Philips. She later recalled how "Mississippi Goddam" was her "first civil rights song" and that the song came to her "in a rush of fury, hatred and determination". The song challenged the belief that race relations could change gradually and called for more immediate developments: "me and my people are just about due". It was a key moment in her path to Civil Rights activism. "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow laws. After "Mississippi Goddam", a civil rights message was the norm in Simone's recordings and became part of her concerts. As her political activism rose, the rate of release of her music slowed.
Simone performed and spoke at civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches. Like Malcolm X, her neighbor in Mount Vernon, New York, she supported black nationalism and advocated violent revolution rather than Martin Luther King Jr.'s non-violent approach. She hoped that African Americans could use armed combat to form a separate state, though she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal.
In 1967, Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor. She sang "Backlash Blues" written by her friend, Harlem Renaissance leader Langston Hughes, on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album 'Nuff Said! (1968) contained live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair of April 7, 1968, three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. She dedicated the performance to him and sang "Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor. In 1969, she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park, immortalized in Questlove's 2021 documentary Summer of Soul.
Simone and Weldon Irvine turned the unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry into a civil rights song of the same name. She credited her friend Hansberry with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black) and Donny Hathaway. When reflecting on this period, she wrote in her autobiography, "I felt more alive then than I feel now because I was needed, and I could sing something to help my people".
1974–1993: Later life
In an interview for Jet magazine, Simone stated that her controversial song "Mississippi Goddam" harmed her career. She claimed that the music industry punished her by boycotting her records. Hurt and disappointed, Simone left the US in September 1970, flying to Barbados and expecting her husband and manager (Andrew Stroud) to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of her desire for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.
When Simone returned to the United States, she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (unpaid as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War), and returned to Barbados to evade the authorities and prosecution. Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time, and had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow. A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia. When Simone relocated, she abandoned her daughter Lisa in Mount Vernon. Lisa eventually reunited with Simone in Liberia, but, according to Lisa, her mother was physically and mentally abusive. The abuse was so unbearable that Lisa became suicidal and she moved back to New York to live with her father Andrew Stroud. Simone recorded her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, in 1974, and did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor. The result was the album Baltimore, which, while not a commercial success, was fairly well received critically and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output. Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl". Four years later, Simone recorded Fodder on My Wings on a French label, Studio Davout.
During the 1980s, Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott's in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging with her audiences sometimes, by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. By this time she stayed everywhere and nowhere. She lived in Liberia, Barbados and Switzerland and eventually ended up in Paris. There she regularly performed in a small jazz club called Aux Trois Mailletz for relatively small financial reward. The performances were sometimes brilliant and at other times Nina Simone gave up after fifteen minutes. Often she was too drunk to sing or play the piano properly. At other times she scolded the audience. The end of Nina Simone seemed in sight. Manager Raymond Gonzalez, guitarist Al Schackman and Gerrit de Bruin, a Dutch friend of hers, decided to intervene.
Simone moved to Nijmegen in the Netherlands in the spring of 1988. She had just scored a huge European hit with the song "My Baby Just Cares for Me". Recorded by her for the first time in 1958, the song was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume in Europe, leading to a re-release of the recording. This stormed to number 4 on the UK's NME singles chart, giving Simone a brief surge in popularity in the UK and elsewhere.
In 1988 she bought an apartment next to the Belvoir Hotel with view of the Waalbrug and Ooijpolder, with the help of her friend Gerrit de Bruin, who lived with his family a few corners away and kept an eye on her. The idea was to bring Simone to Nijmegen to relax and get back on track. A daily caretaker, Jackie Hammond from London, was hired for her. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. Unfortunately, the tantrums followed her to Nijmegen. Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder by a friend of De Bruin, who prescribed Trilafon for her. Despite the miserable illness, it was generally a happy time for Simone in Nijmegen, where she could lead a fairly anonymous life. Only a few recognized her, but most Nijmegen people did not know who she was. Slowly but surely her life started to improve, and she was even able to make money from the Chanel commercial after a legal battle. In 1991 Nina Simone exchanged Nijmegen for the more lively Amsterdam, where she lived for two years with friends and Hammond.
1993–2003: Final years, illness and death
In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence in southern France (Bouches-du-Rhône). In the same year, her final album, A Single Woman, was released. She variously contended that she married or had a love affair with a Tunisian around this time, but that their relationship ended because, "His family didn't want him to move to France, and France didn't want him because he's a North African." During a 1998 performance in Newark, she announced, "If you're going to come see me again, you've got to come to France, because I am not coming back." She suffered from breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet (Bouches-du-Rhône), on April 21, 2003. Her Catholic funeral service at the local parish was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti LaBelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, and hundreds of others. Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. Her daughter Lisa Celeste Stroud is an actress and singer who took the stage name Simone, and who has appeared on Broadway in Aida.
Activism
Influence
Simone's consciousness on the racial and social discourse was prompted by her friendship with black playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Simone stated that during her conversations with Hansberry "we never talked about men or clothes. It was always Marx, Lenin and revolution – real girls’ talk". The influence of Hansberry planted the seed for the provocative social commentary that became an expectation in Simone's repertoire. One of Nina's more hopeful activism anthems, "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", was written with collaborator Weldon Irvine in the years following the playwright's passing, acquiring the title of one of Hansberry's unpublished plays. Simone's social circles included notable black leftists such as James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael and Langston Hughes: the lyrics of her song "Backlash Blues" were written by the latter.
Beyond the civil rights movement
Simone's social commentary was not limited to the civil rights movement; the song "Four Women" exposed the eurocentric appearance standards imposed on black women in America, as it explored the internalized dilemma of beauty that is experienced between four black women with skin tones ranging from light to dark. She explains in her autobiography I Put a Spell on You that the purpose of the song was to inspire black women to define beauty and identity for themselves without the influence of societal impositions. Chardine Taylor-Stone has noted that, beyond the politics of beauty, the song also describes the stereotypical roles that many black women have historically been restricted to: the mammy, the tragic mulatto, the sex worker and the angry black woman.
Artistry
Simone standards
Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that became standards in her repertoire. Some were songs that she wrote herself, while others were new arrangements of other standards, and others had been written especially for the singer. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 on the Billboard magazine Hot 100 chart.
During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, after it was featured in a 1986 Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was also created by Aardman Studios. Well-known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964); "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne me quitte pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song), and "Feeling Good" on I Put a Spell On You (1965); and "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966).
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and her takes on "Feeling Good" and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have remained popular in cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals), sample usage, and their use on soundtracks for various movies, television series, and video games. "Sinnerman" has been featured in the films The Crimson Pirate (1952), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), High Crimes (2002), Cellular (2004), Déjà Vu (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Golden Door (2006), Inland Empire (2006), and Harriet (2019), as well as in TV series such as Homicide: Life on the Street (1998, "Sins of the Father"), Nash Bridges (2000, "Jackpot"), Scrubs (2001, "My Own Personal Jesus"), Boomtown (2003, "The Big Picture"), Person of Interest (2011, "Witness"), Shameless (2011, "Kidnap and Ransom"), Love/Hate (2011, "Episode 1"), Sherlock (2012, "The Reichenbach Fall"), The Blacklist (2013, "The Freelancer"), Vinyl (2016, "The Racket"), Lucifer (2017, "Favorite Son"), and The Umbrella Academy (2019, "Extra Ordinary"), and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli (2003, "Get By"), Timbaland (2007, "Oh Timbaland"), and Flying Lotus (2012, "Until the Quiet Comes"). The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III. "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album 808s & Heartbreak. The 1965 rendition of "Strange Fruit", originally recorded by Billie Holiday, was sampled by Kanye West for "Blood on the Leaves" on his album Yeezus.
Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned many singles and album tracks that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 2 on the UK Singles Chart and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder.
The following single, a rendition of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody", also reached the UK Top 10 in 1969. "The House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings the Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina at the Village Gate (1962).
Performance style
Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "the High Priestess of Soul". She was a pianist, singer and performer, "separately, and simultaneously." As a composer and arranger, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz, and folk, and to numbers with European classical styling. Besides using Bach-style counterpoint, she called upon the particular virtuosity of the 19th-century Romantic piano repertoire—Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and others. Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis spoke highly of Simone, deeply impressed by her ability to play three-part counterpoint (her two hands on the piano and her voice each providing a separate but complementary melody line). Onstage, she incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element. Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman. She was known to pay close attention to the design and acoustics of each venue, tailoring her performances to individual venues.
Simone was perceived as a sometimes difficult or unpredictable performer, occasionally hectoring the audience if she felt they were disrespectful. Schackman would try to calm Simone during these episodes, performing solo until she calmed offstage and returned to finish the engagement. Her early experiences as a classical pianist had conditioned Simone to expect quiet attentive audiences, and her anger tended to flare up at nightclubs, lounges, or other locations where patrons were less attentive. Schackman described her live appearances as hit or miss, either reaching heights of hypnotic brilliance or on the other hand mechanically playing a few songs and then abruptly ending concerts early.
Critical reputation
Simone is regarded as one of the most influential recording artist of 20th-century jazz, cabaret and R&B genres. According to Rickey Vincent, she was a pioneering musician whose career was characterized by "fits of outrage and improvisational genius". Pointing to her composition of "Mississippi Goddam", Vincent said Simone broke the mold, having the courage as "an established black musical entertainer to break from the norms of the industry and produce direct social commentary in her music during the early 1960s".
In naming Simone the 29th-greatest singer of all time, Rolling Stone wrote that "her honey-coated, slightly adenoidal cry was one of the most affecting voices of the civil rights movement", while making note of her ability to "belt barroom blues, croon cabaret and explore jazz — sometimes all on a single record." In the opinion of AllMusic's Mark Deming, she was "one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic". Creed Taylor, who annotated the liner notes for Simone's 1978 Baltimore album, said the singer possessed a "magnificent intensity" that "turns everything—even the most simple, mundane phrase or lyric—into a radiant, poetic message". Jim Fusilli, music critic for The Wall Street Journal, writes that Simone's music is still relevant today: "it didn't adhere to ephemeral trends, it isn't a relic of a bygone era; her vocal delivery and technical skills as a pianist still dazzle; and her emotional performances have a visceral impact."
"She is loved or feared, adored or disliked", Maya Angelou wrote in 1970, "but few who have met her music or glimpsed her soul react with moderation". Robert Christgau, who disliked Simone, wrote that her "penchant for the mundane renders her intensity as bogus as her mannered melismas and pronunciation (move over, Inspector Clouseau) and the rote flatting of her vocal improvisations." Regarding her piano playing, he dismissed Simone as a "middlebrow keyboard tickler ... whose histrionic rolls insert unconvincing emotion into a song". He later attributed his generally negative appraisal to Simone's consistent seriousness of manner, depressive tendencies, and classical background.
Mental health
Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. In 1985, Simone fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995 while living in France, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration and she perceived his response to her complaints as racial insults; she was sentenced to eight months in jail, which was suspended pending a psychiatric evaluation and treatment.
According to a biographer, Simone took medication from the mid-1960s onward, although this was supposedly only known to a small group of intimates. After her death the medication was confirmed as the anti-psychotic Trilafon, which Simone's friends and caretakers sometimes surreptitiously mixed into her food when she refused to follow her treatment plan. This fact was kept out of public view until 2004 when a biography, Break Down and Let It All Out, written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan (of her UK fan club), was published posthumously. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier at gunpoint to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused.
Awards and recognition
Simone was the recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 for her interpretation of "I Loves You, Porgy." On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Simone.
Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities, from Amherst College and Malcolm X College. She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
Two days before her death, Simone learned she would be awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute of Music, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.
Simone has received four career Grammy Award nominations, two during her lifetime and two posthumously. In 1968, she received her first nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the track "(You'll) Go to Hell" from her thirteenth album Silk & Soul (1967). The award went to "Respect" by Aretha Franklin.
Simone garnered a second nomination in the category in 1971, for her Black Gold album, when she again lost to Franklin for "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)". Franklin would again win for her cover of Simone's "Young, Gifted and Black" two years later in the same category. In 2016, Simone posthumously received a nomination for Best Music Film for the Netflix documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? and in 2018 she received a nomination for Best Rap Song as a songwriter for Jay-Z's "The Story of O.J." from his 4:44 album which contained a sample of "Four Women" by Simone.
In 2018, Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by fellow R&B artist Mary J. Blige.
In 2019, "Mississippi Goddam" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Legacy and influence
Music
Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Elton John (who named one of his pianos after her), Madonna, Aretha Franklin, Adele, David Bowie, Patti LaBelle, Boy George, Emeli Sandé, Antony and the Johnsons, Dianne Reeves, Sade, Janis Joplin, Nick Cave, Van Morrison, Christina Aguilera, Elkie Brooks, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lena Horne, Bono, John Legend, Elizabeth Fraser, Cat Stevens, Anna Calvi, Cat Power, Lykke Li, Peter Gabriel, Justin Hayward, Maynard James Keenan, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mary J. Blige, Fantasia Barrino, Michael Gira, Angela McCluskey, Lauryn Hill, Patrice Babatunde, Alicia Keys, Alex Turner, Lana Del Rey, Hozier, Matt Bellamy, Ian MacKaye, Kerry Brothers, Jr., Krucial, Amanda Palmer, Steve Adey and Jeff Buckley. John Lennon cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles' song "Michelle". American singer Meshell Ndegeocello released her own tribute album Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone in 2012. The following year, experimental band Xiu Xiu released a cover album, Nina. In late 2019, American rapper Wale released an album titled Wow... That's Crazy, containing a track called "Love Me Nina/Semiautomatic" which contains audio clips from Simone.
Simone's music has been featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games, including La Femme Nikita (1990), Point of No Return (1993), Shallow Grave (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998), Any Given Sunday (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Disappearing Acts (2000), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (2002), Before Sunset (2004), Cellular (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Sex and the City (2008), The World Unseen (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), Home (2008), Watchmen (2009), The Saboteur (2009), Repo Men (2010), Beyond the Lights (2014), and "Nobody" (2021). Frequently her music is used in remixes, commercials, and TV series including "Feeling Good", which featured prominently in the Season Four Promo of Six Feet Under (2004). Simone's "Take Care of Business" is the closing theme of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Simone's cover of Janis Ian's "Stars" is played during the final moments of the season 3 finale of BoJack Horseman (2016), and "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" were included in the film Acrimony (2018).
Film
The documentary Nina Simone: La légende (The Legend) was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers and based on her autobiography I Put a Spell on You. It features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with family, various interviews with Simone then living in the Netherlands, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply Nina. Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment and is screened annually in New York City at an event called "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976" which is curated by Tom Blunt.
Footage of Simone singing "Mississippi Goddam" for 40,000 marchers at the end of the Selma to Montgomery marches can be seen in the 1970 documentary King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis and the 2015 Liz Garbus documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?
Plans for a Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006; Simone's daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, has since refuted the existence of a romantic relationship between Simone and Henderson on account of his homosexuality. Cynthia Mort (screenwriter of Will & Grace and Roseanne), wrote the screenplay and directed the 2016 film Nina, starring Zoe Saldana who has since openly apologized for taking the controversial title role.
In 2015, two documentary features about Simone's life and music were released. The first, directed by Liz Garbus, What Happened, Miss Simone? was produced in cooperation with Simone's estate and her daughter, who also served as the film's executive producer. The film was produced as a counterpoint to the unauthorized Cynthia Mort film (Nina, 2016), and featured previously unreleased archival footage. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015 and was distributed by Netflix on June 26, 2015. It was nominated on January 14, 2016, for a 2016 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The second documentary in 2015, The Amazing Nina Simone is an independent film written and directed by Jeff L. Lieberman, who initially consulted with Simone's daughter, Lisa before going the independent route and then worked closely with Simone's siblings, predominantly Sam Waymon. The film debuted in cinemas in October 2015, and has since played more than 100 theatres in 10 countries.
Drama
She is the subject of Nina: A Story About Me and Nina Simone, a one-woman show first performed in 2016 at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool — a "deeply personal and often searing show inspired by the singer and activist Nina Simone" — and which in July 2017 ran at the Young Vic, before being scheduled to move to Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre.
Books
As well as her 1992 autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992), written with Stephen Cleary, Simone has been the subject of several books. They include Nina Simone: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (2002) by Richard Williams; Nina Simone: Break Down and Let It All Out (2004) by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan; Princess Noire (2010) by Nadine Cohodas; Nina Simone (2004) by Kerry Acker; Nina Simone, Black is the Color (2005) by Andrew Stroud; and What Happened, Miss Simone? (2016) by Alan Light.
Simone inspired a book of poetry, Me and Nina, by Monica Hand, and is the focus of musician Warren Ellis's book Nina Simone's Gum (2021).
Honors
In 2002, the city of Nijmegen, Netherlands, named a street after her, as "Nina Simone Street": she had lived in Nijmegen between 1988 and 1990. On August 29, 2005, the city of Nijmegen, the De Vereeniging concert hall, and more than 50 artists (among whom were Frank Boeijen, Rood Adeo, and Fay Claassen) honored Simone with the tribute concert Greetings from Nijmegen.
Simone was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
In 2010, a statue in her honor was erected on Trade Street in her native Tryon, North Carolina.
The promotion from the French Institute of Political Studies of Lille (Sciences Po Lille), due to obtain their master's degree in 2021, named themselves in her honor. The decision was made that this promotion was henceforth to be known as 'la promotion Nina Simone' after a vote in 2017.
Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
The Proms paid a homage to Nina Simone in 2019, an event called Mississippi Goddamn was performed by The Metropole Orkest at Royal Albert Hall led by Jules Buckley. Ledisi, Lisa Fischer and Jazz Trio, LaSharVu provided vocals.
Discography
References
Sources
External links
The Amazing Nina Simone: A Documentary Film
1933 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American pianists
20th-century African-American women singers
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from North Carolina
African-American activists
African-American Christians
African-American women singer-songwriters
African and Black nationalists
American contraltos
American expatriates in France
American expatriates in Liberia
American expatriates in Switzerland
American expatriates in the Netherlands
American women jazz singers
American jazz pianists
American women pianists
American jazz singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul musicians
American tax resisters
American women activists
Bethlehem Records artists
Charly Records artists
Colpix Records artists
Deaths from breast cancer
Deaths from cancer in France
Elektra Records artists
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Jazz musicians from North Carolina
Jazz songwriters
Juilliard School alumni
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Nightclub performers
People from Tryon, North Carolina
People from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
People with bipolar disorder
Philips Records artists
RCA Victor artists
Soul-jazz musicians
Torch singers
Verve Records artists
African-American Catholics
African-American pianists
Roman Catholic activists
American socialists | false | [
"Marina Petrella (born in Roma, 23 August 1954) is a former member of the terrorist Italian left wing group the Red Brigades. She was convicted to life sentence for murder.\n\nBiography\n\nA former school teacher in the middle of the 1970s she joined a terrorist group called the Brigate Rosse. Together with her husband, Luigi Novelli, she was arrested twice, but was never sent to jail because a verdict was not reached in time.\nIn 1993, she left Italy to avoid being arrested following her conviction of killing a policeman, various attempted murders, and other minor offenses. She moved to Paris where, thanks to the Mitterrand doctrine, she started a new life. She was arrested by the French, but the government of Nicolas Sarkozy announced that Petrella would not be extradited to Italy on medical grounds.\n\nOn April 28 2021 she was again arrested together with 6 other former Red Brigades members living in France.\n\nReferences\n\n1954 births\nItalian assassins\nItalian communists\nRed Brigades\nLiving people\nItalian exiles",
"Elli Hatschek (July 2, 1901 – December 8, 1944) was a member of the German Resistance against Nazism. She was married to Paul Hatschek, a leading member of the resistance group, the European Union and who was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943. Under heavy interrogation, he gave up the names of others in his group, who were then arrested. His wife was also arrested. Though she was not heavily involved, she was charged with \"undermining the morale of the military\" and was sentenced to death. She was executed by the Nazis at Plötzensee Prison.\n\nBiography \nElli Hatschek, née Lotz, was born in Wetzlar, Germany. She was the second wife of Paul Hatschek, a Ph.D and engineer of optical and film technology. They lived in Berlin, where he was one of the leading members of the German Resistance group, the European Union and worked to bring about the downfall of the Third Reich. He was recruited by the Soviet Union's military intelligence and tried to provide important information to the Soviets to assist them in expelling their Nazi invaders. He was arrested in 1942 as a member of the Robert Uhrig Group and according to Robert Havemann, had been under Gestapo surveillance for years.\n\nHatschek was told of her husband's activities and she was supportive. In 1943, the Gestapo observed Paul Hatschek meeting two parachutists. After investigating, the Gestapo arrested Hatschek on September 3, 1943, subjecting him to intensive interrogation that same day. He named fellow Resistance fighters and two days later, the Gestapo arrested every person Hatschek had named. After weeks of interrogation, sometimes brutal, they had over 40 members of the European Union.\n\nElli Hatschek was arrested with her husband. Her husband's daughter, Krista Lavíčková was also arrested. All three were brought before the Nazi court, her husband and his daughter together; Elli Hatschek, some months later. All three were sentenced to death and executed by guillotine, her husband on May 15, 1944 at Brandenburg-Görden Prison, his daughter at Plötzensee on August 11, 1944.\n\nIn November 1944, Elli Hatschek was charged with being connected with the European Union and with Wehrkraftzersetzung, a term that means \"subversion of the military\" and under the Nazis, was a crime that included undermining the war effort. She was convicted and sentenced to death. She stayed at the women's prison on Barnimstraße, where she was one of the 300 prisoners who were executed. She was guillotined on December 8, 1944 at the Plötzensee Prison in Berlin.\n\nHer name is listed in the memorial book of Plötzensee victims.\n\nSee also \n Glossary of Nazi Germany: W – explanation of the crime of Wehrkraftzersetzung\n\nFootnotes\n\nReferences \n\n1901 births\n1944 deaths\nPeople from Wetzlar\nFemale resistance members of World War II\nExecuted German Resistance members\nPeople executed by guillotine at Plötzensee Prison\nPeople from Hesse executed at Plötzensee Prison\nExecuted German people"
]
|
[
"Nina Simone",
"Temperament",
"What was her temperament?",
"Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on.",
"How was she received?",
"Simone was known for her temper and frequent outbursts.",
"Did her temper hurt her career?",
"she fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she \"tried to kill him\" but \"missed",
"Was she arrested?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_2f9b378d18cc4e11a1ba402806902443_0 | Did she do anything else that displayed her bad temper? | 5 | Besides temper, did Nina Simone do anything else? | Nina Simone | Simone was known for her temper and frequent outbursts. Simone abandoned her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly for years in Mount Vernon after relocating to Liberia. When they reunited in West Africa, Simone became abusive. "She went from being my comfort to the monster in my life. Now she was the person doing the beating, and she was beating me." The abuse became so unbearable that Kelly became suicidal and moved back to New York to stay with her father, Andrew Stroud. In 1985, she fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration. According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on. All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down and Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004, after her death. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier, at gunpoint, to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused. CANNOTANSWER | ". In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration. | Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel and pop.
The sixth of eight children born to a poor family in Tryon, North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a few supporters in her hometown, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she was denied admission despite a well received audition, which she attributed to racism. In 2003, just days before her death, the Institute awarded her an honorary degree.
To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States in 1958 with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.
Biography
1933–1954: Early life
Simone was born on February 21, 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at the age of three or four; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the piano, she performed at her local church. Her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was 12. Simone later said that during this performance, her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. She said that she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front, and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement. Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon (née Irvin, November 20, 1901 – April 30, 2001), was a Methodist minister and a housemaid. Her father, Rev. John Devan Waymon (June 24, 1898 – October 23, 1972), was a handyman who at one time owned a dry-cleaning business, but also suffered bouts of ill health. Simone's music teacher helped establish a special fund to pay for her education. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist her continued education. With the help of this scholarship money, she was able to attend Allen High School for Girls in Asheville, North Carolina.
After her graduation, Simone spent the summer of 1950 at the Juilliard School as a student of Carl Friedberg, preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her application, however, was denied. Only 3 of 72 applicants were accepted that year, but as her family had relocated to Philadelphia in the expectation of her entry to Curtis, the blow to her aspirations was particularly heavy. For the rest of her life, she suspected that her application had been denied because of racial prejudice, a charge the staff at Curtis have denied. Discouraged, she took private piano lessons with Vladimir Sokoloff, a professor at Curtis, but never could re-apply due to the fact that at the time the Curtis institute did not accept students over 21. She took a job as a photographer's assistant, but also found work as an accompanist at Arlene Smith's vocal studio and taught piano from her home in Philadelphia.
1954–1959: Early success
In order to fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano, which increased her income to $90 a week. In 1954, she adopted the stage name "Nina Simone". "Nina", derived from niña, was a nickname given to her by a boyfriend named Chico, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the 1952 movie Casque d'Or. Knowing her mother would not approve of playing "the Devil's music", she used her new stage name to remain undetected. Simone's mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small but loyal fan base.
In 1958, she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage. Playing in small clubs in the same year, she recorded George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 20 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue followed in February 1959 on Bethlehem Records. Because she had sold her rights outright for $3,000, Simone lost more than $1 million in royalties (notably for the 1980s re-release of her version of the jazz standard "My Baby Just Cares for Me") and never benefited financially from the album's sales.
1959–1964: Burgeoning popularity
After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records and recorded a multitude of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. After the release of her live album Nina Simone at Town Hall, Simone became a favorite performer in Greenwich Village. By this time, Simone performed pop music only to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.
Simone married a New York police detective, Drew Stroud, in December 1961. In a few years he became her manager and the father of her daughter Lisa, but later he abused Simone psychologically and physically.
1964–1974: Civil Rights era
In 1964, Simone changed record distributors from Colpix, an American company, to the Dutch Philips Records, which meant a change in the content of her recordings. She had always included songs in her repertoire that drew on her African-American heritage, such as "Brown Baby" by Oscar Brown and "Zungo" by Michael Olatunji on her album Nina at the Village Gate in 1962. On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone in Concert (1964), for the first time she addressed racial inequality in the United States in the song "Mississippi Goddam". This was her response to the June 12, 1963, murder of Medgar Evers and the September 15, 1963, bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four young black girls and partly blinded a fifth. She said that the song was "like throwing ten bullets back at them", becoming one of many other protest songs written by Simone. The song was released as a single, and it was boycotted in some southern states. Promotional copies were smashed by a Carolina radio station and returned to Philips. She later recalled how "Mississippi Goddam" was her "first civil rights song" and that the song came to her "in a rush of fury, hatred and determination". The song challenged the belief that race relations could change gradually and called for more immediate developments: "me and my people are just about due". It was a key moment in her path to Civil Rights activism. "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow laws. After "Mississippi Goddam", a civil rights message was the norm in Simone's recordings and became part of her concerts. As her political activism rose, the rate of release of her music slowed.
Simone performed and spoke at civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches. Like Malcolm X, her neighbor in Mount Vernon, New York, she supported black nationalism and advocated violent revolution rather than Martin Luther King Jr.'s non-violent approach. She hoped that African Americans could use armed combat to form a separate state, though she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal.
In 1967, Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor. She sang "Backlash Blues" written by her friend, Harlem Renaissance leader Langston Hughes, on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album 'Nuff Said! (1968) contained live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair of April 7, 1968, three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. She dedicated the performance to him and sang "Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor. In 1969, she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park, immortalized in Questlove's 2021 documentary Summer of Soul.
Simone and Weldon Irvine turned the unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry into a civil rights song of the same name. She credited her friend Hansberry with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black) and Donny Hathaway. When reflecting on this period, she wrote in her autobiography, "I felt more alive then than I feel now because I was needed, and I could sing something to help my people".
1974–1993: Later life
In an interview for Jet magazine, Simone stated that her controversial song "Mississippi Goddam" harmed her career. She claimed that the music industry punished her by boycotting her records. Hurt and disappointed, Simone left the US in September 1970, flying to Barbados and expecting her husband and manager (Andrew Stroud) to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of her desire for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.
When Simone returned to the United States, she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (unpaid as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War), and returned to Barbados to evade the authorities and prosecution. Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time, and had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow. A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia. When Simone relocated, she abandoned her daughter Lisa in Mount Vernon. Lisa eventually reunited with Simone in Liberia, but, according to Lisa, her mother was physically and mentally abusive. The abuse was so unbearable that Lisa became suicidal and she moved back to New York to live with her father Andrew Stroud. Simone recorded her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, in 1974, and did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor. The result was the album Baltimore, which, while not a commercial success, was fairly well received critically and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output. Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl". Four years later, Simone recorded Fodder on My Wings on a French label, Studio Davout.
During the 1980s, Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott's in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging with her audiences sometimes, by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. By this time she stayed everywhere and nowhere. She lived in Liberia, Barbados and Switzerland and eventually ended up in Paris. There she regularly performed in a small jazz club called Aux Trois Mailletz for relatively small financial reward. The performances were sometimes brilliant and at other times Nina Simone gave up after fifteen minutes. Often she was too drunk to sing or play the piano properly. At other times she scolded the audience. The end of Nina Simone seemed in sight. Manager Raymond Gonzalez, guitarist Al Schackman and Gerrit de Bruin, a Dutch friend of hers, decided to intervene.
Simone moved to Nijmegen in the Netherlands in the spring of 1988. She had just scored a huge European hit with the song "My Baby Just Cares for Me". Recorded by her for the first time in 1958, the song was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume in Europe, leading to a re-release of the recording. This stormed to number 4 on the UK's NME singles chart, giving Simone a brief surge in popularity in the UK and elsewhere.
In 1988 she bought an apartment next to the Belvoir Hotel with view of the Waalbrug and Ooijpolder, with the help of her friend Gerrit de Bruin, who lived with his family a few corners away and kept an eye on her. The idea was to bring Simone to Nijmegen to relax and get back on track. A daily caretaker, Jackie Hammond from London, was hired for her. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. Unfortunately, the tantrums followed her to Nijmegen. Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder by a friend of De Bruin, who prescribed Trilafon for her. Despite the miserable illness, it was generally a happy time for Simone in Nijmegen, where she could lead a fairly anonymous life. Only a few recognized her, but most Nijmegen people did not know who she was. Slowly but surely her life started to improve, and she was even able to make money from the Chanel commercial after a legal battle. In 1991 Nina Simone exchanged Nijmegen for the more lively Amsterdam, where she lived for two years with friends and Hammond.
1993–2003: Final years, illness and death
In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence in southern France (Bouches-du-Rhône). In the same year, her final album, A Single Woman, was released. She variously contended that she married or had a love affair with a Tunisian around this time, but that their relationship ended because, "His family didn't want him to move to France, and France didn't want him because he's a North African." During a 1998 performance in Newark, she announced, "If you're going to come see me again, you've got to come to France, because I am not coming back." She suffered from breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet (Bouches-du-Rhône), on April 21, 2003. Her Catholic funeral service at the local parish was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti LaBelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, and hundreds of others. Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. Her daughter Lisa Celeste Stroud is an actress and singer who took the stage name Simone, and who has appeared on Broadway in Aida.
Activism
Influence
Simone's consciousness on the racial and social discourse was prompted by her friendship with black playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Simone stated that during her conversations with Hansberry "we never talked about men or clothes. It was always Marx, Lenin and revolution – real girls’ talk". The influence of Hansberry planted the seed for the provocative social commentary that became an expectation in Simone's repertoire. One of Nina's more hopeful activism anthems, "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", was written with collaborator Weldon Irvine in the years following the playwright's passing, acquiring the title of one of Hansberry's unpublished plays. Simone's social circles included notable black leftists such as James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael and Langston Hughes: the lyrics of her song "Backlash Blues" were written by the latter.
Beyond the civil rights movement
Simone's social commentary was not limited to the civil rights movement; the song "Four Women" exposed the eurocentric appearance standards imposed on black women in America, as it explored the internalized dilemma of beauty that is experienced between four black women with skin tones ranging from light to dark. She explains in her autobiography I Put a Spell on You that the purpose of the song was to inspire black women to define beauty and identity for themselves without the influence of societal impositions. Chardine Taylor-Stone has noted that, beyond the politics of beauty, the song also describes the stereotypical roles that many black women have historically been restricted to: the mammy, the tragic mulatto, the sex worker and the angry black woman.
Artistry
Simone standards
Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that became standards in her repertoire. Some were songs that she wrote herself, while others were new arrangements of other standards, and others had been written especially for the singer. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 on the Billboard magazine Hot 100 chart.
During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, after it was featured in a 1986 Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was also created by Aardman Studios. Well-known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964); "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne me quitte pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song), and "Feeling Good" on I Put a Spell On You (1965); and "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966).
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and her takes on "Feeling Good" and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have remained popular in cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals), sample usage, and their use on soundtracks for various movies, television series, and video games. "Sinnerman" has been featured in the films The Crimson Pirate (1952), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), High Crimes (2002), Cellular (2004), Déjà Vu (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Golden Door (2006), Inland Empire (2006), and Harriet (2019), as well as in TV series such as Homicide: Life on the Street (1998, "Sins of the Father"), Nash Bridges (2000, "Jackpot"), Scrubs (2001, "My Own Personal Jesus"), Boomtown (2003, "The Big Picture"), Person of Interest (2011, "Witness"), Shameless (2011, "Kidnap and Ransom"), Love/Hate (2011, "Episode 1"), Sherlock (2012, "The Reichenbach Fall"), The Blacklist (2013, "The Freelancer"), Vinyl (2016, "The Racket"), Lucifer (2017, "Favorite Son"), and The Umbrella Academy (2019, "Extra Ordinary"), and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli (2003, "Get By"), Timbaland (2007, "Oh Timbaland"), and Flying Lotus (2012, "Until the Quiet Comes"). The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III. "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album 808s & Heartbreak. The 1965 rendition of "Strange Fruit", originally recorded by Billie Holiday, was sampled by Kanye West for "Blood on the Leaves" on his album Yeezus.
Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned many singles and album tracks that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 2 on the UK Singles Chart and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder.
The following single, a rendition of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody", also reached the UK Top 10 in 1969. "The House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings the Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina at the Village Gate (1962).
Performance style
Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "the High Priestess of Soul". She was a pianist, singer and performer, "separately, and simultaneously." As a composer and arranger, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz, and folk, and to numbers with European classical styling. Besides using Bach-style counterpoint, she called upon the particular virtuosity of the 19th-century Romantic piano repertoire—Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and others. Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis spoke highly of Simone, deeply impressed by her ability to play three-part counterpoint (her two hands on the piano and her voice each providing a separate but complementary melody line). Onstage, she incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element. Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman. She was known to pay close attention to the design and acoustics of each venue, tailoring her performances to individual venues.
Simone was perceived as a sometimes difficult or unpredictable performer, occasionally hectoring the audience if she felt they were disrespectful. Schackman would try to calm Simone during these episodes, performing solo until she calmed offstage and returned to finish the engagement. Her early experiences as a classical pianist had conditioned Simone to expect quiet attentive audiences, and her anger tended to flare up at nightclubs, lounges, or other locations where patrons were less attentive. Schackman described her live appearances as hit or miss, either reaching heights of hypnotic brilliance or on the other hand mechanically playing a few songs and then abruptly ending concerts early.
Critical reputation
Simone is regarded as one of the most influential recording artist of 20th-century jazz, cabaret and R&B genres. According to Rickey Vincent, she was a pioneering musician whose career was characterized by "fits of outrage and improvisational genius". Pointing to her composition of "Mississippi Goddam", Vincent said Simone broke the mold, having the courage as "an established black musical entertainer to break from the norms of the industry and produce direct social commentary in her music during the early 1960s".
In naming Simone the 29th-greatest singer of all time, Rolling Stone wrote that "her honey-coated, slightly adenoidal cry was one of the most affecting voices of the civil rights movement", while making note of her ability to "belt barroom blues, croon cabaret and explore jazz — sometimes all on a single record." In the opinion of AllMusic's Mark Deming, she was "one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic". Creed Taylor, who annotated the liner notes for Simone's 1978 Baltimore album, said the singer possessed a "magnificent intensity" that "turns everything—even the most simple, mundane phrase or lyric—into a radiant, poetic message". Jim Fusilli, music critic for The Wall Street Journal, writes that Simone's music is still relevant today: "it didn't adhere to ephemeral trends, it isn't a relic of a bygone era; her vocal delivery and technical skills as a pianist still dazzle; and her emotional performances have a visceral impact."
"She is loved or feared, adored or disliked", Maya Angelou wrote in 1970, "but few who have met her music or glimpsed her soul react with moderation". Robert Christgau, who disliked Simone, wrote that her "penchant for the mundane renders her intensity as bogus as her mannered melismas and pronunciation (move over, Inspector Clouseau) and the rote flatting of her vocal improvisations." Regarding her piano playing, he dismissed Simone as a "middlebrow keyboard tickler ... whose histrionic rolls insert unconvincing emotion into a song". He later attributed his generally negative appraisal to Simone's consistent seriousness of manner, depressive tendencies, and classical background.
Mental health
Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. In 1985, Simone fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995 while living in France, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration and she perceived his response to her complaints as racial insults; she was sentenced to eight months in jail, which was suspended pending a psychiatric evaluation and treatment.
According to a biographer, Simone took medication from the mid-1960s onward, although this was supposedly only known to a small group of intimates. After her death the medication was confirmed as the anti-psychotic Trilafon, which Simone's friends and caretakers sometimes surreptitiously mixed into her food when she refused to follow her treatment plan. This fact was kept out of public view until 2004 when a biography, Break Down and Let It All Out, written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan (of her UK fan club), was published posthumously. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier at gunpoint to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused.
Awards and recognition
Simone was the recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 for her interpretation of "I Loves You, Porgy." On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Simone.
Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities, from Amherst College and Malcolm X College. She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
Two days before her death, Simone learned she would be awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute of Music, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.
Simone has received four career Grammy Award nominations, two during her lifetime and two posthumously. In 1968, she received her first nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the track "(You'll) Go to Hell" from her thirteenth album Silk & Soul (1967). The award went to "Respect" by Aretha Franklin.
Simone garnered a second nomination in the category in 1971, for her Black Gold album, when she again lost to Franklin for "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)". Franklin would again win for her cover of Simone's "Young, Gifted and Black" two years later in the same category. In 2016, Simone posthumously received a nomination for Best Music Film for the Netflix documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? and in 2018 she received a nomination for Best Rap Song as a songwriter for Jay-Z's "The Story of O.J." from his 4:44 album which contained a sample of "Four Women" by Simone.
In 2018, Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by fellow R&B artist Mary J. Blige.
In 2019, "Mississippi Goddam" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Legacy and influence
Music
Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Elton John (who named one of his pianos after her), Madonna, Aretha Franklin, Adele, David Bowie, Patti LaBelle, Boy George, Emeli Sandé, Antony and the Johnsons, Dianne Reeves, Sade, Janis Joplin, Nick Cave, Van Morrison, Christina Aguilera, Elkie Brooks, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lena Horne, Bono, John Legend, Elizabeth Fraser, Cat Stevens, Anna Calvi, Cat Power, Lykke Li, Peter Gabriel, Justin Hayward, Maynard James Keenan, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mary J. Blige, Fantasia Barrino, Michael Gira, Angela McCluskey, Lauryn Hill, Patrice Babatunde, Alicia Keys, Alex Turner, Lana Del Rey, Hozier, Matt Bellamy, Ian MacKaye, Kerry Brothers, Jr., Krucial, Amanda Palmer, Steve Adey and Jeff Buckley. John Lennon cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles' song "Michelle". American singer Meshell Ndegeocello released her own tribute album Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone in 2012. The following year, experimental band Xiu Xiu released a cover album, Nina. In late 2019, American rapper Wale released an album titled Wow... That's Crazy, containing a track called "Love Me Nina/Semiautomatic" which contains audio clips from Simone.
Simone's music has been featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games, including La Femme Nikita (1990), Point of No Return (1993), Shallow Grave (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998), Any Given Sunday (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Disappearing Acts (2000), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (2002), Before Sunset (2004), Cellular (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Sex and the City (2008), The World Unseen (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), Home (2008), Watchmen (2009), The Saboteur (2009), Repo Men (2010), Beyond the Lights (2014), and "Nobody" (2021). Frequently her music is used in remixes, commercials, and TV series including "Feeling Good", which featured prominently in the Season Four Promo of Six Feet Under (2004). Simone's "Take Care of Business" is the closing theme of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Simone's cover of Janis Ian's "Stars" is played during the final moments of the season 3 finale of BoJack Horseman (2016), and "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" were included in the film Acrimony (2018).
Film
The documentary Nina Simone: La légende (The Legend) was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers and based on her autobiography I Put a Spell on You. It features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with family, various interviews with Simone then living in the Netherlands, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply Nina. Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment and is screened annually in New York City at an event called "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976" which is curated by Tom Blunt.
Footage of Simone singing "Mississippi Goddam" for 40,000 marchers at the end of the Selma to Montgomery marches can be seen in the 1970 documentary King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis and the 2015 Liz Garbus documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?
Plans for a Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006; Simone's daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, has since refuted the existence of a romantic relationship between Simone and Henderson on account of his homosexuality. Cynthia Mort (screenwriter of Will & Grace and Roseanne), wrote the screenplay and directed the 2016 film Nina, starring Zoe Saldana who has since openly apologized for taking the controversial title role.
In 2015, two documentary features about Simone's life and music were released. The first, directed by Liz Garbus, What Happened, Miss Simone? was produced in cooperation with Simone's estate and her daughter, who also served as the film's executive producer. The film was produced as a counterpoint to the unauthorized Cynthia Mort film (Nina, 2016), and featured previously unreleased archival footage. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015 and was distributed by Netflix on June 26, 2015. It was nominated on January 14, 2016, for a 2016 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The second documentary in 2015, The Amazing Nina Simone is an independent film written and directed by Jeff L. Lieberman, who initially consulted with Simone's daughter, Lisa before going the independent route and then worked closely with Simone's siblings, predominantly Sam Waymon. The film debuted in cinemas in October 2015, and has since played more than 100 theatres in 10 countries.
Drama
She is the subject of Nina: A Story About Me and Nina Simone, a one-woman show first performed in 2016 at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool — a "deeply personal and often searing show inspired by the singer and activist Nina Simone" — and which in July 2017 ran at the Young Vic, before being scheduled to move to Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre.
Books
As well as her 1992 autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992), written with Stephen Cleary, Simone has been the subject of several books. They include Nina Simone: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (2002) by Richard Williams; Nina Simone: Break Down and Let It All Out (2004) by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan; Princess Noire (2010) by Nadine Cohodas; Nina Simone (2004) by Kerry Acker; Nina Simone, Black is the Color (2005) by Andrew Stroud; and What Happened, Miss Simone? (2016) by Alan Light.
Simone inspired a book of poetry, Me and Nina, by Monica Hand, and is the focus of musician Warren Ellis's book Nina Simone's Gum (2021).
Honors
In 2002, the city of Nijmegen, Netherlands, named a street after her, as "Nina Simone Street": she had lived in Nijmegen between 1988 and 1990. On August 29, 2005, the city of Nijmegen, the De Vereeniging concert hall, and more than 50 artists (among whom were Frank Boeijen, Rood Adeo, and Fay Claassen) honored Simone with the tribute concert Greetings from Nijmegen.
Simone was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
In 2010, a statue in her honor was erected on Trade Street in her native Tryon, North Carolina.
The promotion from the French Institute of Political Studies of Lille (Sciences Po Lille), due to obtain their master's degree in 2021, named themselves in her honor. The decision was made that this promotion was henceforth to be known as 'la promotion Nina Simone' after a vote in 2017.
Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
The Proms paid a homage to Nina Simone in 2019, an event called Mississippi Goddamn was performed by The Metropole Orkest at Royal Albert Hall led by Jules Buckley. Ledisi, Lisa Fischer and Jazz Trio, LaSharVu provided vocals.
Discography
References
Sources
External links
The Amazing Nina Simone: A Documentary Film
1933 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American pianists
20th-century African-American women singers
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from North Carolina
African-American activists
African-American Christians
African-American women singer-songwriters
African and Black nationalists
American contraltos
American expatriates in France
American expatriates in Liberia
American expatriates in Switzerland
American expatriates in the Netherlands
American women jazz singers
American jazz pianists
American women pianists
American jazz singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul musicians
American tax resisters
American women activists
Bethlehem Records artists
Charly Records artists
Colpix Records artists
Deaths from breast cancer
Deaths from cancer in France
Elektra Records artists
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Jazz musicians from North Carolina
Jazz songwriters
Juilliard School alumni
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Nightclub performers
People from Tryon, North Carolina
People from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
People with bipolar disorder
Philips Records artists
RCA Victor artists
Soul-jazz musicians
Torch singers
Verve Records artists
African-American Catholics
African-American pianists
Roman Catholic activists
American socialists | false | [
"\"If You Can Do Anything Else\" is a song written by Billy Livsey and Don Schlitz, and recorded by American country music artist George Strait. It was released in February 2001 as the third and final single from his self-titled album. The song reached number 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in July 2001. It also peaked at number 51 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.\n\nContent\nThe song is about man who is giving his woman the option to leave him. He gives her many different options for all the things she can do. At the end he gives her the option to stay with him if she really can’t find anything else to do. He says he will be alright if she leaves, but really it seems he wants her to stay.\n\nChart performance\n\"If You Can Do Anything Else\" debuted at number 60 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of March 3, 2001.\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n2001 singles\n2000 songs\nGeorge Strait songs\nSongs written by Billy Livsey\nSongs written by Don Schlitz\nSong recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer)\nMCA Nashville Records singles",
"Bad Temper Joe [bæd ˈtɛmpə ˈʤəʊ] (* in Bielefeld, East Westphalia-Lippe) is a German musician and guitarist. He plays a Weissenborn guitar. He has released eight studio albums since 2014 and was the only European finalist of the International Blues Challenge 2020 in Memphis, Tennessee.\n\nHe is a singer and mainly plays slide guitar, but also harmonica and electric guitar. His music draws from the blues, but also from musical traditions such as country, rock and ties in with the program of the Great American Songbook, which he applies to the East Westphalian province.\n\nHe plays solo, with a band and in a duet with the Belgian singer and guitarist Fernant Zeste, with whom he also recorded an album entitled Haunt.\n\nHe is under contract with Timezone Records.\n\nReviews \nDominik Rothe writes: \"Despite all the cross-references to his musical roots, Bad Temper Joe is anything but a yesterday's retro artist.\"\n\nThomas Klingebiel writes about Bad Temper Joe's concerts in Memphis: \"Bad Temper Joe thrilled the audience in the music clubs on the famous Beale Street, where the careers of blues icons like Muddy Waters and B. B. King began.\"\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums \n\n Sometimes a Sinner (2014)\n Man for the Road (2014)\n Tough Ain't Easy (2015)\n Double Trouble (2016)\n Solitary Mind (2017)\n Ain't Worth a Damn (2018)\n The Maddest of Them All (2019)\n The Memphis Tapes (2020)\n\nCollaborations \n\n Haunt (2019) (feat. Fernant Zeste)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n Official website\n website on Timezone Records\n\nLiving people\nGerman guitarists\n21st-century German male singers\nGerman harmonica players\nYear of birth missing (living people)\n21st-century guitarists\nMusicians from Bielefeld"
]
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"she fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she \"tried to kill him\" but \"missed",
"Was she arrested?",
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"\". In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration."
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| C_2f9b378d18cc4e11a1ba402806902443_0 | Did this affect her career? | 6 | Did the bad temper affect Nina Simone career? | Nina Simone | Simone was known for her temper and frequent outbursts. Simone abandoned her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly for years in Mount Vernon after relocating to Liberia. When they reunited in West Africa, Simone became abusive. "She went from being my comfort to the monster in my life. Now she was the person doing the beating, and she was beating me." The abuse became so unbearable that Kelly became suicidal and moved back to New York to stay with her father, Andrew Stroud. In 1985, she fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration. According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on. All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down and Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004, after her death. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier, at gunpoint, to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused. CANNOTANSWER | All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, | Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel and pop.
The sixth of eight children born to a poor family in Tryon, North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a few supporters in her hometown, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she was denied admission despite a well received audition, which she attributed to racism. In 2003, just days before her death, the Institute awarded her an honorary degree.
To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States in 1958 with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.
Biography
1933–1954: Early life
Simone was born on February 21, 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at the age of three or four; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the piano, she performed at her local church. Her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was 12. Simone later said that during this performance, her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. She said that she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front, and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement. Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon (née Irvin, November 20, 1901 – April 30, 2001), was a Methodist minister and a housemaid. Her father, Rev. John Devan Waymon (June 24, 1898 – October 23, 1972), was a handyman who at one time owned a dry-cleaning business, but also suffered bouts of ill health. Simone's music teacher helped establish a special fund to pay for her education. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist her continued education. With the help of this scholarship money, she was able to attend Allen High School for Girls in Asheville, North Carolina.
After her graduation, Simone spent the summer of 1950 at the Juilliard School as a student of Carl Friedberg, preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her application, however, was denied. Only 3 of 72 applicants were accepted that year, but as her family had relocated to Philadelphia in the expectation of her entry to Curtis, the blow to her aspirations was particularly heavy. For the rest of her life, she suspected that her application had been denied because of racial prejudice, a charge the staff at Curtis have denied. Discouraged, she took private piano lessons with Vladimir Sokoloff, a professor at Curtis, but never could re-apply due to the fact that at the time the Curtis institute did not accept students over 21. She took a job as a photographer's assistant, but also found work as an accompanist at Arlene Smith's vocal studio and taught piano from her home in Philadelphia.
1954–1959: Early success
In order to fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano, which increased her income to $90 a week. In 1954, she adopted the stage name "Nina Simone". "Nina", derived from niña, was a nickname given to her by a boyfriend named Chico, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the 1952 movie Casque d'Or. Knowing her mother would not approve of playing "the Devil's music", she used her new stage name to remain undetected. Simone's mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small but loyal fan base.
In 1958, she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage. Playing in small clubs in the same year, she recorded George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 20 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue followed in February 1959 on Bethlehem Records. Because she had sold her rights outright for $3,000, Simone lost more than $1 million in royalties (notably for the 1980s re-release of her version of the jazz standard "My Baby Just Cares for Me") and never benefited financially from the album's sales.
1959–1964: Burgeoning popularity
After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records and recorded a multitude of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. After the release of her live album Nina Simone at Town Hall, Simone became a favorite performer in Greenwich Village. By this time, Simone performed pop music only to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.
Simone married a New York police detective, Drew Stroud, in December 1961. In a few years he became her manager and the father of her daughter Lisa, but later he abused Simone psychologically and physically.
1964–1974: Civil Rights era
In 1964, Simone changed record distributors from Colpix, an American company, to the Dutch Philips Records, which meant a change in the content of her recordings. She had always included songs in her repertoire that drew on her African-American heritage, such as "Brown Baby" by Oscar Brown and "Zungo" by Michael Olatunji on her album Nina at the Village Gate in 1962. On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone in Concert (1964), for the first time she addressed racial inequality in the United States in the song "Mississippi Goddam". This was her response to the June 12, 1963, murder of Medgar Evers and the September 15, 1963, bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four young black girls and partly blinded a fifth. She said that the song was "like throwing ten bullets back at them", becoming one of many other protest songs written by Simone. The song was released as a single, and it was boycotted in some southern states. Promotional copies were smashed by a Carolina radio station and returned to Philips. She later recalled how "Mississippi Goddam" was her "first civil rights song" and that the song came to her "in a rush of fury, hatred and determination". The song challenged the belief that race relations could change gradually and called for more immediate developments: "me and my people are just about due". It was a key moment in her path to Civil Rights activism. "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow laws. After "Mississippi Goddam", a civil rights message was the norm in Simone's recordings and became part of her concerts. As her political activism rose, the rate of release of her music slowed.
Simone performed and spoke at civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches. Like Malcolm X, her neighbor in Mount Vernon, New York, she supported black nationalism and advocated violent revolution rather than Martin Luther King Jr.'s non-violent approach. She hoped that African Americans could use armed combat to form a separate state, though she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal.
In 1967, Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor. She sang "Backlash Blues" written by her friend, Harlem Renaissance leader Langston Hughes, on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album 'Nuff Said! (1968) contained live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair of April 7, 1968, three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. She dedicated the performance to him and sang "Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor. In 1969, she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park, immortalized in Questlove's 2021 documentary Summer of Soul.
Simone and Weldon Irvine turned the unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry into a civil rights song of the same name. She credited her friend Hansberry with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black) and Donny Hathaway. When reflecting on this period, she wrote in her autobiography, "I felt more alive then than I feel now because I was needed, and I could sing something to help my people".
1974–1993: Later life
In an interview for Jet magazine, Simone stated that her controversial song "Mississippi Goddam" harmed her career. She claimed that the music industry punished her by boycotting her records. Hurt and disappointed, Simone left the US in September 1970, flying to Barbados and expecting her husband and manager (Andrew Stroud) to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of her desire for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.
When Simone returned to the United States, she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (unpaid as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War), and returned to Barbados to evade the authorities and prosecution. Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time, and had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow. A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia. When Simone relocated, she abandoned her daughter Lisa in Mount Vernon. Lisa eventually reunited with Simone in Liberia, but, according to Lisa, her mother was physically and mentally abusive. The abuse was so unbearable that Lisa became suicidal and she moved back to New York to live with her father Andrew Stroud. Simone recorded her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, in 1974, and did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor. The result was the album Baltimore, which, while not a commercial success, was fairly well received critically and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output. Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl". Four years later, Simone recorded Fodder on My Wings on a French label, Studio Davout.
During the 1980s, Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott's in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging with her audiences sometimes, by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. By this time she stayed everywhere and nowhere. She lived in Liberia, Barbados and Switzerland and eventually ended up in Paris. There she regularly performed in a small jazz club called Aux Trois Mailletz for relatively small financial reward. The performances were sometimes brilliant and at other times Nina Simone gave up after fifteen minutes. Often she was too drunk to sing or play the piano properly. At other times she scolded the audience. The end of Nina Simone seemed in sight. Manager Raymond Gonzalez, guitarist Al Schackman and Gerrit de Bruin, a Dutch friend of hers, decided to intervene.
Simone moved to Nijmegen in the Netherlands in the spring of 1988. She had just scored a huge European hit with the song "My Baby Just Cares for Me". Recorded by her for the first time in 1958, the song was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume in Europe, leading to a re-release of the recording. This stormed to number 4 on the UK's NME singles chart, giving Simone a brief surge in popularity in the UK and elsewhere.
In 1988 she bought an apartment next to the Belvoir Hotel with view of the Waalbrug and Ooijpolder, with the help of her friend Gerrit de Bruin, who lived with his family a few corners away and kept an eye on her. The idea was to bring Simone to Nijmegen to relax and get back on track. A daily caretaker, Jackie Hammond from London, was hired for her. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. Unfortunately, the tantrums followed her to Nijmegen. Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder by a friend of De Bruin, who prescribed Trilafon for her. Despite the miserable illness, it was generally a happy time for Simone in Nijmegen, where she could lead a fairly anonymous life. Only a few recognized her, but most Nijmegen people did not know who she was. Slowly but surely her life started to improve, and she was even able to make money from the Chanel commercial after a legal battle. In 1991 Nina Simone exchanged Nijmegen for the more lively Amsterdam, where she lived for two years with friends and Hammond.
1993–2003: Final years, illness and death
In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence in southern France (Bouches-du-Rhône). In the same year, her final album, A Single Woman, was released. She variously contended that she married or had a love affair with a Tunisian around this time, but that their relationship ended because, "His family didn't want him to move to France, and France didn't want him because he's a North African." During a 1998 performance in Newark, she announced, "If you're going to come see me again, you've got to come to France, because I am not coming back." She suffered from breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet (Bouches-du-Rhône), on April 21, 2003. Her Catholic funeral service at the local parish was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti LaBelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, and hundreds of others. Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. Her daughter Lisa Celeste Stroud is an actress and singer who took the stage name Simone, and who has appeared on Broadway in Aida.
Activism
Influence
Simone's consciousness on the racial and social discourse was prompted by her friendship with black playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Simone stated that during her conversations with Hansberry "we never talked about men or clothes. It was always Marx, Lenin and revolution – real girls’ talk". The influence of Hansberry planted the seed for the provocative social commentary that became an expectation in Simone's repertoire. One of Nina's more hopeful activism anthems, "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", was written with collaborator Weldon Irvine in the years following the playwright's passing, acquiring the title of one of Hansberry's unpublished plays. Simone's social circles included notable black leftists such as James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael and Langston Hughes: the lyrics of her song "Backlash Blues" were written by the latter.
Beyond the civil rights movement
Simone's social commentary was not limited to the civil rights movement; the song "Four Women" exposed the eurocentric appearance standards imposed on black women in America, as it explored the internalized dilemma of beauty that is experienced between four black women with skin tones ranging from light to dark. She explains in her autobiography I Put a Spell on You that the purpose of the song was to inspire black women to define beauty and identity for themselves without the influence of societal impositions. Chardine Taylor-Stone has noted that, beyond the politics of beauty, the song also describes the stereotypical roles that many black women have historically been restricted to: the mammy, the tragic mulatto, the sex worker and the angry black woman.
Artistry
Simone standards
Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that became standards in her repertoire. Some were songs that she wrote herself, while others were new arrangements of other standards, and others had been written especially for the singer. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 on the Billboard magazine Hot 100 chart.
During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, after it was featured in a 1986 Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was also created by Aardman Studios. Well-known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964); "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne me quitte pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song), and "Feeling Good" on I Put a Spell On You (1965); and "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966).
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and her takes on "Feeling Good" and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have remained popular in cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals), sample usage, and their use on soundtracks for various movies, television series, and video games. "Sinnerman" has been featured in the films The Crimson Pirate (1952), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), High Crimes (2002), Cellular (2004), Déjà Vu (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Golden Door (2006), Inland Empire (2006), and Harriet (2019), as well as in TV series such as Homicide: Life on the Street (1998, "Sins of the Father"), Nash Bridges (2000, "Jackpot"), Scrubs (2001, "My Own Personal Jesus"), Boomtown (2003, "The Big Picture"), Person of Interest (2011, "Witness"), Shameless (2011, "Kidnap and Ransom"), Love/Hate (2011, "Episode 1"), Sherlock (2012, "The Reichenbach Fall"), The Blacklist (2013, "The Freelancer"), Vinyl (2016, "The Racket"), Lucifer (2017, "Favorite Son"), and The Umbrella Academy (2019, "Extra Ordinary"), and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli (2003, "Get By"), Timbaland (2007, "Oh Timbaland"), and Flying Lotus (2012, "Until the Quiet Comes"). The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III. "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album 808s & Heartbreak. The 1965 rendition of "Strange Fruit", originally recorded by Billie Holiday, was sampled by Kanye West for "Blood on the Leaves" on his album Yeezus.
Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned many singles and album tracks that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 2 on the UK Singles Chart and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder.
The following single, a rendition of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody", also reached the UK Top 10 in 1969. "The House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings the Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina at the Village Gate (1962).
Performance style
Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "the High Priestess of Soul". She was a pianist, singer and performer, "separately, and simultaneously." As a composer and arranger, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz, and folk, and to numbers with European classical styling. Besides using Bach-style counterpoint, she called upon the particular virtuosity of the 19th-century Romantic piano repertoire—Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and others. Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis spoke highly of Simone, deeply impressed by her ability to play three-part counterpoint (her two hands on the piano and her voice each providing a separate but complementary melody line). Onstage, she incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element. Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman. She was known to pay close attention to the design and acoustics of each venue, tailoring her performances to individual venues.
Simone was perceived as a sometimes difficult or unpredictable performer, occasionally hectoring the audience if she felt they were disrespectful. Schackman would try to calm Simone during these episodes, performing solo until she calmed offstage and returned to finish the engagement. Her early experiences as a classical pianist had conditioned Simone to expect quiet attentive audiences, and her anger tended to flare up at nightclubs, lounges, or other locations where patrons were less attentive. Schackman described her live appearances as hit or miss, either reaching heights of hypnotic brilliance or on the other hand mechanically playing a few songs and then abruptly ending concerts early.
Critical reputation
Simone is regarded as one of the most influential recording artist of 20th-century jazz, cabaret and R&B genres. According to Rickey Vincent, she was a pioneering musician whose career was characterized by "fits of outrage and improvisational genius". Pointing to her composition of "Mississippi Goddam", Vincent said Simone broke the mold, having the courage as "an established black musical entertainer to break from the norms of the industry and produce direct social commentary in her music during the early 1960s".
In naming Simone the 29th-greatest singer of all time, Rolling Stone wrote that "her honey-coated, slightly adenoidal cry was one of the most affecting voices of the civil rights movement", while making note of her ability to "belt barroom blues, croon cabaret and explore jazz — sometimes all on a single record." In the opinion of AllMusic's Mark Deming, she was "one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic". Creed Taylor, who annotated the liner notes for Simone's 1978 Baltimore album, said the singer possessed a "magnificent intensity" that "turns everything—even the most simple, mundane phrase or lyric—into a radiant, poetic message". Jim Fusilli, music critic for The Wall Street Journal, writes that Simone's music is still relevant today: "it didn't adhere to ephemeral trends, it isn't a relic of a bygone era; her vocal delivery and technical skills as a pianist still dazzle; and her emotional performances have a visceral impact."
"She is loved or feared, adored or disliked", Maya Angelou wrote in 1970, "but few who have met her music or glimpsed her soul react with moderation". Robert Christgau, who disliked Simone, wrote that her "penchant for the mundane renders her intensity as bogus as her mannered melismas and pronunciation (move over, Inspector Clouseau) and the rote flatting of her vocal improvisations." Regarding her piano playing, he dismissed Simone as a "middlebrow keyboard tickler ... whose histrionic rolls insert unconvincing emotion into a song". He later attributed his generally negative appraisal to Simone's consistent seriousness of manner, depressive tendencies, and classical background.
Mental health
Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. In 1985, Simone fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995 while living in France, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration and she perceived his response to her complaints as racial insults; she was sentenced to eight months in jail, which was suspended pending a psychiatric evaluation and treatment.
According to a biographer, Simone took medication from the mid-1960s onward, although this was supposedly only known to a small group of intimates. After her death the medication was confirmed as the anti-psychotic Trilafon, which Simone's friends and caretakers sometimes surreptitiously mixed into her food when she refused to follow her treatment plan. This fact was kept out of public view until 2004 when a biography, Break Down and Let It All Out, written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan (of her UK fan club), was published posthumously. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier at gunpoint to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused.
Awards and recognition
Simone was the recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 for her interpretation of "I Loves You, Porgy." On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Simone.
Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities, from Amherst College and Malcolm X College. She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
Two days before her death, Simone learned she would be awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute of Music, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.
Simone has received four career Grammy Award nominations, two during her lifetime and two posthumously. In 1968, she received her first nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the track "(You'll) Go to Hell" from her thirteenth album Silk & Soul (1967). The award went to "Respect" by Aretha Franklin.
Simone garnered a second nomination in the category in 1971, for her Black Gold album, when she again lost to Franklin for "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)". Franklin would again win for her cover of Simone's "Young, Gifted and Black" two years later in the same category. In 2016, Simone posthumously received a nomination for Best Music Film for the Netflix documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? and in 2018 she received a nomination for Best Rap Song as a songwriter for Jay-Z's "The Story of O.J." from his 4:44 album which contained a sample of "Four Women" by Simone.
In 2018, Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by fellow R&B artist Mary J. Blige.
In 2019, "Mississippi Goddam" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Legacy and influence
Music
Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Elton John (who named one of his pianos after her), Madonna, Aretha Franklin, Adele, David Bowie, Patti LaBelle, Boy George, Emeli Sandé, Antony and the Johnsons, Dianne Reeves, Sade, Janis Joplin, Nick Cave, Van Morrison, Christina Aguilera, Elkie Brooks, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lena Horne, Bono, John Legend, Elizabeth Fraser, Cat Stevens, Anna Calvi, Cat Power, Lykke Li, Peter Gabriel, Justin Hayward, Maynard James Keenan, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mary J. Blige, Fantasia Barrino, Michael Gira, Angela McCluskey, Lauryn Hill, Patrice Babatunde, Alicia Keys, Alex Turner, Lana Del Rey, Hozier, Matt Bellamy, Ian MacKaye, Kerry Brothers, Jr., Krucial, Amanda Palmer, Steve Adey and Jeff Buckley. John Lennon cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles' song "Michelle". American singer Meshell Ndegeocello released her own tribute album Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone in 2012. The following year, experimental band Xiu Xiu released a cover album, Nina. In late 2019, American rapper Wale released an album titled Wow... That's Crazy, containing a track called "Love Me Nina/Semiautomatic" which contains audio clips from Simone.
Simone's music has been featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games, including La Femme Nikita (1990), Point of No Return (1993), Shallow Grave (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998), Any Given Sunday (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Disappearing Acts (2000), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (2002), Before Sunset (2004), Cellular (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Sex and the City (2008), The World Unseen (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), Home (2008), Watchmen (2009), The Saboteur (2009), Repo Men (2010), Beyond the Lights (2014), and "Nobody" (2021). Frequently her music is used in remixes, commercials, and TV series including "Feeling Good", which featured prominently in the Season Four Promo of Six Feet Under (2004). Simone's "Take Care of Business" is the closing theme of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Simone's cover of Janis Ian's "Stars" is played during the final moments of the season 3 finale of BoJack Horseman (2016), and "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" were included in the film Acrimony (2018).
Film
The documentary Nina Simone: La légende (The Legend) was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers and based on her autobiography I Put a Spell on You. It features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with family, various interviews with Simone then living in the Netherlands, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply Nina. Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment and is screened annually in New York City at an event called "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976" which is curated by Tom Blunt.
Footage of Simone singing "Mississippi Goddam" for 40,000 marchers at the end of the Selma to Montgomery marches can be seen in the 1970 documentary King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis and the 2015 Liz Garbus documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?
Plans for a Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006; Simone's daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, has since refuted the existence of a romantic relationship between Simone and Henderson on account of his homosexuality. Cynthia Mort (screenwriter of Will & Grace and Roseanne), wrote the screenplay and directed the 2016 film Nina, starring Zoe Saldana who has since openly apologized for taking the controversial title role.
In 2015, two documentary features about Simone's life and music were released. The first, directed by Liz Garbus, What Happened, Miss Simone? was produced in cooperation with Simone's estate and her daughter, who also served as the film's executive producer. The film was produced as a counterpoint to the unauthorized Cynthia Mort film (Nina, 2016), and featured previously unreleased archival footage. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015 and was distributed by Netflix on June 26, 2015. It was nominated on January 14, 2016, for a 2016 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The second documentary in 2015, The Amazing Nina Simone is an independent film written and directed by Jeff L. Lieberman, who initially consulted with Simone's daughter, Lisa before going the independent route and then worked closely with Simone's siblings, predominantly Sam Waymon. The film debuted in cinemas in October 2015, and has since played more than 100 theatres in 10 countries.
Drama
She is the subject of Nina: A Story About Me and Nina Simone, a one-woman show first performed in 2016 at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool — a "deeply personal and often searing show inspired by the singer and activist Nina Simone" — and which in July 2017 ran at the Young Vic, before being scheduled to move to Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre.
Books
As well as her 1992 autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992), written with Stephen Cleary, Simone has been the subject of several books. They include Nina Simone: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (2002) by Richard Williams; Nina Simone: Break Down and Let It All Out (2004) by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan; Princess Noire (2010) by Nadine Cohodas; Nina Simone (2004) by Kerry Acker; Nina Simone, Black is the Color (2005) by Andrew Stroud; and What Happened, Miss Simone? (2016) by Alan Light.
Simone inspired a book of poetry, Me and Nina, by Monica Hand, and is the focus of musician Warren Ellis's book Nina Simone's Gum (2021).
Honors
In 2002, the city of Nijmegen, Netherlands, named a street after her, as "Nina Simone Street": she had lived in Nijmegen between 1988 and 1990. On August 29, 2005, the city of Nijmegen, the De Vereeniging concert hall, and more than 50 artists (among whom were Frank Boeijen, Rood Adeo, and Fay Claassen) honored Simone with the tribute concert Greetings from Nijmegen.
Simone was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
In 2010, a statue in her honor was erected on Trade Street in her native Tryon, North Carolina.
The promotion from the French Institute of Political Studies of Lille (Sciences Po Lille), due to obtain their master's degree in 2021, named themselves in her honor. The decision was made that this promotion was henceforth to be known as 'la promotion Nina Simone' after a vote in 2017.
Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
The Proms paid a homage to Nina Simone in 2019, an event called Mississippi Goddamn was performed by The Metropole Orkest at Royal Albert Hall led by Jules Buckley. Ledisi, Lisa Fischer and Jazz Trio, LaSharVu provided vocals.
Discography
References
Sources
External links
The Amazing Nina Simone: A Documentary Film
1933 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American pianists
20th-century African-American women singers
Activists for African-American civil rights
Activists from North Carolina
African-American activists
African-American Christians
African-American women singer-songwriters
African and Black nationalists
American contraltos
American expatriates in France
American expatriates in Liberia
American expatriates in Switzerland
American expatriates in the Netherlands
American women jazz singers
American jazz pianists
American women pianists
American jazz singers
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul musicians
American tax resisters
American women activists
Bethlehem Records artists
Charly Records artists
Colpix Records artists
Deaths from breast cancer
Deaths from cancer in France
Elektra Records artists
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Jazz musicians from North Carolina
Jazz songwriters
Juilliard School alumni
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Nightclub performers
People from Tryon, North Carolina
People from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
People with bipolar disorder
Philips Records artists
RCA Victor artists
Soul-jazz musicians
Torch singers
Verve Records artists
African-American Catholics
African-American pianists
Roman Catholic activists
American socialists | false | [
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"The name Marcia has been used for four tropical cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere.\n Tropical Cyclone Marcia (1974), did not affect land\n Tropical Cyclone Marcia (1989), did not affect land\n Tropical Cyclone Marcia (2000), did not affect land\n Cyclone Marcia, one of the most intense tropical cyclones making landfall over Queensland, Australia\n\nAustralian region cyclone disambiguation pages"
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| C_2f9b378d18cc4e11a1ba402806902443_0 | Did she have a mental illness? | 7 | Did Nina Simone suffer from mental illness? | Nina Simone | Simone was known for her temper and frequent outbursts. Simone abandoned her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly for years in Mount Vernon after relocating to Liberia. When they reunited in West Africa, Simone became abusive. "She went from being my comfort to the monster in my life. Now she was the person doing the beating, and she was beating me." The abuse became so unbearable that Kelly became suicidal and moved back to New York to stay with her father, Andrew Stroud. In 1985, she fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration. According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on. All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down and Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004, after her death. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier, at gunpoint, to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused. CANNOTANSWER | Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on. | Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel and pop.
The sixth of eight children born to a poor family in Tryon, North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a few supporters in her hometown, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she was denied admission despite a well received audition, which she attributed to racism. In 2003, just days before her death, the Institute awarded her an honorary degree.
To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States in 1958 with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.
Biography
1933–1954: Early life
Simone was born on February 21, 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at the age of three or four; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the piano, she performed at her local church. Her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was 12. Simone later said that during this performance, her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. She said that she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front, and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement. Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon (née Irvin, November 20, 1901 – April 30, 2001), was a Methodist minister and a housemaid. Her father, Rev. John Devan Waymon (June 24, 1898 – October 23, 1972), was a handyman who at one time owned a dry-cleaning business, but also suffered bouts of ill health. Simone's music teacher helped establish a special fund to pay for her education. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist her continued education. With the help of this scholarship money, she was able to attend Allen High School for Girls in Asheville, North Carolina.
After her graduation, Simone spent the summer of 1950 at the Juilliard School as a student of Carl Friedberg, preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her application, however, was denied. Only 3 of 72 applicants were accepted that year, but as her family had relocated to Philadelphia in the expectation of her entry to Curtis, the blow to her aspirations was particularly heavy. For the rest of her life, she suspected that her application had been denied because of racial prejudice, a charge the staff at Curtis have denied. Discouraged, she took private piano lessons with Vladimir Sokoloff, a professor at Curtis, but never could re-apply due to the fact that at the time the Curtis institute did not accept students over 21. She took a job as a photographer's assistant, but also found work as an accompanist at Arlene Smith's vocal studio and taught piano from her home in Philadelphia.
1954–1959: Early success
In order to fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano, which increased her income to $90 a week. In 1954, she adopted the stage name "Nina Simone". "Nina", derived from niña, was a nickname given to her by a boyfriend named Chico, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the 1952 movie Casque d'Or. Knowing her mother would not approve of playing "the Devil's music", she used her new stage name to remain undetected. Simone's mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small but loyal fan base.
In 1958, she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage. Playing in small clubs in the same year, she recorded George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 20 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue followed in February 1959 on Bethlehem Records. Because she had sold her rights outright for $3,000, Simone lost more than $1 million in royalties (notably for the 1980s re-release of her version of the jazz standard "My Baby Just Cares for Me") and never benefited financially from the album's sales.
1959–1964: Burgeoning popularity
After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records and recorded a multitude of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. After the release of her live album Nina Simone at Town Hall, Simone became a favorite performer in Greenwich Village. By this time, Simone performed pop music only to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.
Simone married a New York police detective, Drew Stroud, in December 1961. In a few years he became her manager and the father of her daughter Lisa, but later he abused Simone psychologically and physically.
1964–1974: Civil Rights era
In 1964, Simone changed record distributors from Colpix, an American company, to the Dutch Philips Records, which meant a change in the content of her recordings. She had always included songs in her repertoire that drew on her African-American heritage, such as "Brown Baby" by Oscar Brown and "Zungo" by Michael Olatunji on her album Nina at the Village Gate in 1962. On her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone in Concert (1964), for the first time she addressed racial inequality in the United States in the song "Mississippi Goddam". This was her response to the June 12, 1963, murder of Medgar Evers and the September 15, 1963, bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four young black girls and partly blinded a fifth. She said that the song was "like throwing ten bullets back at them", becoming one of many other protest songs written by Simone. The song was released as a single, and it was boycotted in some southern states. Promotional copies were smashed by a Carolina radio station and returned to Philips. She later recalled how "Mississippi Goddam" was her "first civil rights song" and that the song came to her "in a rush of fury, hatred and determination". The song challenged the belief that race relations could change gradually and called for more immediate developments: "me and my people are just about due". It was a key moment in her path to Civil Rights activism. "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow laws. After "Mississippi Goddam", a civil rights message was the norm in Simone's recordings and became part of her concerts. As her political activism rose, the rate of release of her music slowed.
Simone performed and spoke at civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches. Like Malcolm X, her neighbor in Mount Vernon, New York, she supported black nationalism and advocated violent revolution rather than Martin Luther King Jr.'s non-violent approach. She hoped that African Americans could use armed combat to form a separate state, though she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal.
In 1967, Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor. She sang "Backlash Blues" written by her friend, Harlem Renaissance leader Langston Hughes, on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album 'Nuff Said! (1968) contained live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair of April 7, 1968, three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. She dedicated the performance to him and sang "Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor. In 1969, she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park, immortalized in Questlove's 2021 documentary Summer of Soul.
Simone and Weldon Irvine turned the unfinished play To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Lorraine Hansberry into a civil rights song of the same name. She credited her friend Hansberry with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black) and Donny Hathaway. When reflecting on this period, she wrote in her autobiography, "I felt more alive then than I feel now because I was needed, and I could sing something to help my people".
1974–1993: Later life
In an interview for Jet magazine, Simone stated that her controversial song "Mississippi Goddam" harmed her career. She claimed that the music industry punished her by boycotting her records. Hurt and disappointed, Simone left the US in September 1970, flying to Barbados and expecting her husband and manager (Andrew Stroud) to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of her desire for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.
When Simone returned to the United States, she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (unpaid as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War), and returned to Barbados to evade the authorities and prosecution. Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time, and had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow. A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia. When Simone relocated, she abandoned her daughter Lisa in Mount Vernon. Lisa eventually reunited with Simone in Liberia, but, according to Lisa, her mother was physically and mentally abusive. The abuse was so unbearable that Lisa became suicidal and she moved back to New York to live with her father Andrew Stroud. Simone recorded her last album for RCA, It Is Finished, in 1974, and did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor. The result was the album Baltimore, which, while not a commercial success, was fairly well received critically and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output. Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl". Four years later, Simone recorded Fodder on My Wings on a French label, Studio Davout.
During the 1980s, Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, where she recorded the album Live at Ronnie Scott's in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging with her audiences sometimes, by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. By this time she stayed everywhere and nowhere. She lived in Liberia, Barbados and Switzerland and eventually ended up in Paris. There she regularly performed in a small jazz club called Aux Trois Mailletz for relatively small financial reward. The performances were sometimes brilliant and at other times Nina Simone gave up after fifteen minutes. Often she was too drunk to sing or play the piano properly. At other times she scolded the audience. The end of Nina Simone seemed in sight. Manager Raymond Gonzalez, guitarist Al Schackman and Gerrit de Bruin, a Dutch friend of hers, decided to intervene.
Simone moved to Nijmegen in the Netherlands in the spring of 1988. She had just scored a huge European hit with the song "My Baby Just Cares for Me". Recorded by her for the first time in 1958, the song was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume in Europe, leading to a re-release of the recording. This stormed to number 4 on the UK's NME singles chart, giving Simone a brief surge in popularity in the UK and elsewhere.
In 1988 she bought an apartment next to the Belvoir Hotel with view of the Waalbrug and Ooijpolder, with the help of her friend Gerrit de Bruin, who lived with his family a few corners away and kept an eye on her. The idea was to bring Simone to Nijmegen to relax and get back on track. A daily caretaker, Jackie Hammond from London, was hired for her. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. Unfortunately, the tantrums followed her to Nijmegen. Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder by a friend of De Bruin, who prescribed Trilafon for her. Despite the miserable illness, it was generally a happy time for Simone in Nijmegen, where she could lead a fairly anonymous life. Only a few recognized her, but most Nijmegen people did not know who she was. Slowly but surely her life started to improve, and she was even able to make money from the Chanel commercial after a legal battle. In 1991 Nina Simone exchanged Nijmegen for the more lively Amsterdam, where she lived for two years with friends and Hammond.
1993–2003: Final years, illness and death
In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence in southern France (Bouches-du-Rhône). In the same year, her final album, A Single Woman, was released. She variously contended that she married or had a love affair with a Tunisian around this time, but that their relationship ended because, "His family didn't want him to move to France, and France didn't want him because he's a North African." During a 1998 performance in Newark, she announced, "If you're going to come see me again, you've got to come to France, because I am not coming back." She suffered from breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet (Bouches-du-Rhône), on April 21, 2003. Her Catholic funeral service at the local parish was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti LaBelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, and hundreds of others. Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. Her daughter Lisa Celeste Stroud is an actress and singer who took the stage name Simone, and who has appeared on Broadway in Aida.
Activism
Influence
Simone's consciousness on the racial and social discourse was prompted by her friendship with black playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Simone stated that during her conversations with Hansberry "we never talked about men or clothes. It was always Marx, Lenin and revolution – real girls’ talk". The influence of Hansberry planted the seed for the provocative social commentary that became an expectation in Simone's repertoire. One of Nina's more hopeful activism anthems, "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", was written with collaborator Weldon Irvine in the years following the playwright's passing, acquiring the title of one of Hansberry's unpublished plays. Simone's social circles included notable black leftists such as James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael and Langston Hughes: the lyrics of her song "Backlash Blues" were written by the latter.
Beyond the civil rights movement
Simone's social commentary was not limited to the civil rights movement; the song "Four Women" exposed the eurocentric appearance standards imposed on black women in America, as it explored the internalized dilemma of beauty that is experienced between four black women with skin tones ranging from light to dark. She explains in her autobiography I Put a Spell on You that the purpose of the song was to inspire black women to define beauty and identity for themselves without the influence of societal impositions. Chardine Taylor-Stone has noted that, beyond the politics of beauty, the song also describes the stereotypical roles that many black women have historically been restricted to: the mammy, the tragic mulatto, the sex worker and the angry black woman.
Artistry
Simone standards
Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that became standards in her repertoire. Some were songs that she wrote herself, while others were new arrangements of other standards, and others had been written especially for the singer. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 on the Billboard magazine Hot 100 chart.
During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, after it was featured in a 1986 Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was also created by Aardman Studios. Well-known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964); "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne me quitte pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song), and "Feeling Good" on I Put a Spell On You (1965); and "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966).
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and her takes on "Feeling Good" and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have remained popular in cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals), sample usage, and their use on soundtracks for various movies, television series, and video games. "Sinnerman" has been featured in the films The Crimson Pirate (1952), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), High Crimes (2002), Cellular (2004), Déjà Vu (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Golden Door (2006), Inland Empire (2006), and Harriet (2019), as well as in TV series such as Homicide: Life on the Street (1998, "Sins of the Father"), Nash Bridges (2000, "Jackpot"), Scrubs (2001, "My Own Personal Jesus"), Boomtown (2003, "The Big Picture"), Person of Interest (2011, "Witness"), Shameless (2011, "Kidnap and Ransom"), Love/Hate (2011, "Episode 1"), Sherlock (2012, "The Reichenbach Fall"), The Blacklist (2013, "The Freelancer"), Vinyl (2016, "The Racket"), Lucifer (2017, "Favorite Son"), and The Umbrella Academy (2019, "Extra Ordinary"), and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli (2003, "Get By"), Timbaland (2007, "Oh Timbaland"), and Flying Lotus (2012, "Until the Quiet Comes"). The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III. "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album 808s & Heartbreak. The 1965 rendition of "Strange Fruit", originally recorded by Billie Holiday, was sampled by Kanye West for "Blood on the Leaves" on his album Yeezus.
Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned many singles and album tracks that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 2 on the UK Singles Chart and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder.
The following single, a rendition of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody", also reached the UK Top 10 in 1969. "The House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings the Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina at the Village Gate (1962).
Performance style
Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "the High Priestess of Soul". She was a pianist, singer and performer, "separately, and simultaneously." As a composer and arranger, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz, and folk, and to numbers with European classical styling. Besides using Bach-style counterpoint, she called upon the particular virtuosity of the 19th-century Romantic piano repertoire—Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and others. Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis spoke highly of Simone, deeply impressed by her ability to play three-part counterpoint (her two hands on the piano and her voice each providing a separate but complementary melody line). Onstage, she incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element. Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman. She was known to pay close attention to the design and acoustics of each venue, tailoring her performances to individual venues.
Simone was perceived as a sometimes difficult or unpredictable performer, occasionally hectoring the audience if she felt they were disrespectful. Schackman would try to calm Simone during these episodes, performing solo until she calmed offstage and returned to finish the engagement. Her early experiences as a classical pianist had conditioned Simone to expect quiet attentive audiences, and her anger tended to flare up at nightclubs, lounges, or other locations where patrons were less attentive. Schackman described her live appearances as hit or miss, either reaching heights of hypnotic brilliance or on the other hand mechanically playing a few songs and then abruptly ending concerts early.
Critical reputation
Simone is regarded as one of the most influential recording artist of 20th-century jazz, cabaret and R&B genres. According to Rickey Vincent, she was a pioneering musician whose career was characterized by "fits of outrage and improvisational genius". Pointing to her composition of "Mississippi Goddam", Vincent said Simone broke the mold, having the courage as "an established black musical entertainer to break from the norms of the industry and produce direct social commentary in her music during the early 1960s".
In naming Simone the 29th-greatest singer of all time, Rolling Stone wrote that "her honey-coated, slightly adenoidal cry was one of the most affecting voices of the civil rights movement", while making note of her ability to "belt barroom blues, croon cabaret and explore jazz — sometimes all on a single record." In the opinion of AllMusic's Mark Deming, she was "one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic". Creed Taylor, who annotated the liner notes for Simone's 1978 Baltimore album, said the singer possessed a "magnificent intensity" that "turns everything—even the most simple, mundane phrase or lyric—into a radiant, poetic message". Jim Fusilli, music critic for The Wall Street Journal, writes that Simone's music is still relevant today: "it didn't adhere to ephemeral trends, it isn't a relic of a bygone era; her vocal delivery and technical skills as a pianist still dazzle; and her emotional performances have a visceral impact."
"She is loved or feared, adored or disliked", Maya Angelou wrote in 1970, "but few who have met her music or glimpsed her soul react with moderation". Robert Christgau, who disliked Simone, wrote that her "penchant for the mundane renders her intensity as bogus as her mannered melismas and pronunciation (move over, Inspector Clouseau) and the rote flatting of her vocal improvisations." Regarding her piano playing, he dismissed Simone as a "middlebrow keyboard tickler ... whose histrionic rolls insert unconvincing emotion into a song". He later attributed his generally negative appraisal to Simone's consistent seriousness of manner, depressive tendencies, and classical background.
Mental health
Simone was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s. She was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. In 1985, Simone fired a gun at a record company executive, whom she accused of stealing royalties. Simone said she "tried to kill him" but "missed". In 1995 while living in France, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with an air gun after the boy's laughter disturbed her concentration and she perceived his response to her complaints as racial insults; she was sentenced to eight months in jail, which was suspended pending a psychiatric evaluation and treatment.
According to a biographer, Simone took medication from the mid-1960s onward, although this was supposedly only known to a small group of intimates. After her death the medication was confirmed as the anti-psychotic Trilafon, which Simone's friends and caretakers sometimes surreptitiously mixed into her food when she refused to follow her treatment plan. This fact was kept out of public view until 2004 when a biography, Break Down and Let It All Out, written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan (of her UK fan club), was published posthumously. Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time friend of Simone's, related in her own autobiography, Society's Child: My Autobiography, two instances to illustrate Simone's volatility: one incident in which she forced a shoe store cashier at gunpoint to take back a pair of sandals she'd already worn; and another in which Simone demanded a royalty payment from Ian herself as an exchange for having recorded one of Ian's songs, and then ripped a pay telephone out of its wall when she was refused.
Awards and recognition
Simone was the recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 for her interpretation of "I Loves You, Porgy." On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Simone.
Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities, from Amherst College and Malcolm X College. She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
Two days before her death, Simone learned she would be awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute of Music, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career.
Simone has received four career Grammy Award nominations, two during her lifetime and two posthumously. In 1968, she received her first nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the track "(You'll) Go to Hell" from her thirteenth album Silk & Soul (1967). The award went to "Respect" by Aretha Franklin.
Simone garnered a second nomination in the category in 1971, for her Black Gold album, when she again lost to Franklin for "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)". Franklin would again win for her cover of Simone's "Young, Gifted and Black" two years later in the same category. In 2016, Simone posthumously received a nomination for Best Music Film for the Netflix documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? and in 2018 she received a nomination for Best Rap Song as a songwriter for Jay-Z's "The Story of O.J." from his 4:44 album which contained a sample of "Four Women" by Simone.
In 2018, Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by fellow R&B artist Mary J. Blige.
In 2019, "Mississippi Goddam" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Legacy and influence
Music
Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Elton John (who named one of his pianos after her), Madonna, Aretha Franklin, Adele, David Bowie, Patti LaBelle, Boy George, Emeli Sandé, Antony and the Johnsons, Dianne Reeves, Sade, Janis Joplin, Nick Cave, Van Morrison, Christina Aguilera, Elkie Brooks, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lena Horne, Bono, John Legend, Elizabeth Fraser, Cat Stevens, Anna Calvi, Cat Power, Lykke Li, Peter Gabriel, Justin Hayward, Maynard James Keenan, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mary J. Blige, Fantasia Barrino, Michael Gira, Angela McCluskey, Lauryn Hill, Patrice Babatunde, Alicia Keys, Alex Turner, Lana Del Rey, Hozier, Matt Bellamy, Ian MacKaye, Kerry Brothers, Jr., Krucial, Amanda Palmer, Steve Adey and Jeff Buckley. John Lennon cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles' song "Michelle". American singer Meshell Ndegeocello released her own tribute album Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone in 2012. The following year, experimental band Xiu Xiu released a cover album, Nina. In late 2019, American rapper Wale released an album titled Wow... That's Crazy, containing a track called "Love Me Nina/Semiautomatic" which contains audio clips from Simone.
Simone's music has been featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games, including La Femme Nikita (1990), Point of No Return (1993), Shallow Grave (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998), Any Given Sunday (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Disappearing Acts (2000), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (2002), Before Sunset (2004), Cellular (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Miami Vice (2006), Sex and the City (2008), The World Unseen (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), Home (2008), Watchmen (2009), The Saboteur (2009), Repo Men (2010), Beyond the Lights (2014), and "Nobody" (2021). Frequently her music is used in remixes, commercials, and TV series including "Feeling Good", which featured prominently in the Season Four Promo of Six Feet Under (2004). Simone's "Take Care of Business" is the closing theme of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Simone's cover of Janis Ian's "Stars" is played during the final moments of the season 3 finale of BoJack Horseman (2016), and "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" were included in the film Acrimony (2018).
Film
The documentary Nina Simone: La légende (The Legend) was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers and based on her autobiography I Put a Spell on You. It features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with family, various interviews with Simone then living in the Netherlands, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply Nina. Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment and is screened annually in New York City at an event called "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976" which is curated by Tom Blunt.
Footage of Simone singing "Mississippi Goddam" for 40,000 marchers at the end of the Selma to Montgomery marches can be seen in the 1970 documentary King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis and the 2015 Liz Garbus documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?
Plans for a Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006; Simone's daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, has since refuted the existence of a romantic relationship between Simone and Henderson on account of his homosexuality. Cynthia Mort (screenwriter of Will & Grace and Roseanne), wrote the screenplay and directed the 2016 film Nina, starring Zoe Saldana who has since openly apologized for taking the controversial title role.
In 2015, two documentary features about Simone's life and music were released. The first, directed by Liz Garbus, What Happened, Miss Simone? was produced in cooperation with Simone's estate and her daughter, who also served as the film's executive producer. The film was produced as a counterpoint to the unauthorized Cynthia Mort film (Nina, 2016), and featured previously unreleased archival footage. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015 and was distributed by Netflix on June 26, 2015. It was nominated on January 14, 2016, for a 2016 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The second documentary in 2015, The Amazing Nina Simone is an independent film written and directed by Jeff L. Lieberman, who initially consulted with Simone's daughter, Lisa before going the independent route and then worked closely with Simone's siblings, predominantly Sam Waymon. The film debuted in cinemas in October 2015, and has since played more than 100 theatres in 10 countries.
Drama
She is the subject of Nina: A Story About Me and Nina Simone, a one-woman show first performed in 2016 at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool — a "deeply personal and often searing show inspired by the singer and activist Nina Simone" — and which in July 2017 ran at the Young Vic, before being scheduled to move to Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre.
Books
As well as her 1992 autobiography I Put a Spell on You (1992), written with Stephen Cleary, Simone has been the subject of several books. They include Nina Simone: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (2002) by Richard Williams; Nina Simone: Break Down and Let It All Out (2004) by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan; Princess Noire (2010) by Nadine Cohodas; Nina Simone (2004) by Kerry Acker; Nina Simone, Black is the Color (2005) by Andrew Stroud; and What Happened, Miss Simone? (2016) by Alan Light.
Simone inspired a book of poetry, Me and Nina, by Monica Hand, and is the focus of musician Warren Ellis's book Nina Simone's Gum (2021).
Honors
In 2002, the city of Nijmegen, Netherlands, named a street after her, as "Nina Simone Street": she had lived in Nijmegen between 1988 and 1990. On August 29, 2005, the city of Nijmegen, the De Vereeniging concert hall, and more than 50 artists (among whom were Frank Boeijen, Rood Adeo, and Fay Claassen) honored Simone with the tribute concert Greetings from Nijmegen.
Simone was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
In 2010, a statue in her honor was erected on Trade Street in her native Tryon, North Carolina.
The promotion from the French Institute of Political Studies of Lille (Sciences Po Lille), due to obtain their master's degree in 2021, named themselves in her honor. The decision was made that this promotion was henceforth to be known as 'la promotion Nina Simone' after a vote in 2017.
Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
The Proms paid a homage to Nina Simone in 2019, an event called Mississippi Goddamn was performed by The Metropole Orkest at Royal Albert Hall led by Jules Buckley. Ledisi, Lisa Fischer and Jazz Trio, LaSharVu provided vocals.
Discography
References
Sources
External links
The Amazing Nina Simone: A Documentary Film
1933 births
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20th-century American pianists
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Roman Catholic activists
American socialists | false | [
"Drift hypothesis, concerning the relationship between mental illness and social class, is the argument that illness causes one to have a downward shift in social class. The circumstances of one's social class do not cause the onset of a mental disorder, but rather, an individual's deteriorating mental health occurs first, resulting in low social class attainment. The drift hypothesis is the opposing theory of the social causation thesis, which says being in a lower social class is a contributor to the development of a mental illness.\n\nSupport \nA study by E. M. Goldberg and S. L. Morrison looked at the relationship between schizophrenia and social class. They wanted to find out if men, before they had been admitted to a mental hospital, drifted down the occupational scale to unskilled jobs because of their developing illness, or if it was because they were born into families with a lower social class attainment, that they developed their mental illness. They looked at men who had their first admission in a mental hospital between the ages of 25–34. They also looked at their fathers' occupation, in order to see if the social class they grew up in played a role in the development of schizophrenia. They found the men had grown up in families whose social class was similar to the general population. So the social class they grew up in did not seem to be a contributor to the development of their schizophrenia.\n\nOpposition \nThe main opposition to the drift hypothesis is the social causation thesis, which says social class position is causally related to the probability of mental illness. John W. Fox, from the University of Northern Colorado, conducted a study in 1990 that looked at previous studies concerning the relationship between social class and mental illness. These studies he looked at supported the drift hypothesis, but when he examined them, he found their conclusions were \"based on assumptions and methods that lacked empirical support.\" Another statement in Fox's study was, in studies done on social class and mental illness, \"identify drift as an individual's downward intergenerational social mobility after the onset of mental illness, rather than as residential drift from higher to lower class status areas\". So depending on what one's definition of drift hypothesis is, there will be data either to support or refute the validity of it.\n\nFrom an economic perspective of social class and mental illness, the social causation thesis is the ruling theory. People who are unemployed have been shown to have an increased amount of distress; have more physical health problems, which are often seen to be contributors of depression; and experience more frequent and more uncontrollable life events, which studies have shown increase the risk of developing some form of mental illness.\n\nWhen looking at the gender differences in people who have mental illnesses, women are overly represented. Women are also the majority of people who are in poverty. Deborah Belle, a professor at Boston University, did a literature review on poverty and women's mental health and examined the psychological stressors that poor women and mothers experience. \"A number of community studies conducted in the 1970s reported that mothers who were in financially strained circumstances were more likely to develop depressive symptoms than other women.\n\nA person with mental illness, particularly if more severe, may suffer from loss of income. With this may come the need to accept public housing or food or utilities, if the person can find them.\n\nReferences \n\nSociological theories\nSocial classes\nSocial problems in medicine",
"The Honorable Stephanie Rhoades served as a District Court Judge in Anchorage, Alaska from 1992 to 2017. Judge Stephanie Rhoades founded the Anchorage Coordinated Resources Project (ACRP), better known as the Anchorage Mental Health Court (AMHC). AMHC was the first mental health court established in Alaska and the fourth mental health court established in the United States. Legal scholars suggest in the Alaska Law Review that mental health courts are to be considered therapeutic jurisprudence and define crime that deserves therapeutic justice as “a manifestation of illness of the offender’s body or character.” They follow that crime that falls under this definition “should be addressed through treatment by professionals.” \nRhoades saw how a jail sentence can be immensely detrimental to the quality of life of incarcerated individuals with mental illness. She noted that jail time often resulted in medication disruptions and placed these individuals at high risk for victimization. She also argued that extended stays in prison can increase suicidal tendencies in people with mental illness. Her vision was to decriminalize mental illness and reduce incarceration levels of those living with mental illness. Research shows that in 1998, 238,000 offenders serving time were living with mental illness. Judge Stephanie Rhoades founded AMHC armed with “a committee of court staff, attorneys, treatment providers, corrections personnel and other individuals.\" In order to alleviate the strain of the criminal justice system on people with mental illness, she incorporated (1) education or employment counseling; (2) benefit application assistance for the unemployable; (3) safe and supportive housing; (4) routine check ins for substance abuse; and (5) scheduled productive socially integrative activities.\n\nEarly life and education \nDistrict Court Judge Stephanie Rhoades was born in Newton, Massachusetts where she attended Needham High School. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Boston, Massachusetts with a bachelor’s degree in Legal Services in 1983. In 1986, she then earned her J.D. from the Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts. At the start of her career, Rhoades served on the Alaska Supreme Court from 1986 to 1987. Following, she served as a law clerk to the District Attorney’s Office in Anchorage from 1988 to 1992. She would then serve as a District Court Judge from 1992 to 2017. Rhoades is the spouse to Russel Webb. She relocated from Massachusetts to Alaska in 1986; she has lived in Anchorage, Alaska for thirty-four years.\n\nAnchorage Coordinated Resources Project \nThe Honorable Stephanie Rhoades founded the Anchorage Coordinated Resources Project (ACRP), otherwise known as the Anchorage Mental Health Court (AMHC) in 1998. AMHC was the first mental health court established in Alaska and the fourth mental health court established in the United States. The Court Coordinated Resources Project (CCRP) was officially established in April 1999, through an administrative order signed by the Honorable Elaine Andrews, the at time Circuit Court Presiding Judge. Andrews appointed Judges Stephanie Rhoades and John Lohff to build the foundation of CCRP, then AMHC. AMHC provides “therapeutic intervention” for individuals with mental illness who are likely to serve jail time where they may not be given the appropriate medical care. During her role in the AMHC, Rhoades also ensured that judges receive concentrated mental health training. Rhoades attests that \"judges with personal and professional interests in improving criminal justice . . . have been key leaders in court development, expansion, and innovation.\" It is expected of the judges of the mental health courts to de-stigmatize mental illness in their courtroom. She calls for “a situation that is sympathetic and helpful and motivating and engaging for everyone.” The jurisdiction of AMHC is in Anchorage’s District Court, where state and municipal misdemeanor and felony offenses are heard. AMHC is a diversion program that works to shift the presence of individuals with mental illness from the criminal justice system to the mental health system. It serves as a diversion from the criminalization of individuals living with mental illness. In the early days of AMHC, only misdemeanor cases were heard. The Alaska Court System has allowed the AMHC to grow in that it now hears both misdemeanor and felony cases. The program's development to reach more participants in the mental health court includes the following criteria for eligibility, “a defendant must be: (1) [c]harged with a misdemeanor crime or class C felony, (2) [d]iagnosed with a mental illness, (3) [r]esiding in the Municipality of Anchorage, (4) [w]illing to voluntarily participate in an individualized case plan in lieu of traditional bail or sentencing conditions, (5) [e]ligible to receive community behavioral service.” During the first year of AMHC’s presence in Anchorage, roughly 129 people with mental illness were penalized with probation rather than a lengthy jail sentence.\n\nFunding \nRhoades first set forth a proposal for a Bureau of Justice assistance grant, but the proposal was denied. Soon after, the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority distributed funds to AMHC. These initial funds enabled the program to hire its first case coordinator and project manager, officiating AMHC. The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority serves Alaskans who experience mental illness through financing programs that benefit mentally disabled individuals. The Trust supplies over $20 million in grants for relevant causes per year. Representatives of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority had close ties with Rhoades' CCRP subcommittee. Today, funding for AMHC comes from legislative financial aid, state and federal grants, and donations, both community-based and private. One cost break for AMHC includes selecting interns from the University of Alaska Anchorage.\n\nRetirement \nJudge Stephanie Rhoades retired from the bench on Friday, September 1, 2017 after 25 years of serving as a state judge. Superior Court Judge Jennifer Henderson took over the mental health court operations in 2017.\n\nOther activities\n\nProject Homeless Connect \nRhoades is an active volunteer for Anchorage’s Project Homeless Connect (PHC). PHC is a local event for homeless people in Anchorage. The event provides housing opportunities, amongst other services for the homeless community. Its goal is to create a collaborative of service providers, government agencies, and volunteers. Additionally, PHC collects data on the homelessness epidemic that is used to supply local, state, and federal databases. She is the Lead Food Coordinator for this Anchorage event.\n\nAnchorage Assembly's Committee on Homelessness \nStephanie Rhoades and her husband Russ Webb are active members of the Anchorage Assembly's Committee on Homelessness. Russ formulated a 12-point plan for resolving Anchorage's homeless camps issue. Rhoades and Webb work on locating camps where they get campers involved. The pair focus on moving campers from the street to shelters. They also advocate for the prohibitions against naming camps public nuisances.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nAmerican judges\nMental health law in the United States\nPeople from Newton, Massachusetts\nUniversity of Massachusetts Boston alumni\nNortheastern University School of Law alumni\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
]
|
[
"Matt Groening",
"Life in Hell"
]
| C_ce06e35258a54f3386f6c997dc89ff1f_1 | Is life in hell the name of a movie? | 1 | Is Life in Hell the name of a movie by Matt Groening? | Matt Groening | 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 syndicated Life in Hell, Lynda Barry and John Callahan, but now only syndicates 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 has stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation," he announced that the June 16, 2012 strip would mark Life in Hell's 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. CANNOTANSWER | 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 " | 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 | [
"Nicholas Tana is a writer director, actor, and musician best known for the Hell's Kitty movie and web-series.\n\nLife and career \nBefore starting his own production company, Nicholas Tana was working at ESPN as an associate director in the international department. Nicholas Tana received much critical attention amongst the horror community through his Hell's Kitty TV Series, about a writer whose love life suffers because of his possessive and possessed pet cat named Angel. Nicholas Tana stars in Hell's Kitty alongside his real cat Angel, and some of the most notable actors in horror, which includes names like Adrienne Barbeau, Doug Jones, Michael Berryman, Courtney Gains, Lee Meriwether, John Franklin, Lynn Lowry, Bill Oberst Jr., Ashley C. Williams, Barbara Nedeljakova, and Dale Midkiff. The film features a guest appearance by a Killer Klown courtesy of the Chiodo Brothers. The Hell's Kitty comic-book series written by Nicholas Tana is based on Tana's experiences living with his very possessive cat named Angel, rumored to be possessed. Hell's Kitty features a host of horror icons often portrayed in parodies of the roles for which they are famous.\n\nNicholas Tana is also the writer, director, and producer of the sex-positive documentary Sticky: A (Self) Love Story, in which he shared his nine years research findings about masturbation revealing how often an individual is involved in this activity in society.\n\nMusic and Composition \n\nNicholas Tana is a songwriter with over twenty published songs. He co-wrote the pop song Chainsaw Kitty with composer Richard Albert, which was featured in the Hell's Kitty soundtrack and was an American Tracks award winner. The Hell's Kitty Music Video features a host of well known horror icons who also appear in the Hell's Kitty web-series and feature film.\n\nA musical version of Hell's Kitty was written by Nicholas Tana and produced by Smart Media L.L.C. and New Musicals Inc. where it was performed at the Broadwater Theater as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2019. The original songs for the musical were written and composed in large part by Nicholas Tana, Alexa Borden, and Richard Albert and was based on the movie and web-series by the same name.\n\n 2018: American Tracks Music Award, Category \"Best song for a film\"\n 2019: American Tracks Music Award, Category \"Best film score\" (semi-finalist)\n 2019: Paris Art and Movie Awards, Category \"Best Soundtrack\" (nomination)\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nAmerican film directors\nAmerican male musicians\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\nNationality missing",
"Letters from Hell () is a didactic Christian novel by the Danish priest and author Valdemar Adolph Thisted (1815–1887), The work was published in Copenhagen in 1866 and went through 12 editions in its first year.\n\nThe setting of the novel is Hell, a typical fantasy setting.\n\nPlot summary\nThe narrator, Otto, who has died in the prime of life, relates the torments and regrets that are a consequence of the self-centred and dissipated life he led in the world. He also describes the fates of other lost souls who inhabit Hell, concluding with the arrival in Hell of the narrator's mother. Some of the book's descriptions of Hell are reminiscent of Emanuel Swedenborg's Heaven and Hell.\n\nTranslations\nAn English edition of Letters from Hell appeared in 1866, under the pseudonym of M Rowel. The translator was Rev. Mordaunt Roger Barnard. The book's title caused it to be banned by Mudie's circulating library. Letters from Hell went through several editions in the 19th century, one of which (1884) contained a preface by George MacDonald. Thisted 's name does not appear in these editions and the translation is attributed to LWJS. In a 1911 edition, the translator is identified as Julie Sutter.\n\nReception\nC. S. Lewis had read Letters from Hell and something of its influence may be detected in The Screwtape Letters. Hans Christian Andersen was absorbed by the book and found details reminiscent of his own fairy-tales.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\nsee Letters from Hell \n Letters from Hell Vol 1\n Letters from Hell Vo 2\nLetters from Hell Complete\n\n1866 novels\n1866 fantasy novels\nChristian novels\nEpistolary novels\nNovels set in hell"
]
|
[
"Matt Groening",
"Life in Hell",
"Is life in hell the name of a movie?",
"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 \""
]
| C_ce06e35258a54f3386f6c997dc89ff1f_1 | When was the book published? | 2 | When was the comic book Life in Hell published? | Matt Groening | 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 syndicated Life in Hell, Lynda Barry and John Callahan, but now only syndicates 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 has stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation," he announced that the June 16, 2012 strip would mark Life in Hell's 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. CANNOTANSWER | Life in Hell became popular almost immediately. In November 1984, Deborah Caplan, Groening's then-girlfriend | 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 | [
"This is a list of notable books by young authors and of books written by notable writers in their early years. These books were written, or substantially completed, before the author's twentieth birthday. \n\nAlexandra Adornetto (born 18 April 1994) wrote her debut novel, The Shadow Thief, when she was 13. It was published in 2007. Other books written by her as a teenager are: The Lampo Circus (2008), Von Gobstopper's Arcade (2009), Halo (2010) and Hades (2011).\nMargery Allingham (1904–1966) had her first novel, Blackkerchief Dick, about smugglers in 17th century Essex, published in 1923, when she was 19.\nJorge Amado (1912–2001) had his debut novel, The Country of Carnival, published in 1931, when he was 18.\nPrateek Arora wrote his debut novel Village 1104 at the age of 16. It was published in 2010.\nDaisy Ashford (1881–1972) wrote The Young Visiters while aged nine. This novella was first published in 1919, preserving her juvenile punctuation and spelling. An earlier work, The Life of Father McSwiney, was dictated to her father when she was four. It was published almost a century later in 1983.\nAmelia Atwater-Rhodes (born 1984) had her first novel, In the Forests of the Night, published in 1999. Subsequent novels include Demon in My View (2000), Shattered Mirror (2001), Midnight Predator (2002), Hawksong (2003) and Snakecharm (2004).\nJane Austen (1775–1817) wrote Lady Susan, a short epistolary novel, between 1793 and 1795 when she was aged 18-20.\nRuskin Bond (born 1934) wrote his semi-autobiographical novel The Room on the Roof when he was 17. It was published in 1955.\nMarjorie Bowen (1885–1952) wrote the historical novel The Viper of Milan when she was 16. Published in 1906 after several rejections, it became a bestseller.\nOliver Madox Brown (1855–1874) finished his novel Gabriel Denver in early 1872, when he was 17. It was published the following year.\nPamela Brown (1924–1989) finished her children's novel about an amateur theatre company, The Swish of the Curtain (1941), when she was 16 and later wrote other books about the stage.\nCeleste and Carmel Buckingham wrote The Lost Princess when they were 11 and 9.\nFlavia Bujor (born 8 August 1988) wrote The Prophecy of the Stones (2002) when she was 13.\nLord Byron (1788–1824) published two volumes of poetry in his teens, Fugitive Pieces and Hours of Idleness.\nTaylor Caldwell's The Romance of Atlantis was written when she was 12.\n (1956–1976), Le Don de Vorace, was published in 1974.\nHilda Conkling (1910–1986) had her poems published in Poems by a Little Girl (1920), Shoes of the Wind (1922) and Silverhorn (1924).\nAbraham Cowley (1618–1667), Tragicall History of Piramus and Thisbe (1628), Poetical Blossoms (published 1633).\nMaureen Daly (1921–2006) completed Seventeenth Summer before she was 20. It was published in 1942.\nJuliette Davies (born 2000) wrote the first book in the JJ Halo series when she was eight years old. The series was published the following year.\nSamuel R. Delany (born 1 April 1942) published his The Jewels of Aptor in 1962.\nPatricia Finney's A Shadow of Gulls was published in 1977 when she was 18. Its sequel, The Crow Goddess, was published in 1978.\nBarbara Newhall Follett (1914–1939) wrote her first novel The House Without Windows at the age of eight. The manuscript was destroyed in a house fire and she later retyped her manuscript at the age of 12. The novel was published by Knopf publishing house in January 1927.\nFord Madox Ford (né Hueffer) (1873–1939) published in 1892 two children's stories, The Brown Owl and The Feather, and a novel, The Shifting of the Fire.\nAnne Frank (1929–1945) wrote her diary for two-and-a-half years starting on her 13th birthday. It was published posthumously as Het Achterhuis in 1947 and then in English translation in 1952 as Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. An unabridged translation followed in 1996.\nMiles Franklin wrote My Brilliant Career (1901) when she was a teenager.\nAlec Greven's How to Talk to Girls was published in 2008 when he was nine years old. Subsequently he has published How to Talk to Moms, How to Talk to Dads and How to Talk to Santa.\nFaïza Guène (born 1985) had Kiffe kiffe demain published in 2004, when she was 19. It has since been translated into 22 languages, including English (as Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow).\nSonya Hartnett (born 1968) was thirteen years old when she wrote her first novel, Trouble All the Way, which was published in Australia in 1984.\nAlex and Brett Harris wrote the best-selling book Do Hard Things (2008), a non-fiction book challenging teenagers to \"rebel against low expectations\", at age 19. Two years later came a follow-up book called Start Here (2010).\nGeorgette Heyer (1902–1974) wrote The Black Moth when she was 17 and received a publishing contract when she was 18. It was published just after she turned 19.\nSusan Hill (born 1942), The Enclosure, published in 1961.\nS. E. Hinton (born 1948), The Outsiders, first published in 1967.\nPalle Huld (1912–2010) wrote A Boy Scout Around the World (Jorden Rundt i 44 dage) when he was 15, following a sponsored journey around the world.\nGeorge Vernon Hudson (1867–1946) completed An Elementary Manual of New Zealand Entomology at the end of 1886, when he was 19, but not published until 1892.\nKatharine Hull (1921–1977) and Pamela Whitlock (1920–1982) wrote the children's outdoor adventure novel The Far-Distant Oxus in 1937. It was followed in 1938 by Escape to Persia and in 1939 by Oxus in Summer.\nLeigh Hunt (1784–1859) published Juvenilia; or, a Collection of Poems Written between the ages of Twelve and Sixteen by J. H. L. Hunt, Late of the Grammar School of Christ's Hospital in March 1801.\nKody Keplinger (born 1991) wrote her debut novel The DUFF when she was 17.\nGordon Korman (born 1963), This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall (1978), three sequels, and I Want to Go Home (1981).\nMatthew Gregory Lewis (1775–1818) wrote the Gothic novel The Monk, now regarded as a classic of the genre, before he was twenty. It was published in 1796.\nNina Lugovskaya (1918–1993), a painter, theater director and Gulag survivor, kept a diary in 1932–37, which shows strong social sensitivities. It was found in the Russian State Archives and published 2003. It appeared in English in the same year.\nJoyce Maynard (born 1953) completed Looking Back while she was 19. It was first published in 1973.\nMargaret Mitchell (1900–1949) wrote her novella Lost Laysen at the age of fifteen and gave the two notebooks containing the manuscript to her boyfriend, Henry Love Angel. The novel was published posthumously in 1996.\nBen Okri, the Nigerian poet and novelist, (born 1959) wrote his first book Flowers and Shadows while he was 19.\nAlice Oseman(born 1994) wrote the novel Solitaire when she was 17 and it was published in 2014.\nHelen Oyeyemi (born 1984) completed The Icarus Girl while still 18. First published in 2005.\nChristopher Paolini (born 1983) had Eragon, the first novel of the Inheritance Cycle, first published 2002.\nEmily Pepys (1833–1877), daughter of a bishop, wrote a vivid private journal over six months of 1844–45, aged ten. It was discovered much later and published in 1984.\nAnya Reiss (born 1991) wrote her play Spur of the Moment when she was 17. It was both performed and published in 2010, when she was 18.\nArthur Rimbaud (1854–1891) wrote almost all his prose and poetry while still a teenager, for example Le Soleil était encore chaud (1866), Le Bateau ivre (1871) and Une Saison en Enfer (1873).\nJohn Thomas Romney Robinson (1792–1882) saw his juvenile poems published in 1806, when he was 13.\nFrançoise Sagan (1935–2004) had Bonjour tristesse published in 1954, when she was 18.\nMary Shelley (1797–1851) completed Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus during May 1817, when she was 19. It was first published in the following year.\nMattie Stepanek (1990–2004), an American poet, published seven best-selling books of poetry.\nJohn Steptoe (1950–1989), author and illustrator, began his picture book Stevie at 16. It was published in 1969 in Life.\nAnna Stothard (born 1983) saw her Isabel and Rocco published when she was 19.\nDorothy Straight (born 1958) in 1962 wrote How the World Began, which was published by Pantheon Books in 1964. She holds the Guinness world record for the youngest female published author.\nJalaluddin Al-Suyuti (c. 1445–1505) wrote his first book, Sharh Al-Isti'aadha wal-Basmalah, at the age of 17.\nF. J. Thwaites (1908–1979) wrote his bestselling novel The Broken Melody when he was 19.\nJohn Kennedy Toole (1937–1969) wrote The Neon Bible in 1954 when he was 16. It was not published until 1989.\nAlec Waugh (1898–1981) wrote his novel about school life, The Loom of Youth, after leaving school. It was published in 1917.\nCatherine Webb (born 1986) had five young adult books published before she was 20: Mirror Dreams (2002), Mirror Wakes (2003), Waywalkers (2003), Timekeepers (2004) and The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle (February 2006).\nNancy Yi Fan (born 1993) published her debut Swordbird when she was 12. Other books she published as a teenager include Sword Quest (2008) and Sword Mountain (2012).\nKat Zhang (born 1991) was 20 when she sold, in a three-book deal, her entire Hybrid Chronicles trilogy. The first book, What's Left of Me, was published 2012.\n\nSee also \nLists of books\n\nReferences \n\nBooks Written By Children and Teenagers\nbooks\nChildren And Teenagers, Written By\nChi",
"The Chap-Book was an American literary magazine between 1894 and 1898. It is often classified as one of the first \"little magazines\" of the 1890s.\n\nThe first edition of The Chap-Book was dated 15 May 1894. Its editor was Herbert Stuart Stone and it was published by Stone and Kimball. It was originally published in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but after six months moved to Chicago, Illinois when Stone and Kimball relocated to Chicago.\n\nThe Chap-Book was published twice monthly. Its final issue was issued on 1 July 1898. After this, it merged with The Dial. \n\nContributors to The Chap-Book included Henry James, Hamlin Garland, Eugene Field, Bliss Carman, Julian Hawthorne, Max Beerbohm, W. E. Henley, H. G. Wells and William Sharp.\n\nReferences\n\nJames D. Hart (1986). The Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature (New York: Oxford University Press) s.v. \"Chap-Book, The\".\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Chap-Book: Magazine Data File\nStone and Kimball Collection: Late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century publications of Stone and Kimball, (182 titles). From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress\n\n1894 establishments in Massachusetts\n1898 disestablishments in Illinois\nBimonthly magazines published in the United States\nDefunct literary magazines published in the United States\nMagazines established in 1894\nMagazines disestablished in 1898\nMagazines published in Boston\nMagazines published in Chicago"
]
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[
"Matt Groening",
"Life in Hell",
"Is life in hell the name of a movie?",
"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 \"",
"When was the book published?",
"Life in Hell became popular almost immediately. In November 1984, Deborah Caplan, Groening's then-girlfriend"
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| C_ce06e35258a54f3386f6c997dc89ff1f_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 3 | Besides the book Life in Hell, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Matt Groening | 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 syndicated Life in Hell, Lynda Barry and John Callahan, but now only syndicates 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 has stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation," he announced that the June 16, 2012 strip would mark Life in Hell's 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. CANNOTANSWER | Groening had gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader, a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers, typesetting, editing and answering phones. | 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 | [
"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"
]
|
[
"Matt Groening",
"Life in Hell",
"Is life in hell the name of a movie?",
"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 \"",
"When was the book published?",
"Life in Hell became popular almost immediately. In November 1984, Deborah Caplan, Groening's then-girlfriend",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Groening had gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader, a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers, typesetting, editing and answering phones."
]
| C_ce06e35258a54f3386f6c997dc89ff1f_1 | How long did he work for the Los Angeles Reader? | 4 | How long did Matt Groening work for the Los Angeles Reader? | Matt Groening | 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 syndicated Life in Hell, Lynda Barry and John Callahan, but now only syndicates 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 has stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation," he announced that the June 16, 2012 strip would mark Life in Hell's 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. CANNOTANSWER | He showed his cartoons to the editor, James Vowell, who was impressed and eventually gave him a spot in the paper. | 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 | [
"Benjamin Goodwin Seielstad, who worked as B. G. Seielstad, (December 23, 1886 – July 1, 1960) was an American painter and illustrator. He claimed his first job was covering the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. He worked for a variety of newspapers and for Popular Science Monthly in the 1930s before working at Life magazine in the 1940s. He was accorded a great deal of latitude in illustrating articles for Popular Science Monthly on topics such as an automated freeway, a futuristic city, and \"How The World Will End\".\n\nEarly life and family\nBenjamin Seielstad was born in Lake Wilson, Minnesota, on December 23, 1886, to Gudbrund Julius Seielstad, a farmer, and his wife Carrie Goodwin Benson. Both had migrated to the United States from Norway. Seielstad married Nathalie Pomeroy around 1912 with whom he had a daughter, Lucile, born in Los Angeles in 1914.\n\nHe studied at the Art Students League of New York where one of his contemporaries was Jean Mannheim.\n\nCareer\nSeielstad claimed his first job was covering the San Francisco Earthquake (1906). He worked as an illustrator for the Los Angeles Examiner and the Los Angeles Times, as well as for the New York Daily News, New York World and the Philadelphia Examiner.\n\nIn the 1930s he illustrated numerous articles in Popular Science Monthly for which he produced drawings showing the technical aspects of products such as a cutaway of a pocket watch (1931), as well as others showing forecast and speculative scientific developments such as a future city (1934) based on the ideas of British writer R. H. Wilenski which envisaged cities composed of buildings on slender trunks like trees. The degree of license given to Seielstad in interpreting the article text was reflected in Popular Science'''s comment \"our artist presents here his conception of this startling proposal\".\"City of Treelike Buildings Planned\", Popular Science Monthly, April 1934, p. 25.\n \nHe also drew an automatic freeway (1938) and produced four illustrations for an article titled \"How The World Will End\" (1939), one of which showed a \"giant meteor\" about to hit New York City and the city's inhabitants fleeing for their lives:\"How The World Will End\", Popular Science Monthly, September 1939, pp. 58–59 & 222.\n\nBy 1940, Seielstad was working for Life magazine and was pictured at work in their 1940 issue commenting that the events of the Second World War were like his first job covering the San Francisco Earthquake. He described his love of \"candid-camera\" work to aid him in his drawing and how he used the reader's eye like the lens of a camera, \"unfolding a scene before it with his drawings\".\n\nDeath\nSeielstad died at Inglewood, Los Angeles, on July 1, 1960 after a long illness.\n\n Footnotes \n\n References \n\nExternal links\n\n\"Radio City to Cost $250,000,000\" Popular Science Monthly'', September 1930.\nhttps://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/beer-making-is-marvel-of-industrial-chemistry/\nhttps://books.google.com/books?id=QSgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20\n\n1886 births\n1960 deaths\nLos Angeles Times people\nAmerican people of Norwegian descent\nPeople from Minnesota\nAmerican magazine illustrators\n20th-century American painters\nArt Students League of New York alumni",
"Los Angeles Reader was a weekly paper established in 1978 and distributed in Los Angeles, United States. It followed the format of the (still-active) Chicago Reader. The paper was known for having lengthy, thoughtful reviews of movies, plays and concerts in the L.A. area. \n\nJames Vowell was its founding editor. Among its writers were Keith Fitzgerald, Nigey Lennon, Lionel Rolfe, Lawrence Wechsler, Mick Farren, Richard Meltzer, Heidi Dvorak, Chris Morris, Jerry Stahl, Steven Kane, Andy Klein, Allen Levy, Jim Goad, Kirk Silsbee, Henry Sheehan, Samantha Dunn, Natalie Nichols, Steve Appleford, Eric Mankin (also editor), Paul Birchall, Eddie Rivera (who wrote the paper's first cover story), Amy Steinberg, Henry Sheehan, Dan Sallitt, Myron Meisel, David Ehrenstein, Tom Davis, Dave McCombs, Mark Leviton, Bruce Bebb, Stuart Goldman, Ernest Hardy, Kevin Uhrich, Erik Himmelsbach, David L. Ulin, Lance Loud, J. Michael Straczynski, and Laurence Vittes (Classical Music Critic, 1991–1998). \n\nIt is famous for being the first newspaper to publish Matt Groening's cartoon strip Life in Hell, on April 25, 1980. James Vowell hired Groening as his assistant editor in 1979. Groening was also originally a Reader music critic. It also ran a cartoon strip by David Lynch (director of Blue Velvet) called The Angriest Dog in the World, a strip notable for having exactly the same drawing panels for its entire run. James Vowell and his wife Codette Wallace bought the Reader from the Chicago Reader in February 1989. They sold the Reader to New Times Media in 1996, which merged it with the Los Angeles View to form New Times LA.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAn archived article from the L.A. Reader\n\nNewspapers published in Greater Los Angeles"
]
|
[
"Matt Groening",
"Life in Hell",
"Is life in hell the name of a movie?",
"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 \"",
"When was the book published?",
"Life in Hell became popular almost immediately. In November 1984, Deborah Caplan, Groening's then-girlfriend",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Groening had gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader, a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers, typesetting, editing and answering phones.",
"How long did he work for the Los Angeles Reader?",
"He showed his cartoons to the editor, James Vowell, who was impressed and eventually gave him a spot in the paper."
]
| C_ce06e35258a54f3386f6c997dc89ff1f_1 | Did he write any other books? | 5 | Did Matt Groening write any other books besides Life in Hell? | Matt Groening | 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 syndicated Life in Hell, Lynda Barry and John Callahan, but now only syndicates 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 has stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation," he announced that the June 16, 2012 strip would mark Life in Hell's 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. CANNOTANSWER | Released a month later, the book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings. | 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 Sword of Knowledge is a trilogy of shared world fantasy novels credited to the authors C. J. Cherryh, Leslie Fish, Nancy Asire, and Mercedes Lackey. The three novels in the series were all published by Baen Books in 1989: A Dirge for Sabis (Cherryh and Fish), Wizard Spawn (Cherryh and Asire), and Reap the Whirlwind (Cherryh and Lackey). The books were first released as a complete trilogy in an omnibus edition in 1995.\n\nAlthough Cherryh is credited as a co-author on each of the books, she apparently did not write any of them. She did write a foreword for each book and may have helped plan the storylines, and therefore was credited as a co-author for all three novels. The publisher, however, eliminated Cherryh's introduction from most or all editions of the book.\n\nThe novels are unusual for the genre in their treatment of magic. Specifically, although wizards exist in the books, they do not cast magic spells in the manner typical of works of high fantasy or tales of Sword and Sorcery. Instead, individuals with magical powers in these books are capable of only two feats: wishing good things upon people, and wishing ill upon people.\n\nAdditionally, the books take place in a culture beginning to develop cannon and other technology appropriate for a Late Middle Ages-style setting. Because of the limits of magical powers in these books and the technical developments portrayed in them, the novels could be considered examples of the Low Fantasy subgenre.\n\nReferences\n Cherryh, C. J. and Leslie Fish. A Dirge for Sabis, Baen Books, 1989.\n Cherryh, C. J. and Nancy Asire. Wizard Spawn, Baen Books, 1989.\n Cherryh, C. J. and Mercedes Lackey. Reap the Whirlwind, Baen Books, 1989.\n Cherryh, C. J. et al. The Sword of Knowledge (Omnibus), Baen Books, 1995 (Paperback); 2005 (Hardcover).\n\nC. J. Cherryh\nFantasy novel series\n1989 novels\nBaen Books books",
"Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship is a 2000 book by Joshua Harris. It is the sequel to I Kissed Dating Goodbye. In Boy Meets Girl, Harris describes his personal experiences courting the woman he eventually married. The book argues that psychological pain and trauma can result from entering an intimate relationship before one is ready, either emotionally or financially, to commit to being the other person's life partner. Harris has written several other books, including I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is), and Stop Dating the Church.\n\nBoy Meets Girl did not receive as much critical attention as I Kissed Dating Goodbye. Leah Andrews of the Lewiston Morning Tribune compared Boy Meets Girl to Eric and Leslie Ludy's When God Writes Your Love Story, suggesting that both texts are popular Christian books providing alternatives to dating. Andrew Dalton of the Legion of Christ wrote that he was partway through reading Anthony Bannon's Peter on the Shore when he became distracted with Boy Meets Girl. In 2000, Rebecca St. James anticipated using her song \"Wait for Me\" to promote Boy Meets Girl.\n\nMargaret and Dwight Peterson, an American married couple and Christian Studies professors at Eastern University, wrote an essay called \"God Does Not Want to Write Your Love Story\" in which they criticized Boy Meets Girl, among other books. In this essay, the Petersons expressed \"how different these stories of romance are from any traditionally Christian understanding of marriage.\"\n\nReferences\n\n2000 non-fiction books\nAmerican non-fiction books\nYoung adult non-fiction books\nEnglish-language books\nRandom House books\nBooks about spirituality\nSequel books"
]
|
[
"Matt Groening",
"Life in Hell",
"Is life in hell the name of a movie?",
"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 \"",
"When was the book published?",
"Life in Hell became popular almost immediately. In November 1984, Deborah Caplan, Groening's then-girlfriend",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Groening had gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader, a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers, typesetting, editing and answering phones.",
"How long did he work for the Los Angeles Reader?",
"He showed his cartoons to the editor, James Vowell, who was impressed and eventually gave him a spot in the paper.",
"Did he write any other books?",
"Released a month later, the book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings."
]
| C_ce06e35258a54f3386f6c997dc89ff1f_1 | Which book is that? | 6 | Which book by Matt Groening sold 22,000 in its first two printings? | Matt Groening | 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 syndicated Life in Hell, Lynda Barry and John Callahan, but now only syndicates 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 has stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation," he announced that the June 16, 2012 strip would mark Life in Hell's 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. CANNOTANSWER | "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, | 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 | [
"Even working is a term used in book publishing that means the number of pages in a book is divisible by the number 16 or 32. A book with 256, 272 or 288 pages, for instance, is an \"even working\", whilst a book with 254 or 286 pages is not. The significance of 16 or 32, which form the individual \"signatures\" of which a book is composed, is that they make the most efficient use of the paper used in the printing of a book. If the number of printed pages in a book is, for example, 258, then the editor will attempt to move material from the two extra pages so that there will not be 14 blank pages at the end of the book (the next even working after 256 being 272 pages).\n\nReferences\n\nBook publishing\nPublishing",
"This is Not a Book is a book by Keri Smith that was published in 2009. It is not a normal book, because the book does not exist without the reader. The book is almost completely blank, so the reader creates the content and the final product. The book's purpose is to teach a reader to think creatively and take risks. The main question presented is: if it is not a book, then what exactly is it? The answer is left to the reader to determine.\n\nThis Is Not A Book is much like Wreck This Journal, also by Keri Smith, except that it pushes the boundaries of what a book can be further. The book consists of assignments that push the reader to go in public, or to risk losing the copy of the book. For example, one assignment encourages the reader to leave This Is Not A Book someplace overnight and see what happens. Another suggests to read a piece of writing out loud where others can hear. Some challenge the reader to risk looking silly in front of others, or to do something that the reader have always wanted to do. Each assignment shows the reader something that This is Not a Book could be.\n\nPage 42\nPage 42 of This is Not a Book is missing. This has caused many readers to speculate what has happened to it. Speculation regarding the missing page is largely random.\n\nHomages\nThe assignment \"random occurrence\" is an homage to Marcel Duchamp, \"window\" is an homage to Yoko Ono, \"chance operation\" is an homage to John Cage, \"conundrum\" and \"top secret document\" are an homage to Oulipo, \"bureaucracy\" is an homage to José Saramago and \"voyage\" is an homage to Bas Jan Ader.\n\nReferences\n\nThis is Not a Book by Keri Smith\n\nExternal links\nhttp://www.thisisnotabook.org/\n\nCanadian non-fiction books"
]
|
[
"Gary Cooper",
"Silent films, 1925-28"
]
| C_6ade1075ca2849c5aee8a7091d6b357c_1 | Was there a Silent film released in 1925? | 1 | Was there a Silent film released by Gary cooper in 1925? | Gary Cooper | In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, including Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt work--which sometimes injured horses and riders--"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name. Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week. Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal--finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings, the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada--both films directed by John Waters. In 1928, Paramount paired Cooper with a youthful Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss--advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride. That year, Cooper also made Lilac Time with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928. CANNOTANSWER | The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. | Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent, and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, as well as receiving an Academy Honorary Award for his career achievements in 1961. He was one of the top 10 film personalities for 23 consecutive years, and one of the top money-making stars for 18 years. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper at No. 11 on its list of the 25 greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Cooper's career spanned 36 years, from 1925 to 1961, and included leading roles in 84 feature films. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era through to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His screen persona appealed strongly to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major film genres. His ability to project his own personality onto the characters he played contributed to his natural and authentic appearance on screen. Throughout his career, he sustained a screen persona that represented the ideal American hero.
Cooper began his career as a film extra and stunt rider, but soon landed acting roles. After establishing himself as a Western hero in his early silent films, he appeared as the Virginian and became a movie star in 1929 with his first sound picture, The Virginian. In the early 1930s, he expanded his heroic image to include more cautious characters in adventure films and dramas such as A Farewell to Arms (1932) and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935). During the height of his career, Cooper portrayed a new type of hero—a champion of the common man—in films such as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), Sergeant York (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). He later portrayed more mature characters at odds with the world in films such as The Fountainhead (1949) and High Noon (1952). In his final films, he played non-violent characters searching for redemption in films such as Friendly Persuasion (1956) and Man of the West (1958).
Early life
Frank James Cooper was born in Helena, Montana, on May 7, 1901, the younger of two sons of English parents Alice (née Brazier; 1873–1967) and Charles Henry Cooper (1865–1946). His brother, Arthur, was six years his senior. Cooper's father came from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, and became a prominent lawyer, rancher, and Montana Supreme Court justice. His mother hailed from Gillingham, Kent, and married Charles in Montana. In 1906, Charles purchased the Seven-Bar-Nine cattle ranch, about north of Helena near Craig, Montana. Cooper and Arthur spent their summers at the ranch and learned to ride horses, hunt, and fish. Cooper attended Central Grade School in Helena.
Alice wanted her sons to have an English education, so she took them back to England in 1909 to enroll them in Dunstable Grammar School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. While there, Cooper and his brother lived with their father's cousins, William and Emily Barton, at their home in Houghton Regis. Cooper studied Latin, French, and English history at Dunstable until 1912. While he adapted to English school discipline and learned the requisite social graces, he never adjusted to the rigid class structure and formal Eton collars he was required to wear. He received his confirmation in the Church of England at the Church of All Saints in Houghton Regis on December 3, 1911. His mother accompanied her sons back to the U.S. in August 1912, and Cooper resumed his education at Johnson Grammar School in Helena.
When Cooper was 15, he injured his hip in a car accident. On his doctor's recommendation, he returned to the Seven-Bar-Nine ranch to recuperate by horseback riding. The misguided therapy left him with his characteristic stiff, off-balanced walk and slightly angled horse-riding style. He left Helena High School after two years in 1918, and returned to the family ranch to work full-time as a cowboy. In 1919, his father arranged for him to attend Gallatin County High School in Bozeman, Montana, where English teacher Ida Davis encouraged him to focus on academics and participate in debating and dramatics. Cooper later called Davis "the woman partly responsible for [him] giving up cowboy-ing and going to college".
Cooper was still attending high school in 1920 when he took three art courses at Montana Agricultural College in Bozeman. His interest in art was inspired years earlier by the Western paintings of Charles Marion Russell and Frederic Remington. Cooper especially admired and studied Russell's Lewis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross' Hole (1910), which still hangs in the state capitol building in Helena. In 1922, to continue his art education, he enrolled in Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. He did well academically in most of his courses, but was not accepted into the school's drama club. His drawings and watercolor paintings were exhibited throughout the dormitory, and he was named art editor for the college yearbook. During the summers of 1922 and 1923, Cooper worked at Yellowstone National Park as a tour guide driving the yellow open-top buses. Despite a promising first 18 months at Grinnell, he left college suddenly in February 1924, spent a month in Chicago looking for work as an artist, and then returned to Helena, where he sold editorial cartoons to the local Independent newspaper.
In autumn 1924, Cooper's father left the Montana Supreme Court bench and moved with his wife to Los Angeles to administer the estates of two relatives, and Cooper joined his parents there in November at his father's request. After briefly working a series of unpromising jobs, he met two friends from Montana who were working as film extras and stunt riders in low-budget Western films for the small movie studios on Poverty Row. They introduced him to another Montana cowboy, rodeo champion Jay "Slim" Talbot, who took him to see a casting director. Wanting money for a professional art course, Cooper worked as a film extra for $5 a day, and as a stunt rider for $10. Cooper and Talbot became close friends and hunting companions, and Talbot later worked as Cooper's stuntman and stand-in for over three decades.
Career
Silent films, 1925–1928
In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, but also the already emergent major studios, Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt workwhich sometimes injured horses and riders"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name.
Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week.
Cooper's first important film role was a supporting part in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) starring Ronald Colman and Vilma Bánky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal—finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings (both 1927), the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada—both films directed by John Waters.
Paramount paired Cooper with Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss (both 1928)—advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride (also both 1928). Around the same time, Cooper made Lilac Time (1928) with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928.
Hollywood stardom, 1929–1935
Cooper became a major movie star in 1929 with the release of his first talking picture, The Virginian (1929), which was directed by Victor Fleming and co-starred Mary Brian and Walter Huston. Based on the popular novel by Owen Wister, The Virginian was one of the first sound films to define the Western code of honor and helped establish many of the conventions of the Western movie genre that persist to the present day. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, the romantic image of the tall, handsome, and shy cowboy hero who embodied male freedom, courage, and honor was created in large part by Cooper in the film. Unlike some silent film actors who had trouble adapting to the new sound medium, Cooper transitioned naturally, with his "deep and clear" and "pleasantly drawling" voice, which was perfectly suited for the characters he portrayed on screen, also according to Meyers. Looking to capitalize on Cooper's growing popularity, Paramount cast him in several Westerns and wartime dramas, including Only the Brave, The Texan, Seven Days' Leave, A Man from Wyoming, and The Spoilers (all released in 1930). Norman Rockwell depicted Cooper in his role as The Texan for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on May 24, 1930.
One of the more important performances in Cooper's early career was his portrayal of a sullen legionnaire in Josef von Sternberg's film Morocco (also 1930) with Marlene Dietrich in her introduction to American audiences. During production, von Sternberg focused his energies on Dietrich and treated Cooper dismissively. Tensions came to a head after von Sternberg yelled directions at Cooper in German. The actor approached the director, picked him up by the collar, and said, "If you expect to work in this country you'd better get on to the language we use here." Despite the tensions on the set, Cooper produced "one of his best performances", according to Thornton Delehanty of the New York Evening Post.
After returning to the Western genre in Zane Grey's Fighting Caravans (1931) with French actress Lili Damita, Cooper appeared in the Dashiell Hammett crime film City Streets (also 1931), co-starring Sylvia Sidney and Paul Lukas, playing a westerner who gets involved with big-city gangsters in order to save the woman he loves. Cooper concluded the year with appearances in two unsuccessful films: I Take This Woman (also 1931) with Carole Lombard, and His Woman with Claudette Colbert. The demands and pressures of making ten films in two years left Cooper exhausted and in poor health, suffering from anemia and jaundice. He had lost during that period, and felt lonely, isolated, and depressed by his sudden fame and wealth. In May 1931, Cooper left Hollywood and sailed to Algiers and then Italy, where he lived for the next year.
During his time abroad, Cooper stayed with the Countess Dorothy di Frasso at the Villa Madama in Rome, where she taught him about good food and vintage wines, how to read Italian and French menus, and how to socialize among Europe's nobility and upper classes. After guiding him through the great art museums and galleries of Italy, she accompanied him on a ten-week big-game hunting safari on the slopes of Mount Kenya in East Africa, where he was credited with over sixty kills, including two lions, a rhinoceros, and various antelopes. His safari experience in Africa had a profound influence on Cooper and intensified his love of the wilderness. After returning to Europe, he and the countess set off on a Mediterranean cruise of the Italian and French Rivieras. Rested and rejuvenated by his year-long exile, a healthy Cooper returned to Hollywood in April 1932 and negotiated a new contract with Paramount for two films per year, a salary of $4,000 a week, and director and script approval.
In 1932, after completing Devil and the Deep with Tallulah Bankhead to fulfill his old contract, Cooper appeared in A Farewell to Arms, the first film adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel. Co-starring Helen Hayes, a leading New York theatre star and Academy Award winner, and Adolphe Menjou, the film presented Cooper with one of his most ambitious and challenging dramatic roles, playing an American ambulance driver wounded in Italy who falls in love with an English nurse during World War I. Critics praised his highly intense and emotional performance, and the film became one of the year's most commercially successful pictures. In 1933, after making Today We Live with Joan Crawford and One Sunday Afternoon with Fay Wray, Cooper appeared in the Ernst Lubitsch comedy film Design for Living, based on the successful Noël Coward play. Co-starring Miriam Hopkins and Fredric March, the film was a box office success, ranking as one of the top ten highest-grossing films of 1933. All three of the lead actors—March, Cooper, and Hopkins—received attention from this film as they were all at the peak of their careers. Cooper's performance — playing an American artist in Europe competing with his playwright friend for the affections of a beautiful woman — was singled out for its versatility and revealed his genuine ability to do light comedy. Cooper changed his name legally to "Gary Cooper" in August 1933.
In 1934, Cooper was loaned out to MGM for the Civil War drama film Operator 13 with Marion Davies, about a beautiful Union spy who falls in love with a Confederate soldier. Despite Richard Boleslawski's imaginative direction and George J. Folsey's lavish cinematography, the film did poorly at the box office.
Back at Paramount, Cooper appeared in his first of seven films by director Henry Hathaway, Now and Forever, with Carole Lombard and Shirley Temple. In the film, he plays a confidence man who tries to sell his daughter to the relatives who raised her, but is eventually won over by the adorable girl. Impressed by Temple's intelligence and charm, Cooper developed a close rapport with her, both on and off screen. The film was a box-office success.
The following year, Cooper was loaned out to Samuel Goldwyn Productions to appear in King Vidor's romance film The Wedding Night with Anna Sten, who was being groomed as "another Garbo". In the film, Cooper plays an alcoholic novelist who retreats to his family's New England farm where he meets and falls in love with a beautiful Polish neighbor. Cooper delivered a performance of surprising range and depth, according to biographer Larry Swindell. Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, the film was not popular with American audiences, who may have been offended by the film's depiction of an extramarital affair and its tragic ending.
That same year, Cooper appeared in two Henry Hathaway films: the melodrama Peter Ibbetson with Ann Harding, about a man caught up in a dream world created by his love for a childhood sweetheart, and the adventure film The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, about a daring British officer and his men who defend their stronghold at Bengal against rebellious local tribes. While the former, championed by the surrealists became more successful in Europe than in the United States, the latter was nominated for seven Academy Awards and became one of Cooper's most popular and successful adventure films. Hathaway had the highest respect for Cooper's acting ability, calling him "the best actor of all of them".
American folk hero, 1936–1943
From Mr. Deeds to The Real Glory, 1936–1939
Cooper's career took an important turn in 1936. After making Frank Borzage's romantic comedy film Desire with Marlene Dietrich at Paramount—in which he delivered a performance considered by some contemporary critics as one of his finest—Cooper returned to Poverty Row for the first time since his early silent film days to make Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town with Jean Arthur for Columbia Pictures. In the film, Cooper plays the character of Longfellow Deeds, a quiet, innocent writer of greeting cards who inherits a fortune, leaves behind his idyllic life in Vermont, and travels to New York where he faces a world of corruption and deceit. Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin were able to use Cooper's well-established screen persona as the "quintessential American hero"—a symbol of honesty, courage, and goodness—to create a new type of "folk hero" for the common man. Commenting on Cooper's impact on the character and the film, Capra observed:
Both Desire and Mr. Deeds opened in April 1936 to critical praise and were major box-office successes. In his review in The New York Times, Frank Nugent wrote that Cooper was "proving himself one of the best light comedians in Hollywood". For his performance in Mr. Deeds, Cooper received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Cooper appeared in two other Paramount films in 1936. In Lewis Milestone's adventure film The General Died at Dawn with Madeleine Carroll, he plays an American soldier of fortune in China who helps the peasants defend themselves against the oppression of a cruel warlord. Written by playwright Clifford Odets, the film was a critical and commercial success.
In Cecil B. DeMille's sprawling frontier epic The Plainsman—his first of four films with the director—Cooper portrays Wild Bill Hickok in a highly fictionalized version of the opening of the American western frontier. The film was an even greater box-office hit than its predecessor, due in large part to Jean Arthur's definitive depiction of Calamity Jane and Cooper's inspired portrayal of Hickock as an enigmatic figure of "deepening mythic substance". That year, Cooper appeared for the first time on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities, where he would remain for the next twenty-three years.
In late 1936, Paramount was preparing a new contract for Cooper that would raise his salary to $8,000 a week when Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn for six films over six years with a minimum guarantee of $150,000 per picture. Paramount brought suit against Goldwyn and Cooper, and the court ruled that Cooper's new Goldwyn contract afforded the actor sufficient time to also honor his Paramount agreement. Cooper continued to make films with both studios, and by 1939 the United States Treasury reported that Cooper was the country's highest wage earner, at $482,819 (equivalent to $ million in ).
In contrast to his output the previous year, Cooper appeared in only one picture in 1937, Henry Hathaway's adventure film Souls at Sea. A critical and box-office failure, Cooper referred to it as his "almost picture", saying, "It was almost exciting, and almost interesting. And I was almost good." In 1938, he appeared in Archie Mayo's biographical film The Adventures of Marco Polo. Plagued by production problems and a weak screenplay, the film became Goldwyn's biggest failure to that date, losing $700,000. During this period, Cooper turned down several important roles, including the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. Cooper was producer David O. Selznick's first choice for the part. He made several overtures to the actor, but Cooper had doubts about the project, and did not feel suited to the role. Cooper later admitted, "It was one of the best roles ever offered in Hollywood ... But I said no. I didn't see myself as quite that dashing, and later, when I saw Clark Gable play the role to perfection, I knew I was right."
Back at Paramount, Cooper returned to a more comfortable genre in Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938) with Claudette Colbert. In the film, Cooper plays a wealthy American businessman in France who falls in love with an impoverished aristocrat's daughter and persuades her to become his eighth wife. Despite the clever screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, and solid performances by Cooper and Colbert, American audiences had trouble accepting Cooper in the role of a shallow philanderer. It succeeded only at the European box office market.
In the fall of 1938, Cooper appeared in H. C. Potter's romantic comedy The Cowboy and the Lady with Merle Oberon, about a sweet-natured rodeo cowboy who falls in love with the wealthy daughter of a presidential hopeful, believing her to be a poor, hard-working lady's maid. The efforts of three directors and several eminent screenwriters could not salvage what could have been a fine vehicle for Cooper. While more successful than its predecessor, the film was Cooper's fourth consecutive box-office failure in the American market.
In the next two years, Cooper was more discerning about the roles he accepted and made four successful large-scale adventure and cowboy films. In William A. Wellman's adventure film Beau Geste (1939), he plays one of three daring English brothers who join the French Foreign Legion in the Sahara to fight local tribes. Filmed in the same Mojave Desert locations as the original 1926 version with Ronald Colman, Beau Geste provided Cooper with magnificent sets, exotic settings, high-spirited action, and a role tailored to his personality and screen persona. This was the last film in Cooper's contract with Paramount.
In Henry Hathaway's The Real Glory (1939), he plays a military doctor who accompanies a small group of American Army officers to the Philippines to help the Christian Filipinos defend themselves against Muslim radicals. Many film critics praised Cooper's performance, including author and film critic Graham Greene, who recognized that he "never acted better".
From The Westerner to For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940–1943
Cooper returned to the Western genre in William Wyler's The Westerner (1940) with Walter Brennan and Doris Davenport, about a drifting cowboy who defends homesteaders against Roy Bean, a corrupt judge known as the "law west of the Pecos". Screenwriter Niven Busch relied on Cooper's extensive knowledge of Western history while working on the script. The film received positive reviews and did well at the box-office, with reviewers praising the performances of the two lead actors. That same year, Cooper appeared in his first all-Technicolor feature, Cecil B. DeMille's adventure film North West Mounted Police (1940). In the film, Cooper plays a Texas Ranger who pursues an outlaw into western Canada where he joins forces with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who are after the same man, a leader of the North-West Rebellion. While not as popular with critics as its predecessor, the film was another box-office success—the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1940.
The early 1940s were Cooper's prime years as an actor. In a relatively short period, he appeared in five critically successful and popular films that produced some of his finest performances. When Frank Capra offered him the lead role in Meet John Doe before Robert Riskin even developed the script, Cooper accepted his friend's offer, saying, "It's okay, Frank, I don't need a script." In the film, Cooper plays Long John Willoughby, a down-and-out bush-league pitcher hired by a newspaper to pretend to be a man who promises to commit suicide on Christmas Eve to protest all the hypocrisy and corruption in the country. Considered by some critics to be Capra's best film at the time, Meet John Doe was received as a "national event" with Cooper appearing on the front cover of Time magazine on March 3, 1941. In his review in the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes called Cooper's performance a "splendid and utterly persuasive portrayal" and praised his "utterly realistic acting which comes through with such authority". Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote, "Gary Cooper, of course, is 'John Doe' to the life and in the whole—shy, bewildered, non-aggressive, but a veritable tiger when aroused."
That same year, Cooper made two films with director and good friend Howard Hawks. In the biographical film Sergeant York, Cooper portrays war hero Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. The film chronicles York's early backwoods days in Tennessee, his religious conversion and subsequent piety, his stand as a conscientious objector, and finally his heroic actions at the Battle of the Argonne Forest, which earned him the Medal of Honor. Initially, Cooper was nervous and uncertain about playing a living hero, so he traveled to Tennessee to visit York at his home, and the two quiet men established an immediate rapport and discovered they had much in common. Inspired by York's encouragement, Cooper delivered a performance that Howard Barnes of the New York Herald Tribune called "one of extraordinary conviction and versatility", and that Archer Winston of the New York Post called "one of his best". After the film's release, Cooper was awarded the Distinguished Citizenship Medal by the Veterans of Foreign Wars for his "powerful contribution to the promotion of patriotism and loyalty". York admired Cooper's performance and helped promote the film for Warner Bros. Sergeant York became the top-grossing film of the year and was nominated for eleven Academy Awards. Accepting his first Academy Award for Best Actor from his friend James Stewart, Cooper said, "It was Sergeant Alvin York who won this award. Shucks, I've been in the business sixteen years and sometimes dreamed I might get one of these. That's all I can say ... Funny when I was dreaming I always made a better speech."
Cooper concluded the year back at Goldwyn with Howard Hawks to make the romantic comedy Ball of Fire with Barbara Stanwyck. In the film, Cooper plays a shy linguistics professor who leads a team of seven scholars who are writing an encyclopedia. While researching slang, he meets Stanwyck's flirtatious burlesque stripper Sugarpuss O'Shea who blows the dust off their staid life of books. The screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder provided Cooper the opportunity to exercise the full range of his light comedy skills. In his review for the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote that Cooper handled the role with "great skill and comic emphasis" and that his performance was "utterly delightful". Though small in scale, Ball of Fire was one of the top-grossing films of the year—Cooper's fourth consecutive picture to make the top twenty.
Cooper's only film appearance in 1942 was also his last under his Goldwyn contract. In Sam Wood's biographical film The Pride of the Yankees, Cooper portrays baseball star Lou Gehrig who established a record with the New York Yankees for playing in 2,130 consecutive games. Cooper was reluctant to play the seven-time All-Star, who only died the previous year from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — now commonly called "Lou Gehrig's disease". Beyond the challenges of effectively portraying such a popular and nationally recognized figure, Cooper knew very little about baseball and was not left-handed like Gehrig.
After Gehrig's widow visited the actor and expressed her desire that he portray her husband, Cooper accepted the role that covered a twenty-year span of Gehrig's life—his early love of baseball, his rise to greatness, his loving marriage, and his struggle with illness, culminating in his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939 before 62,000 fans. Cooper quickly learned the physical movements of a baseball player and developed a fluid, believable swing. The handedness issue was solved by reversing the print for certain batting scenes. The film was one of the year's top ten pictures and received eleven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's third).
Soon after the publication of Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, Paramount paid $150,000 for the film rights with the express intent of casting Cooper in the lead role of Robert Jordan, an American explosives expert who fights alongside the Republican loyalists during the Spanish Civil War. The original director, Cecil B. DeMille, was replaced by Sam Wood who brought in Dudley Nichols for the screenplay. After the start of principal photography in the Sierra Nevada in late 1942, Ingrid Bergman was brought in to replace ballerina Vera Zorina as the female lead—a change supported by Cooper and Hemingway. The love scenes between Bergman and Cooper were "rapturous" and passionate. Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune wrote that both actors performed with "the true stature and authority of stars". While the film distorted the novel's original political themes and meaning, For Whom the Bell Tolls was a critical and commercial success and received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's fourth).
World War II related activities
Due to his age and health, Cooper did not serve in the military during World War II, but like many of his colleagues, he got involved in the war effort by entertaining the troops. In June 1943, he visited military hospitals in San Diego, and often appeared at the Hollywood Canteen serving food to the servicemen. In late 1943, Cooper undertook a tour of the South West Pacific with actresses Una Merkel and Phyllis Brooks, and accordionist Andy Arcari.
Traveling on a B-24A Liberator bomber, the group toured the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Queensland, Brisbane—where General Douglas MacArthur told Cooper he was watching Sergeant York in a Manila theater when Japanese bombs began falling—New Guinea, Jayapura, and throughout the Solomon Islands.
The group often shared the same sparse living conditions and K-rations as the troops. Cooper met with the servicemen and women, visited military hospitals, introduced his attractive colleagues, and participated in occasional skits. The shows concluded with Cooper's moving recitation of Lou Gehrig's farewell speech. When he returned to the United States, he visited military hospitals throughout the country. Cooper later called his time with the troops the "greatest emotional experience" of his life.
Mature roles, 1944–1952
In 1944, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's wartime adventure film The Story of Dr. Wassell with Laraine Day — his third movie with the director. In the film, Cooper plays American doctor and missionary Corydon M. Wassell, who leads a group of wounded sailors through the jungles of Java to safety. Despite receiving poor reviews, Dr. Wassell was one of the top-grossing films of the year. With his Goldwyn and Paramount contracts now concluded, Cooper decided to remain independent and formed his own production company, International Pictures, with Leo Spitz, William Goetz, and Nunnally Johnson. The fledgling studio's first offering was Sam Wood's romantic comedy Casanova Brown with Teresa Wright, about a man who learns his soon-to-be ex-wife is pregnant with his child, just as he is about to marry another woman. The film received poor reviews, with the New York Daily News calling it "delightful nonsense", and Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, criticizing Cooper's "somewhat obvious and ridiculous clowning". The film was barely profitable.
In 1945, Cooper starred in and produced Stuart Heisler's Western comedy Along Came Jones with Loretta Young for International. In this lighthearted parody of his past heroic image, Cooper plays comically inept cowboy Melody Jones who is mistaken for a ruthless killer. Audiences embraced Cooper's character, and the film was one of the top box-office pictures of the year—a testament to Cooper's still vital audience appeal. It was also International's biggest financial success during its brief history before being sold off to Universal Studios in 1946.
Cooper's career during the post-war years drifted in new directions as American society was changing. While he still played conventional heroic roles, his films now relied less on his heroic screen persona and more on novel stories and exotic settings. In November 1945, Cooper appeared in Sam Wood's nineteenth-century period drama Saratoga Trunk with Ingrid Bergman, about a Texas cowboy and his relationship with a beautiful fortune-hunter. Filmed in early 1943, the movie's release was delayed for two years due to the increased demand for war movies. Despite poor reviews, Saratoga Trunk did well at the box office and became one of the top money-makers of the year for Warner Bros. Cooper's only film in 1946 was Fritz Lang's romantic thriller Cloak and Dagger, about a mild-mannered physics professor recruited by the OSS during the last years of World War II to investigate the German atomic bomb program. Playing a part loosely based on physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, Cooper was uneasy with the role and unable to convey the "inner sense" of the character. The film received poor reviews and was a box-office failure. In 1947, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's epic adventure film Unconquered with Paulette Goddard, about a Virginia militiaman who defends settlers against an unscrupulous gun trader and hostile Indians on the Western frontier during the eighteenth century. The film received mixed reviews, but even long-time DeMille critic James Agee acknowledged the picture had "some authentic flavor of the period". This last of four films made with DeMille was Cooper's most lucrative, earning the actor over $300,000 (equal to $ today) in salary and percentage of profits. Unconquered would be his last unqualified box-office success for the next five years.
In 1948, after making Leo McCarey's romantic comedy Good Sam, Cooper sold his company to Universal Studios and signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. that gave him script and director approval and a guaranteed $295,000 (equal to $ today) per picture. His first film under the new contract was King Vidor's drama The Fountainhead (1949) with Patricia Neal and Raymond Massey. In the film, Cooper plays an idealistic and uncompromising architect who struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism in the face of societal pressures to conform to popular standards. Based on the novel by Ayn Rand who also wrote the screenplay, the film reflects her philosophy and attacks the concepts of collectivism while promoting the virtues of individualism. For most critics, Cooper was hopelessly miscast in the role of Howard Roark. In his review for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther concluded he was "Mr. Deeds out of his element". Cooper returned to his element in Delmer Daves' war drama Task Force (1949), about a retiring rear admiral who reminisces about his long career as a naval aviator and his role in the development of aircraft carriers. Cooper's performance and the Technicolor newsreel footage supplied by the United States Navy made the film one of Cooper's most popular during this period. In the next two years, Cooper made four poorly received films: Michael Curtiz' period drama Bright Leaf (1950), Stuart Heisler's Western melodrama Dallas (1950), Henry Hathaway's wartime comedy You're in the Navy Now (1951), and Raoul Walsh's Western action film Distant Drums (1951).
Cooper's most important film during the post-war years was Fred Zinnemann's Western drama High Noon (1952) with Grace Kelly and Katy Jurado for United Artists. In the film, Cooper plays retiring sheriff Will Kane who is preparing to leave town on his honeymoon when he learns that an outlaw he helped put away and his three henchmen are returning to seek their revenge. Unable to gain the support of the frightened townspeople, and abandoned by his young bride, Kane nevertheless stays to face the outlaws alone. During the filming, Cooper was in poor health and in considerable pain from stomach ulcers. His ravaged face and discomfort in some scenes "photographed as self-doubt", according to biographer Hector Arce, and contributed to the effectiveness of his performance. Considered one of the first "adult" Westerns for its theme of moral courage, High Noon received enthusiastic reviews for its artistry, with Time magazine placing it in the ranks of Stagecoach and The Gunfighter. Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote that Cooper was "at the top of his form", and John McCarten, in The New Yorker, wrote that Cooper was never more effective. The film earned $3.75 million in the United States and $18 million worldwide. Following the example of his friend James Stewart, Cooper accepted a lower salary in exchange for a percent of the profits, and ended up making $600,000. Cooper's understated performance was widely praised, and earned him his second Academy Award for Best Actor.
Later films, 1953–1961
After appearing in André de Toth's Civil War drama Springfield Rifle (1952)—a standard Warner Bros. film that was overshadowed by the success of its predecessor—Cooper made four films outside the United States. In Mark Robson's drama Return to Paradise (1953), Cooper plays an American wanderer who liberates the inhabitants of a Polynesian island from the puritanical rule of a misguided pastor. Cooper endured spartan living conditions, long hours, and ill health during the three-month location shoot on the island of Upolu in Western Samoa. Despite its beautiful cinematography, the film received poor reviews. Cooper's next three films were shot in Mexico. In Hugo Fregonese's action adventure film Blowing Wild (1953) with Barbara Stanwyck, he plays a wildcatter in Mexico who gets involved with an oil company executive and his unscrupulous wife with whom he once had an affair.
In 1954, Cooper appeared in Henry Hathaway's Western drama Garden of Evil, with Susan Hayward, about three soldiers of fortune in Mexico hired to rescue a woman's husband. That same year, he appeared in Robert Aldrich's Western adventure Vera Cruz with Burt Lancaster. In the film, Cooper plays an American adventurer hired by Emperor Maximilian I to escort a countess to Vera Cruz during the Mexican Rebellion of 1866. All of these films received poor reviews but did well at the box-office. For his work in Vera Cruz, Cooper earned $1.4 million in salary and percent of the gross.
During this period, Cooper struggled with health problems. As well as his ongoing treatment for ulcers, he suffered a severe shoulder injury during the filming of Blowing Wild when he was hit by metal fragments from a dynamited oil well. During the filming of Vera Cruz, he reinjured his hip falling from a horse, and was burned when Lancaster fired his rifle too close and the wadding from the blank shell pierced his clothing.
In 1955, he appeared in Otto Preminger's biographical war drama The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, about the World War I general who tried to convince government officials of the importance of air power, and was court-martialed after blaming the War Department for a series of air disasters. Some critics felt that Cooper was miscast, and that his dull, tight-lipped performance did not reflect Mitchell's dynamic and caustic personality. In 1956, Cooper was more effective playing a gentle Indiana Quaker in William Wyler's Civil War drama Friendly Persuasion with Dorothy McGuire. Like Sergeant York and High Noon, the film addresses the conflict between religious pacifism and civic duty. For his performance, Cooper received his second Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actor. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, was awarded the Palme d'Or at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival, and went on to earn $8 million worldwide.
In 1956, Cooper traveled to France to make Billy Wilder's romantic comedy Love in the Afternoon with Audrey Hepburn and Maurice Chevalier. In the film, Cooper plays a middle-aged American playboy in Paris who pursues and eventually falls in love with a much younger woman. Despite receiving some positive reviews—including from Bosley Crowther who praised the film's "charming performances"—most reviewers concluded that Cooper was simply too old for the part. While audiences may not have welcomed seeing Cooper's heroic screen image tarnished by his playing an aging roué trying to seduce an innocent young girl, the film was still a box-office success. The following year, Cooper appeared in Philip Dunne's romantic drama Ten North Frederick. In the film, which was based on the novel by John O'Hara, Cooper plays an attorney whose life is ruined by a double-crossing politician and his own secret affair with his daughter's young roommate. While Cooper brought "conviction and controlled anguish" to his performance, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, it was not enough to save what Bosley Crowther called a "hapless film".
Despite his ongoing health problems and several operations for ulcers and hernias, Cooper continued to work in action films. In 1958, he appeared in Anthony Mann's Western drama Man of the West (1958) with Julie London and Lee J. Cobb, about a reformed outlaw and killer who is forced to confront his violent past when the train he is riding in is held up by his former gang members. The film has been called Cooper's "most pathological Western", with its themes of impotent rage, sexual humiliation, and sadism. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, Cooper, who struggled with moral conflicts in his personal life, "understood the anguish of a character striving to retain his integrity ... [and] brought authentic feeling to the role of a tempted and tormented, yet essentially decent man". Mostly ignored by critics at the time, the film is now well-regarded by film scholars and is considered Cooper's last great film.
After his Warner Bros. contract ended, Cooper formed his own production company, Baroda Productions, and made three unusual films in 1959 about redemption. In Delmer Daves' Western drama The Hanging Tree, Cooper plays a frontier doctor who saves a criminal from a lynch mob, and later tries to exploit his sordid past. Cooper delivered a "powerful and persuasive" performance of an emotionally scarred man whose need to dominate others is transformed by the love and sacrifice of a woman. In Robert Rossen's historical adventure They Came to Cordura with Rita Hayworth, he plays an army officer who is found guilty of cowardice and assigned the degrading task of recommending soldiers for the Medal of Honor during the Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916.
While Cooper received positive reviews, Variety and Films in Review felt he was too old for the part. In Michael Anderson's action drama The Wreck of the Mary Deare with Charlton Heston, Cooper plays a disgraced merchant marine officer who decides to stay aboard his sinking cargo ship in order to prove the vessel was deliberately scuttled and to redeem his good name. Like its two predecessors, the film was physically demanding. Cooper, who was a trained scuba diver, did most of his own underwater scenes. Biographer Jeffrey Meyers observed that in all three roles, Cooper effectively conveyed the sense of lost honor and desire for redemption—what Joseph Conrad in Lord Jim called the "struggles of an individual trying to save from the fire his idea of what his moral identity should be".
Personal life
Marriage and family
Cooper was formally introduced to his future wife, 20-year-old New York debutante Veronica Balfe, on Easter Sunday 1933 at a party given by her uncle, art director Cedric Gibbons. Called "Rocky" by her family and friends, she grew up on Park Avenue and attended finishing schools. Her stepfather was Wall Street tycoon Paul Shields. Cooper and Rocky were quietly married at her parents' Park Avenue residence on December 15, 1933. According to his friends, the marriage had a positive impact on Cooper, who turned away from past indiscretions and took control of his life. Athletic and a lover of the outdoors, Rocky shared many of Cooper's interests, including riding, skiing, and skeet-shooting. She organized their social life, and her wealth and social connections provided Cooper access to New York high society. Cooper and his wife owned homes in the Los Angeles area in Encino (1933–36), Brentwood (1936–53), and Holmby Hills (1954–61), and owned a vacation home in Aspen, Colorado (1949–53).
Gary and Veronica Cooper's daughter, Maria Veronica Cooper, was born on September 15, 1937. By all accounts, he was a patient and affectionate father, teaching Maria to ride a bicycle, play tennis, ski, and ride horses. Sharing many of her parents' interests, she accompanied them on their travels and was often photographed with them. Like her father, she developed a love for art and drawing. As a family they vacationed together in Sun Valley, Idaho, spent time at Rocky's parents' country house in Southampton, New York, and took frequent trips to Europe. Cooper and Rocky were legally separated on May 16, 1951, when Cooper moved out of their home. For over two years, they maintained a fragile and uneasy family life with their daughter. Cooper moved back into their home in November 1953, and their formal reconciliation occurred in February 1954.
Romantic relationships
Prior to his marriage, Cooper had a series of romantic relationships with leading actresses, beginning in 1927 with Clara Bow, who advanced his career by helping him get one of his first leading roles in Children of Divorce. Bow was also responsible for getting Cooper a role in Wings, which generated an enormous amount of fan mail for the young actor. In 1928, he had a relationship with another experienced actress, Evelyn Brent, whom he met while filming Beau Sabreur. In 1929, while filming The Wolf Song, Cooper began an intense affair with Lupe Vélez, which was the most important romance of his early life. During their two years together, Cooper also had brief affairs with Marlene Dietrich while filming Morocco in 1930 and with Carole Lombard while making I Take This Woman in 1931. During his year abroad in 1931–32, Cooper had an affair with the married Countess Dorothy di Frasso, while staying at her Villa Madama near Rome.
After he was married in December 1933, Cooper remained faithful to his wife until the summer of 1942, when he began an affair with Ingrid Bergman during the production of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Their relationship lasted through the completion of filming Saratoga Trunk in June 1943. In 1948, after finishing work on The Fountainhead, Cooper began an affair with actress Patricia Neal, his co-star. At first they kept their affair discreet, but eventually it became an open secret in Hollywood, and Cooper's wife confronted him with the rumors, which he admitted were true. He also confessed that he was in love with Neal, and continued to see her. Cooper and his wife were legally separated in May 1951, but he did not seek a divorce. Neal later claimed that Cooper hit her after she went on a date with Kirk Douglas, and that he arranged for her to have an abortion when she became pregnant with Cooper's child. Neal ended their relationship in late December 1951. During his three-year separation from his wife, Cooper was rumored to have had affairs with Grace Kelly, Lorraine Chanel, and Gisèle Pascal.
Cooper biographers have explored his friendship in the late twenties with the actor Anderson Lawler, with whom Cooper shared a house on and off for a year, while at the same time seeing Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent and Lupe Vélez. Lupe Vélez once told Hedda Hopper of Vélez' affair with Cooper; whenever he would come home after seeing Lawler, she would sniff for Lawler's cologne. Vélez' biographer Michelle Vogel has reported that Vélez consented to Cooper's sexual behavior with Lawler, but only as long as she, too, could participate. In later life, he became involved in a relationship with the costume designer Irene, and was, according to Irene, "the only man she ever loved". A year after his death in 1961, Irene committed suicide by jumping from the 11th floor of the Knickerbocker Hotel, after telling Doris Day of her grief over Cooper's death.
Friendships, interests, and character
Cooper's twenty-year friendship with Ernest Hemingway began at Sun Valley in October 1940. The previous year, Hemingway drew upon Cooper's image when he created the character of Robert Jordan for the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The two shared a passion for the outdoors, and for years they hunted duck and pheasant, and skied together in Sun Valley. Both men admired the work of Rudyard Kipling—Cooper kept a copy of the poem "If—" in his dressing room—and retained as adults Kipling's sense of boyish adventure.
As well as admiring Cooper's hunting skills and knowledge of the outdoors, Hemingway believed his character matched his screen persona, once telling a friend, "If you made up a character like Coop, nobody would believe it. He's just too good to be true." They saw each other often, and their friendship remained strong through the years.
Cooper's social life generally centered on sports, outdoor activities, and dinner parties with his family and friends from the film industry, including directors Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, William Wellman, and Fred Zinnemann, and actors Joel McCrea, James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, and Robert Taylor. As well as hunting, Cooper enjoyed riding, fishing, skiing, and later in life, scuba diving. He never abandoned his early love for art and drawing, and over the years, he and his wife acquired a private collection of modern paintings, including works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Cooper owned several works by Pablo Picasso, whom he met in 1956. Cooper also had a lifelong passion for automobiles, with a collection that included a 1930 Duesenberg.
Cooper was naturally reserved and introspective, and loved the solitude of outdoor activities. Not unlike his screen persona, his communication style frequently consisted of long silences with an occasional "yup" and "shucks". He once said, "If others have more interesting things to say than I have, I keep quiet." According to his friends, Cooper could also be an articulate, well-informed conversationalist on topics ranging from horses, guns, and Western history to film production, sports cars, and modern art. He was modest and unpretentious, frequently downplaying his acting abilities and career accomplishments. His friends and colleagues described him as charming, well-mannered, and thoughtful, with a lively boyish sense of humor. Cooper maintained a sense of propriety throughout his career and never misused his movie star status—never sought special treatment or refused to work with a director or leading lady. His close friend Joel McCrea recalled, "Coop never fought, he never got mad, he never told anybody off that I know of; everybody that worked with him liked him."
Political views
Like his father, Cooper was a conservative Republican; he voted for Calvin Coolidge in 1924, Herbert Hoover in 1928 and 1932, and campaigned for Wendell Willkie in 1940. When Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for an unprecedented fourth presidential term in 1944, Cooper campaigned for Thomas E. Dewey and criticized Roosevelt for being dishonest and adopting "foreign" ideas. In a radio address that he paid for himself just prior to the election, Cooper said, "I disagree with the New Deal belief that the America all of us love is old and worn-out and finished—and has to borrow foreign notions that don't even seem to work any too well where they come from ... Our country is a young country that just has to make up its mind to be itself again." He also attended a Republican rally at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that drew 93,000 Dewey supporters.
Cooper was one of the founding members of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a conservative organization dedicated, according to its statement of principles, to preserving the "American way of life" and opposing communism and fascism. The organization — whose membership included Walter Brennan, Laraine Day, Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Hedda Hopper, Ronald Reagan, Barbara Stanwyck, and John Wayne — advised the United States Congress to investigate communist influence in the motion picture industry. On October 23, 1947, Cooper was subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and was asked if he had observed any "communistic influence" in Hollywood.
Cooper recounted statements he'd heard suggesting that the Constitution was out of date and that Congress was an unnecessary institution—comments that Cooper said he found to be "very un-American" and testified that he had rejected several scripts because he thought they were "tinged with communist ideas". Unlike some other witnesses, Cooper did not name any individuals, nor did he name any scripts, during his testimony.
In 1951, while making High Noon, Cooper became friends with the film's screenwriter, Carl Foreman, who had been a member of the Communist Party. When Foreman was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Cooper put his career on the line to defend Foreman. When John Wayne and others threatened Cooper with blacklisting himself and the loss of his passport if he did not walk off the film, Cooper gave a statement to the press in support of Foreman, calling him "the finest kind of American". When producer Stanley Kramer removed Foreman's name as screenwriter, Cooper and director Fred Zinnemann threatened to walk off the film if Foreman's name was not restored. Foreman later said that, of all his friends and allies and colleagues in Hollywood, "Cooper was the only big one who tried to help. The only one." Cooper even offered to testify in Foreman's behalf before the committee, but character witnesses were not allowed. Foreman always sent future scripts to Cooper for first refusal, including The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Key and The Guns of Navarone. Cooper had to turn them down because of his age.
Religion
Cooper was baptized in the Anglican Church in December 1911 in Britain, and was raised in the Episcopal Church in the United States. While he was not an observant Christian for most of his adult life, many of his friends believed he had a deeply spiritual side.
On June 26, 1953, Cooper accompanied his wife and daughter, who were devout Catholics, to Rome, where they had an audience with Pope Pius XII. Cooper and his wife were still separated at the time, but the papal visit marked the beginning of their gradual reconciliation. In the coming years, Cooper contemplated his mortality and his personal behavior, and started discussing Catholicism with his family. He began attending church with them regularly, and met with their parish priest, who offered Cooper spiritual guidance. After several months of study, Cooper was baptized as a Roman Catholic on April 9, 1959, before a small group of family and friends at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.
Final years and death
On April 14, 1960, Cooper underwent surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had metastasized to his colon. He fell ill again on May 31 and underwent further surgery at Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles in early June to remove a malignant tumor from his large intestine. After recuperating over the summer, Cooper took his family on vacation to the south of France before traveling to the UK in the fall to star in The Naked Edge. In December 1960, he worked on the NBC television documentary The Real West, which was part of the company's Project 20 series.
On December 27, his wife learned from their family doctor that Cooper's cancer had spread to his lungs and bones and was inoperable. His family decided not to tell him immediately.
On January 9, 1961, Cooper attended a dinner that was given in his honor and hosted by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin at the Friars Club. The dinner was attended by many of his industry friends and concluded with a brief speech by Cooper who said, "The only achievement I'm proud of is the friends I've made in this community."
In mid-January, Cooper took his family to Sun Valley for their last vacation together. Cooper and Hemingway hiked through the snow together for the last time. On February 27, after returning to Los Angeles, Cooper learned that he was dying. He later told his family, "We'll pray for a miracle; but if not, and that's God's will, that's all right too." On April 17, Cooper watched the Academy Awards ceremony on television and saw his good friend James Stewart, who had presented Cooper with his first Oscar years earlier, accept on Cooper's behalf an honorary award for lifetime achievement—his third Oscar. Holding back tears, Stewart said, "Coop, I'll get this to you right away. And Coop, I want you to know this, that with this goes all the warm friendship and the affection and the admiration and the deep, the deep respect of all of us. We're very, very proud of you, Coop. All of us are tremendously proud." The following day, newspapers around the world announced the news that Cooper was dying. In the coming days he received numerous messages of appreciation and encouragement, including telegrams from Pope John XXIII and Queen Elizabeth II, and a telephone call from President John F. Kennedy.
In his last public statement on May 4, Cooper said, "I know that what is happening is God's will. I am not afraid of the future." He received the last rites on May 12. Cooper died quietly the following day, Saturday, May 13, 1961, at 12:47 P.M.
A requiem mass was held on May 18 at the Church of the Good Shepherd, attended by many of Cooper's friends, including James Stewart, Jack Benny, Henry Hathaway, Joel McCrea, Audrey Hepburn, Jack L. Warner, John Ford, John Wayne, Edward G. Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Fred Astaire, Randolph Scott, Walter Pidgeon, Bob Hope and Marlene Dietrich. Cooper was buried in the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. In May 1974, after his family relocated to New York, Cooper's remains were exhumed and reburied in Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton. His grave is marked by a three-ton boulder from a Montauk quarry.
Acting style and reputation
Cooper's acting style consisted of three essential characteristics: his ability to project elements of his own personality onto the characters he portrayed, to appear natural and authentic in his roles, and to underplay and deliver restrained performances calibrated for the camera and the screen. Acting teacher Lee Strasberg once observed: "The simplest examples of Stanislavsky's ideas are actors such as Gary Cooper, John Wayne, and Spencer Tracy. They try not to act but to be themselves, to respond or react. They refuse to say or do anything they feel not to be consonant with their own characters." Film director François Truffaut ranked Cooper among "the greatest actors" because of his ability to deliver great performances "without direction". This ability to project elements of his own personality onto his characters produced a continuity across his performances to the extent that critics and audiences were convinced that he was simply "playing himself".
Cooper's ability to project his personality onto his characters played an important part in his appearing natural and authentic on screen. Actor John Barrymore said of Cooper, "This fellow is the world's greatest actor. He does without effort what the rest of us spend our lives trying to learn—namely, to be natural." Charles Laughton, who played opposite Cooper in Devil and the Deep agreed, "In truth, that boy hasn't the least idea how well he acts ... He gets at it from the inside, from his own clear way of looking at life." William Wyler, who directed Cooper in two films, called him a "superb actor, a master of movie acting".
In his review of Cooper's performance in The Real Glory, Graham Greene wrote, "Sometimes his lean photogenic face seems to leave everything to the lens, but there is no question here of his not acting. Watch him inoculate the girl against cholera—the casual jab of the needle, and the dressing slapped on while he talks, as though a thousand arms had taught him where to stab and he doesn't have to think anymore."
Cooper's style of underplaying before the camera surprised many of his directors and fellow actors. Even in his earliest feature films, he recognized the camera's ability to pick up slight gestures and facial movements. Commenting on Cooper's performance in Sergeant York, director Howard Hawks observed, "He worked very hard and yet he didn't seem to be working. He was a strange actor because you'd look at him during a scene and you'd think ... this isn't going to be any good. But when you saw the rushes in the projection room the next day you could read in his face all the things he'd been thinking." Sam Wood, who directed Cooper in four films, had similar observations about Cooper's performance in Pride of the Yankees, noting, "What I thought was underplaying turned out to be just the right approach. On the screen he's perfect, yet on the set you'd swear it's the worst job of acting in the history of motion pictures."
Fellow actors admired his abilities as an actor. Commenting on her two films playing opposite Cooper, actress Ingrid Bergman concluded, "The personality of this man was so enormous, so overpowering—and that expression in his eyes and his face, it was so delicate and so underplayed. You just didn't notice it until you saw it on the screen. I thought he was marvelous; the most underplaying and the most natural actor I ever worked with."
Tom Hanks declared, "In only one scene in the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, we see the future of screen acting in the form of Gary Cooper. He is quiet and natural, somehow different from the other cast members. He does something mysterious with his eyes and shoulders that is much more like 'being' than 'acting'."
Daniel Day-Lewis said, "I don't particularly like westerns as a genre, but I do love certain westerns. 'High Noon' means a lot to me – I love the purity and the honesty, I love Gary Cooper in that film, the idea of the last man standing."
Chris Pratt stated, "I started watching Westerns when I was shooting in London about four or five years ago. I really fell in love with Gary Cooper, and his stuff. That sucked me into the Westerns. Before, I never got engrossed in the story. I'd just dip in, and there were guys in horses in black and white. High Noon's later Gary Cooper, I liked that. But I liked 'The Westerner'. That's my favorite one. I have that poster hung up in my house because I really like that one."
To Al Pacino, "Gary Cooper was a phenomenon—his ability to take some thing and elevate it, give it such dignity. One of the great presences."
Mylène Demongeot first got with Gary Cooper for the opening of the first escalator to be installed in a cinema, at the Rex Theatre in Paris, on June 7, 1957. She declared in a 2015 filmed interview: "Gary Cooper ... il est sublime ! Aaahhh (Mylène pushing a cry of love not to say ecstasy) il est sublime ... Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Là je dois dire que ça fait partie des stars, y'a Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, ces grands Américains que j'ai rencontrés comme ça, c'est vraiment des mecs incroyables. Y'en a plus des comme ça ! Euh non. (Gary Cooper was sublime, there I have to say, now he, was part of the stars, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, those great americans who I've met really were unbelievable guys, there aren't any like them anymore)."
Career assessment and legacy
Cooper's career spanned thirty-six years, from 1925 to 1961. During that time, he appeared in eighty-four feature films in a leading role. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His natural and authentic acting style appealed powerfully to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major movie genres, including Westerns, war films, adventure films, drama films, crime films, romance films, comedy films, and romantic comedy films. He appeared on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities for twenty-three consecutive years, from 1936 to 1958. According to Quigley's annual poll, Cooper was one of the top money-making stars for eighteen years, appearing in the top ten in 1936–37, 1941–49, and 1951–57. He topped the list in 1953. In Quigley's list of all-time money-making stars, Cooper is listed fourth, after John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Tom Cruise. At the time of his death, it was estimated that his films grossed well over $200 million (equivalent to $ billion in ).
In over half of his feature films, Cooper portrayed Westerners, soldiers, pilots, sailors, and explorers—all men of action. In the rest he played a wide range of characters, included doctors, professors, artists, architects, clerks, and baseball players. Cooper's heroic screen image changed with each period of his career. In his early films, he played the young naive hero sure of his moral position and trusting in the triumph of simple virtues (The Virginian). After becoming a major star, his Western screen persona was replaced by a more cautious hero in adventure films and dramas (A Farewell to Arms). During the height of his career, from 1936 to 1943, he played a new type of hero—a champion of the common man willing to sacrifice himself for others (Mr. Deeds, Meet John Doe, and For Whom the Bell Tolls).
In the post-war years, Cooper attempted broader variations on his screen image, which now reflected a hero increasingly at odds with the world who must face adversity alone (The Fountainhead and High Noon). In his final films, Cooper's hero rejects the violence of the past, and seeks to reclaim lost honor and find redemption (Friendly Persuasion and Man of the West). The screen persona he developed and sustained throughout his career represented the ideal American hero—a tall, handsome, and sincere man of steadfast integrity who emphasized action over intellect, and combined the heroic qualities of the romantic lover, the adventurer, and the common man.
On February 6, 1960, Cooper was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6243 Hollywood Boulevard for his contribution to the film industry. He was awarded a star on the sidewalk outside the Ellen Theater in Bozeman, Montana.
On May 6, 1961, he was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters in recognition of his significant contribution to the arts. On July 30, 1961, he was posthumously awarded the David di Donatello Special Award in Italy for his career achievements.
In 1966, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. In 2015, he was inducted into the Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Hall of Fame. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper eleventh on its list of the 25 male stars of classic Hollywood. Three of his characters—Will Kane, Lou Gehrig, and Sergeant York—made AFI's list of the one hundred greatest heroes and villains, all of them as heroes. His Lou Gehrig line, "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.", is ranked by AFI as the thirty-eighth greatest movie quote of all time.
More than a half century after his death, Cooper's enduring legacy, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, is his image of the ideal American hero preserved in his film performances. Charlton Heston once observed, "He projected the kind of man Americans would like to be, probably more than any actor that's ever lived."
In the TV series Justified, based on works and characters created by Elmore Leonard, Gary Cooper is used throughout the six seasons as the man whom U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant, aspires to be. When his colleague asks Marshall Givens how he thinks his dangerous plan to bring down a villain can possibly work, he replies: "Why not? Worked for Gary Cooper."
Gary Cooper is referenced several times in the critically acclaimed television series The Sopranos, with protagonist Tony Soprano asking "What ever happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type." while complaining about his problems to his therapist.
In the 1930s hit song "Puttin' On the Ritz", Cooper is referenced in the line "dress up like a million dollar trooper/Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper, Super duper!" More than two decades after Cooper's death a new version of the song was released in 1983 by Taco; the original lyrics were kept, including the references to Cooper.
In J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Cooper is "spotted" by Holden Caulfield to distract a woman he is dancing with.
Awards and nominations
Filmography
The following is a list of feature films in which Cooper appeared in a leading role.
The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)
Children of Divorce (1927)
Arizona Bound (1927)
Wings (1927)
Nevada (1927)
It (1927)
The Last Outlaw (1927)
Beau Sabreur (1928)
The Legion of the Condemned (1928)
Doomsday (1928)
Half a Bride (1928)
Lilac Time (1928)
The First Kiss (1928)
The Shopworn Angel (1928)
Wolf Song (1929)
Betrayal (1929)
The Virginian (1929)
Only the Brave (1930)
The Texan (1930)
Seven Days' Leave (1930)
A Man from Wyoming (1930)
The Spoilers (1930)
Morocco (1930)
Fighting Caravans (1931)
City Streets (1931)
I Take This Woman (1931)
His Woman (1931)
Devil and the Deep (1932)
If I Had a Million (1932)
A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Today We Live (1933)
One Sunday Afternoon (1933)
Design for Living (1933)
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
Operator 13 (1934)
Now and Forever (1934)
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
The Wedding Night (1935)
Peter Ibbetson (1935)
Desire (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
The Plainsman (1936)
Souls at Sea (1937)
The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
Beau Geste (1939)
The Real Glory (1939)
The Westerner (1940)
North West Mounted Police (1940)
Meet John Doe (1941)
Sergeant York (1941)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
Casanova Brown (1944)
Along Came Jones (1945)
Saratoga Trunk (1945)
Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Unconquered (1947)
Good Sam (1948)
The Fountainhead (1949)
Task Force (1949)
Bright Leaf (1950)
Dallas (1950)
You're in the Navy Now (1951)
It's a Big Country (1951)
Distant Drums (1951)
High Noon (1952)
Springfield Rifle (1952)
Return to Paradise (1953)
Blowing Wild (1953)
Garden of Evil (1954)
Vera Cruz (1954)
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Ten North Frederick (1958)
Man of the West (1958)
The Hanging Tree (1959)
They Came to Cordura (1959)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
The Naked Edge (1961)
Radio appearances
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Adrien Le Bihan, Gary Cooper, le prince des acteurs, LettMotif, 2021, 358p.()
External links
1901 births
1961 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Academy Honorary Award recipients
American expatriates in England
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
American male television actors
American people of English descent
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
California Republicans
Catholics from Montana
Conservatism in the United States
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from prostate cancer
Grinnell College people
Male Western (genre) film actors
Male actors from Montana
Paramount Pictures contract players
People educated at Dunstable Grammar School
People from Brentwood, Los Angeles
People from Dunstable
People from Helena, Montana
People from Holmby Hills, Los Angeles | true | [
"Maharashtra Film Company was an Indian film production company, established by Baburao Painter in Kolhapur. Established in 1918, it was a silent film studio, which was a pioneer in Maharashtra and Marathi cinema, under the patronage of the Shahu Maharaj, the Maharaja of Kolhapur. It released the first significant historical, Sairandhari, released in Pune 7 February 1920. In the coming decade the only other major company was Dada Saheb Phalke's Hindustan Film Company. It made numerous films till the advent of talkies in 1931, but started collapsing after V. Shantaram left in 1929, to form Prabhat Film Company, it finally closed down in 1931.\n\nHistory\nVishnupant Damle was trusted lieutenant of Baburao Painter in his Maharashtra film Company, Kolhapur. The company had made a name for itself with its silent films in early 1920s.\n\nBaburao Painter made many silent movies till 1930 however after a few more silent films, the Maharashtra Film Company pulled down its shutters with the advent of sound. Baburao was not particularly keen on the talkies for he believed that they would destroy the visual culture so painfully evolved over the years.\n\nBaburao Painter's associates, V Shantaram, Keshavrao Dhaibar, and close friends Vishnupant Damle and Fateh Lal (Damle Mama and Saheb Mama) held senior posts at the company. Eventually they decided to move out of the Maharashtra Film Company and formed their own Prabhat Film Company in 1929.\n\nFilmography\n\n \n\n Sinhagad (1923)\n Sairandhri (1920)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Maharashtra Film Company at Internet Movie Database\n\nFilm production companies of Maharashtra\nMarathi cinema\nMass media companies established in 1918\nKolhapur\nSilent film studios\nMass media companies disestablished in 1931\nIndian companies disestablished in 1931\nIndian companies established in 1918",
"Moulin Rouge is a 1928 British silent drama film directed by Ewald André Dupont and starring Olga Chekhova, Eve Gray and Jean Bradin. The film is set in and around the Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris.\n\nProduction\nThe film was made at Elstree Studios by British International Pictures. It was Dupont's last fully silent film, although several of his later sound films were released with silent versions. Dupont was one of a number of leading Continental technicians and actors hired by BIP in the late 1920s to try and establish the company as a leading international producer. Alfred Junge worked as Art Director.\n\nCast\nOlga Chekhova as Parysia\nEve Gray as Margaret\nJean Bradin as Andre\nGeorges Tréville as father\nMarcel Vibert as Marquis\nEllen Pollock as Girt\nAndrews Engelmann as chauffeur\nForrester Harvey as tourist\n\nRestoration and home media\nMoulin Rouge was originally released in 1928 as a silent film with live musical accompaniment, running approximately 130 minutes. The following year, it was edited and re-released with a synchronised score composed by John Reynders, which included various sound effects. This version ran for 86 minutes and is available from several budget DVD labels.\n\nIn 2017, the film was restored in HD to close to its original running time, at 127 minutes. Reynder's 1929 score was repurposed for this version, but as it was considerably shorter, over 120 music edits were made in order for it to fit. The restored version has been released in the UK on Blu-ray and DVD by Network.\n\nSee also\nMoulin Rouge, 1952 film\nMoulin Rouge!, 2001 film\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\nSt. Pierre, Paul Matthew. E.A. Dupont and his Contribution to British Film: Varieté, Moulin Rouge, Piccadilly, Atlantic, Two Worlds, Cape Forlorn. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2010. .\n\nExternal links\n\nMoulin Rouge at Silent Era\n\n1928 drama films\nFilms shot at British International Pictures Studios\nBritish silent feature films\nBritish drama films\nFilms directed by E. A. Dupont\nFilms set in the Moulin Rouge\nBritish films\nBritish black-and-white films"
]
|
[
"Gary Cooper",
"Silent films, 1925-28",
"Was there a Silent film released in 1925?",
"The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones."
]
| C_6ade1075ca2849c5aee8a7091d6b357c_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 2 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article, other than Gary Cooper's silent films? | Gary Cooper | In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, including Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt work--which sometimes injured horses and riders--"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name. Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week. Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal--finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings, the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada--both films directed by John Waters. In 1928, Paramount paired Cooper with a youthful Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss--advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride. That year, Cooper also made Lilac Time with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928. CANNOTANSWER | Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, | Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent, and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, as well as receiving an Academy Honorary Award for his career achievements in 1961. He was one of the top 10 film personalities for 23 consecutive years, and one of the top money-making stars for 18 years. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper at No. 11 on its list of the 25 greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Cooper's career spanned 36 years, from 1925 to 1961, and included leading roles in 84 feature films. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era through to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His screen persona appealed strongly to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major film genres. His ability to project his own personality onto the characters he played contributed to his natural and authentic appearance on screen. Throughout his career, he sustained a screen persona that represented the ideal American hero.
Cooper began his career as a film extra and stunt rider, but soon landed acting roles. After establishing himself as a Western hero in his early silent films, he appeared as the Virginian and became a movie star in 1929 with his first sound picture, The Virginian. In the early 1930s, he expanded his heroic image to include more cautious characters in adventure films and dramas such as A Farewell to Arms (1932) and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935). During the height of his career, Cooper portrayed a new type of hero—a champion of the common man—in films such as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), Sergeant York (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). He later portrayed more mature characters at odds with the world in films such as The Fountainhead (1949) and High Noon (1952). In his final films, he played non-violent characters searching for redemption in films such as Friendly Persuasion (1956) and Man of the West (1958).
Early life
Frank James Cooper was born in Helena, Montana, on May 7, 1901, the younger of two sons of English parents Alice (née Brazier; 1873–1967) and Charles Henry Cooper (1865–1946). His brother, Arthur, was six years his senior. Cooper's father came from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, and became a prominent lawyer, rancher, and Montana Supreme Court justice. His mother hailed from Gillingham, Kent, and married Charles in Montana. In 1906, Charles purchased the Seven-Bar-Nine cattle ranch, about north of Helena near Craig, Montana. Cooper and Arthur spent their summers at the ranch and learned to ride horses, hunt, and fish. Cooper attended Central Grade School in Helena.
Alice wanted her sons to have an English education, so she took them back to England in 1909 to enroll them in Dunstable Grammar School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. While there, Cooper and his brother lived with their father's cousins, William and Emily Barton, at their home in Houghton Regis. Cooper studied Latin, French, and English history at Dunstable until 1912. While he adapted to English school discipline and learned the requisite social graces, he never adjusted to the rigid class structure and formal Eton collars he was required to wear. He received his confirmation in the Church of England at the Church of All Saints in Houghton Regis on December 3, 1911. His mother accompanied her sons back to the U.S. in August 1912, and Cooper resumed his education at Johnson Grammar School in Helena.
When Cooper was 15, he injured his hip in a car accident. On his doctor's recommendation, he returned to the Seven-Bar-Nine ranch to recuperate by horseback riding. The misguided therapy left him with his characteristic stiff, off-balanced walk and slightly angled horse-riding style. He left Helena High School after two years in 1918, and returned to the family ranch to work full-time as a cowboy. In 1919, his father arranged for him to attend Gallatin County High School in Bozeman, Montana, where English teacher Ida Davis encouraged him to focus on academics and participate in debating and dramatics. Cooper later called Davis "the woman partly responsible for [him] giving up cowboy-ing and going to college".
Cooper was still attending high school in 1920 when he took three art courses at Montana Agricultural College in Bozeman. His interest in art was inspired years earlier by the Western paintings of Charles Marion Russell and Frederic Remington. Cooper especially admired and studied Russell's Lewis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross' Hole (1910), which still hangs in the state capitol building in Helena. In 1922, to continue his art education, he enrolled in Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. He did well academically in most of his courses, but was not accepted into the school's drama club. His drawings and watercolor paintings were exhibited throughout the dormitory, and he was named art editor for the college yearbook. During the summers of 1922 and 1923, Cooper worked at Yellowstone National Park as a tour guide driving the yellow open-top buses. Despite a promising first 18 months at Grinnell, he left college suddenly in February 1924, spent a month in Chicago looking for work as an artist, and then returned to Helena, where he sold editorial cartoons to the local Independent newspaper.
In autumn 1924, Cooper's father left the Montana Supreme Court bench and moved with his wife to Los Angeles to administer the estates of two relatives, and Cooper joined his parents there in November at his father's request. After briefly working a series of unpromising jobs, he met two friends from Montana who were working as film extras and stunt riders in low-budget Western films for the small movie studios on Poverty Row. They introduced him to another Montana cowboy, rodeo champion Jay "Slim" Talbot, who took him to see a casting director. Wanting money for a professional art course, Cooper worked as a film extra for $5 a day, and as a stunt rider for $10. Cooper and Talbot became close friends and hunting companions, and Talbot later worked as Cooper's stuntman and stand-in for over three decades.
Career
Silent films, 1925–1928
In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, but also the already emergent major studios, Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt workwhich sometimes injured horses and riders"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name.
Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week.
Cooper's first important film role was a supporting part in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) starring Ronald Colman and Vilma Bánky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal—finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings (both 1927), the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada—both films directed by John Waters.
Paramount paired Cooper with Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss (both 1928)—advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride (also both 1928). Around the same time, Cooper made Lilac Time (1928) with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928.
Hollywood stardom, 1929–1935
Cooper became a major movie star in 1929 with the release of his first talking picture, The Virginian (1929), which was directed by Victor Fleming and co-starred Mary Brian and Walter Huston. Based on the popular novel by Owen Wister, The Virginian was one of the first sound films to define the Western code of honor and helped establish many of the conventions of the Western movie genre that persist to the present day. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, the romantic image of the tall, handsome, and shy cowboy hero who embodied male freedom, courage, and honor was created in large part by Cooper in the film. Unlike some silent film actors who had trouble adapting to the new sound medium, Cooper transitioned naturally, with his "deep and clear" and "pleasantly drawling" voice, which was perfectly suited for the characters he portrayed on screen, also according to Meyers. Looking to capitalize on Cooper's growing popularity, Paramount cast him in several Westerns and wartime dramas, including Only the Brave, The Texan, Seven Days' Leave, A Man from Wyoming, and The Spoilers (all released in 1930). Norman Rockwell depicted Cooper in his role as The Texan for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on May 24, 1930.
One of the more important performances in Cooper's early career was his portrayal of a sullen legionnaire in Josef von Sternberg's film Morocco (also 1930) with Marlene Dietrich in her introduction to American audiences. During production, von Sternberg focused his energies on Dietrich and treated Cooper dismissively. Tensions came to a head after von Sternberg yelled directions at Cooper in German. The actor approached the director, picked him up by the collar, and said, "If you expect to work in this country you'd better get on to the language we use here." Despite the tensions on the set, Cooper produced "one of his best performances", according to Thornton Delehanty of the New York Evening Post.
After returning to the Western genre in Zane Grey's Fighting Caravans (1931) with French actress Lili Damita, Cooper appeared in the Dashiell Hammett crime film City Streets (also 1931), co-starring Sylvia Sidney and Paul Lukas, playing a westerner who gets involved with big-city gangsters in order to save the woman he loves. Cooper concluded the year with appearances in two unsuccessful films: I Take This Woman (also 1931) with Carole Lombard, and His Woman with Claudette Colbert. The demands and pressures of making ten films in two years left Cooper exhausted and in poor health, suffering from anemia and jaundice. He had lost during that period, and felt lonely, isolated, and depressed by his sudden fame and wealth. In May 1931, Cooper left Hollywood and sailed to Algiers and then Italy, where he lived for the next year.
During his time abroad, Cooper stayed with the Countess Dorothy di Frasso at the Villa Madama in Rome, where she taught him about good food and vintage wines, how to read Italian and French menus, and how to socialize among Europe's nobility and upper classes. After guiding him through the great art museums and galleries of Italy, she accompanied him on a ten-week big-game hunting safari on the slopes of Mount Kenya in East Africa, where he was credited with over sixty kills, including two lions, a rhinoceros, and various antelopes. His safari experience in Africa had a profound influence on Cooper and intensified his love of the wilderness. After returning to Europe, he and the countess set off on a Mediterranean cruise of the Italian and French Rivieras. Rested and rejuvenated by his year-long exile, a healthy Cooper returned to Hollywood in April 1932 and negotiated a new contract with Paramount for two films per year, a salary of $4,000 a week, and director and script approval.
In 1932, after completing Devil and the Deep with Tallulah Bankhead to fulfill his old contract, Cooper appeared in A Farewell to Arms, the first film adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel. Co-starring Helen Hayes, a leading New York theatre star and Academy Award winner, and Adolphe Menjou, the film presented Cooper with one of his most ambitious and challenging dramatic roles, playing an American ambulance driver wounded in Italy who falls in love with an English nurse during World War I. Critics praised his highly intense and emotional performance, and the film became one of the year's most commercially successful pictures. In 1933, after making Today We Live with Joan Crawford and One Sunday Afternoon with Fay Wray, Cooper appeared in the Ernst Lubitsch comedy film Design for Living, based on the successful Noël Coward play. Co-starring Miriam Hopkins and Fredric March, the film was a box office success, ranking as one of the top ten highest-grossing films of 1933. All three of the lead actors—March, Cooper, and Hopkins—received attention from this film as they were all at the peak of their careers. Cooper's performance — playing an American artist in Europe competing with his playwright friend for the affections of a beautiful woman — was singled out for its versatility and revealed his genuine ability to do light comedy. Cooper changed his name legally to "Gary Cooper" in August 1933.
In 1934, Cooper was loaned out to MGM for the Civil War drama film Operator 13 with Marion Davies, about a beautiful Union spy who falls in love with a Confederate soldier. Despite Richard Boleslawski's imaginative direction and George J. Folsey's lavish cinematography, the film did poorly at the box office.
Back at Paramount, Cooper appeared in his first of seven films by director Henry Hathaway, Now and Forever, with Carole Lombard and Shirley Temple. In the film, he plays a confidence man who tries to sell his daughter to the relatives who raised her, but is eventually won over by the adorable girl. Impressed by Temple's intelligence and charm, Cooper developed a close rapport with her, both on and off screen. The film was a box-office success.
The following year, Cooper was loaned out to Samuel Goldwyn Productions to appear in King Vidor's romance film The Wedding Night with Anna Sten, who was being groomed as "another Garbo". In the film, Cooper plays an alcoholic novelist who retreats to his family's New England farm where he meets and falls in love with a beautiful Polish neighbor. Cooper delivered a performance of surprising range and depth, according to biographer Larry Swindell. Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, the film was not popular with American audiences, who may have been offended by the film's depiction of an extramarital affair and its tragic ending.
That same year, Cooper appeared in two Henry Hathaway films: the melodrama Peter Ibbetson with Ann Harding, about a man caught up in a dream world created by his love for a childhood sweetheart, and the adventure film The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, about a daring British officer and his men who defend their stronghold at Bengal against rebellious local tribes. While the former, championed by the surrealists became more successful in Europe than in the United States, the latter was nominated for seven Academy Awards and became one of Cooper's most popular and successful adventure films. Hathaway had the highest respect for Cooper's acting ability, calling him "the best actor of all of them".
American folk hero, 1936–1943
From Mr. Deeds to The Real Glory, 1936–1939
Cooper's career took an important turn in 1936. After making Frank Borzage's romantic comedy film Desire with Marlene Dietrich at Paramount—in which he delivered a performance considered by some contemporary critics as one of his finest—Cooper returned to Poverty Row for the first time since his early silent film days to make Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town with Jean Arthur for Columbia Pictures. In the film, Cooper plays the character of Longfellow Deeds, a quiet, innocent writer of greeting cards who inherits a fortune, leaves behind his idyllic life in Vermont, and travels to New York where he faces a world of corruption and deceit. Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin were able to use Cooper's well-established screen persona as the "quintessential American hero"—a symbol of honesty, courage, and goodness—to create a new type of "folk hero" for the common man. Commenting on Cooper's impact on the character and the film, Capra observed:
Both Desire and Mr. Deeds opened in April 1936 to critical praise and were major box-office successes. In his review in The New York Times, Frank Nugent wrote that Cooper was "proving himself one of the best light comedians in Hollywood". For his performance in Mr. Deeds, Cooper received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Cooper appeared in two other Paramount films in 1936. In Lewis Milestone's adventure film The General Died at Dawn with Madeleine Carroll, he plays an American soldier of fortune in China who helps the peasants defend themselves against the oppression of a cruel warlord. Written by playwright Clifford Odets, the film was a critical and commercial success.
In Cecil B. DeMille's sprawling frontier epic The Plainsman—his first of four films with the director—Cooper portrays Wild Bill Hickok in a highly fictionalized version of the opening of the American western frontier. The film was an even greater box-office hit than its predecessor, due in large part to Jean Arthur's definitive depiction of Calamity Jane and Cooper's inspired portrayal of Hickock as an enigmatic figure of "deepening mythic substance". That year, Cooper appeared for the first time on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities, where he would remain for the next twenty-three years.
In late 1936, Paramount was preparing a new contract for Cooper that would raise his salary to $8,000 a week when Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn for six films over six years with a minimum guarantee of $150,000 per picture. Paramount brought suit against Goldwyn and Cooper, and the court ruled that Cooper's new Goldwyn contract afforded the actor sufficient time to also honor his Paramount agreement. Cooper continued to make films with both studios, and by 1939 the United States Treasury reported that Cooper was the country's highest wage earner, at $482,819 (equivalent to $ million in ).
In contrast to his output the previous year, Cooper appeared in only one picture in 1937, Henry Hathaway's adventure film Souls at Sea. A critical and box-office failure, Cooper referred to it as his "almost picture", saying, "It was almost exciting, and almost interesting. And I was almost good." In 1938, he appeared in Archie Mayo's biographical film The Adventures of Marco Polo. Plagued by production problems and a weak screenplay, the film became Goldwyn's biggest failure to that date, losing $700,000. During this period, Cooper turned down several important roles, including the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. Cooper was producer David O. Selznick's first choice for the part. He made several overtures to the actor, but Cooper had doubts about the project, and did not feel suited to the role. Cooper later admitted, "It was one of the best roles ever offered in Hollywood ... But I said no. I didn't see myself as quite that dashing, and later, when I saw Clark Gable play the role to perfection, I knew I was right."
Back at Paramount, Cooper returned to a more comfortable genre in Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938) with Claudette Colbert. In the film, Cooper plays a wealthy American businessman in France who falls in love with an impoverished aristocrat's daughter and persuades her to become his eighth wife. Despite the clever screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, and solid performances by Cooper and Colbert, American audiences had trouble accepting Cooper in the role of a shallow philanderer. It succeeded only at the European box office market.
In the fall of 1938, Cooper appeared in H. C. Potter's romantic comedy The Cowboy and the Lady with Merle Oberon, about a sweet-natured rodeo cowboy who falls in love with the wealthy daughter of a presidential hopeful, believing her to be a poor, hard-working lady's maid. The efforts of three directors and several eminent screenwriters could not salvage what could have been a fine vehicle for Cooper. While more successful than its predecessor, the film was Cooper's fourth consecutive box-office failure in the American market.
In the next two years, Cooper was more discerning about the roles he accepted and made four successful large-scale adventure and cowboy films. In William A. Wellman's adventure film Beau Geste (1939), he plays one of three daring English brothers who join the French Foreign Legion in the Sahara to fight local tribes. Filmed in the same Mojave Desert locations as the original 1926 version with Ronald Colman, Beau Geste provided Cooper with magnificent sets, exotic settings, high-spirited action, and a role tailored to his personality and screen persona. This was the last film in Cooper's contract with Paramount.
In Henry Hathaway's The Real Glory (1939), he plays a military doctor who accompanies a small group of American Army officers to the Philippines to help the Christian Filipinos defend themselves against Muslim radicals. Many film critics praised Cooper's performance, including author and film critic Graham Greene, who recognized that he "never acted better".
From The Westerner to For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940–1943
Cooper returned to the Western genre in William Wyler's The Westerner (1940) with Walter Brennan and Doris Davenport, about a drifting cowboy who defends homesteaders against Roy Bean, a corrupt judge known as the "law west of the Pecos". Screenwriter Niven Busch relied on Cooper's extensive knowledge of Western history while working on the script. The film received positive reviews and did well at the box-office, with reviewers praising the performances of the two lead actors. That same year, Cooper appeared in his first all-Technicolor feature, Cecil B. DeMille's adventure film North West Mounted Police (1940). In the film, Cooper plays a Texas Ranger who pursues an outlaw into western Canada where he joins forces with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who are after the same man, a leader of the North-West Rebellion. While not as popular with critics as its predecessor, the film was another box-office success—the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1940.
The early 1940s were Cooper's prime years as an actor. In a relatively short period, he appeared in five critically successful and popular films that produced some of his finest performances. When Frank Capra offered him the lead role in Meet John Doe before Robert Riskin even developed the script, Cooper accepted his friend's offer, saying, "It's okay, Frank, I don't need a script." In the film, Cooper plays Long John Willoughby, a down-and-out bush-league pitcher hired by a newspaper to pretend to be a man who promises to commit suicide on Christmas Eve to protest all the hypocrisy and corruption in the country. Considered by some critics to be Capra's best film at the time, Meet John Doe was received as a "national event" with Cooper appearing on the front cover of Time magazine on March 3, 1941. In his review in the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes called Cooper's performance a "splendid and utterly persuasive portrayal" and praised his "utterly realistic acting which comes through with such authority". Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote, "Gary Cooper, of course, is 'John Doe' to the life and in the whole—shy, bewildered, non-aggressive, but a veritable tiger when aroused."
That same year, Cooper made two films with director and good friend Howard Hawks. In the biographical film Sergeant York, Cooper portrays war hero Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. The film chronicles York's early backwoods days in Tennessee, his religious conversion and subsequent piety, his stand as a conscientious objector, and finally his heroic actions at the Battle of the Argonne Forest, which earned him the Medal of Honor. Initially, Cooper was nervous and uncertain about playing a living hero, so he traveled to Tennessee to visit York at his home, and the two quiet men established an immediate rapport and discovered they had much in common. Inspired by York's encouragement, Cooper delivered a performance that Howard Barnes of the New York Herald Tribune called "one of extraordinary conviction and versatility", and that Archer Winston of the New York Post called "one of his best". After the film's release, Cooper was awarded the Distinguished Citizenship Medal by the Veterans of Foreign Wars for his "powerful contribution to the promotion of patriotism and loyalty". York admired Cooper's performance and helped promote the film for Warner Bros. Sergeant York became the top-grossing film of the year and was nominated for eleven Academy Awards. Accepting his first Academy Award for Best Actor from his friend James Stewart, Cooper said, "It was Sergeant Alvin York who won this award. Shucks, I've been in the business sixteen years and sometimes dreamed I might get one of these. That's all I can say ... Funny when I was dreaming I always made a better speech."
Cooper concluded the year back at Goldwyn with Howard Hawks to make the romantic comedy Ball of Fire with Barbara Stanwyck. In the film, Cooper plays a shy linguistics professor who leads a team of seven scholars who are writing an encyclopedia. While researching slang, he meets Stanwyck's flirtatious burlesque stripper Sugarpuss O'Shea who blows the dust off their staid life of books. The screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder provided Cooper the opportunity to exercise the full range of his light comedy skills. In his review for the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote that Cooper handled the role with "great skill and comic emphasis" and that his performance was "utterly delightful". Though small in scale, Ball of Fire was one of the top-grossing films of the year—Cooper's fourth consecutive picture to make the top twenty.
Cooper's only film appearance in 1942 was also his last under his Goldwyn contract. In Sam Wood's biographical film The Pride of the Yankees, Cooper portrays baseball star Lou Gehrig who established a record with the New York Yankees for playing in 2,130 consecutive games. Cooper was reluctant to play the seven-time All-Star, who only died the previous year from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — now commonly called "Lou Gehrig's disease". Beyond the challenges of effectively portraying such a popular and nationally recognized figure, Cooper knew very little about baseball and was not left-handed like Gehrig.
After Gehrig's widow visited the actor and expressed her desire that he portray her husband, Cooper accepted the role that covered a twenty-year span of Gehrig's life—his early love of baseball, his rise to greatness, his loving marriage, and his struggle with illness, culminating in his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939 before 62,000 fans. Cooper quickly learned the physical movements of a baseball player and developed a fluid, believable swing. The handedness issue was solved by reversing the print for certain batting scenes. The film was one of the year's top ten pictures and received eleven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's third).
Soon after the publication of Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, Paramount paid $150,000 for the film rights with the express intent of casting Cooper in the lead role of Robert Jordan, an American explosives expert who fights alongside the Republican loyalists during the Spanish Civil War. The original director, Cecil B. DeMille, was replaced by Sam Wood who brought in Dudley Nichols for the screenplay. After the start of principal photography in the Sierra Nevada in late 1942, Ingrid Bergman was brought in to replace ballerina Vera Zorina as the female lead—a change supported by Cooper and Hemingway. The love scenes between Bergman and Cooper were "rapturous" and passionate. Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune wrote that both actors performed with "the true stature and authority of stars". While the film distorted the novel's original political themes and meaning, For Whom the Bell Tolls was a critical and commercial success and received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's fourth).
World War II related activities
Due to his age and health, Cooper did not serve in the military during World War II, but like many of his colleagues, he got involved in the war effort by entertaining the troops. In June 1943, he visited military hospitals in San Diego, and often appeared at the Hollywood Canteen serving food to the servicemen. In late 1943, Cooper undertook a tour of the South West Pacific with actresses Una Merkel and Phyllis Brooks, and accordionist Andy Arcari.
Traveling on a B-24A Liberator bomber, the group toured the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Queensland, Brisbane—where General Douglas MacArthur told Cooper he was watching Sergeant York in a Manila theater when Japanese bombs began falling—New Guinea, Jayapura, and throughout the Solomon Islands.
The group often shared the same sparse living conditions and K-rations as the troops. Cooper met with the servicemen and women, visited military hospitals, introduced his attractive colleagues, and participated in occasional skits. The shows concluded with Cooper's moving recitation of Lou Gehrig's farewell speech. When he returned to the United States, he visited military hospitals throughout the country. Cooper later called his time with the troops the "greatest emotional experience" of his life.
Mature roles, 1944–1952
In 1944, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's wartime adventure film The Story of Dr. Wassell with Laraine Day — his third movie with the director. In the film, Cooper plays American doctor and missionary Corydon M. Wassell, who leads a group of wounded sailors through the jungles of Java to safety. Despite receiving poor reviews, Dr. Wassell was one of the top-grossing films of the year. With his Goldwyn and Paramount contracts now concluded, Cooper decided to remain independent and formed his own production company, International Pictures, with Leo Spitz, William Goetz, and Nunnally Johnson. The fledgling studio's first offering was Sam Wood's romantic comedy Casanova Brown with Teresa Wright, about a man who learns his soon-to-be ex-wife is pregnant with his child, just as he is about to marry another woman. The film received poor reviews, with the New York Daily News calling it "delightful nonsense", and Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, criticizing Cooper's "somewhat obvious and ridiculous clowning". The film was barely profitable.
In 1945, Cooper starred in and produced Stuart Heisler's Western comedy Along Came Jones with Loretta Young for International. In this lighthearted parody of his past heroic image, Cooper plays comically inept cowboy Melody Jones who is mistaken for a ruthless killer. Audiences embraced Cooper's character, and the film was one of the top box-office pictures of the year—a testament to Cooper's still vital audience appeal. It was also International's biggest financial success during its brief history before being sold off to Universal Studios in 1946.
Cooper's career during the post-war years drifted in new directions as American society was changing. While he still played conventional heroic roles, his films now relied less on his heroic screen persona and more on novel stories and exotic settings. In November 1945, Cooper appeared in Sam Wood's nineteenth-century period drama Saratoga Trunk with Ingrid Bergman, about a Texas cowboy and his relationship with a beautiful fortune-hunter. Filmed in early 1943, the movie's release was delayed for two years due to the increased demand for war movies. Despite poor reviews, Saratoga Trunk did well at the box office and became one of the top money-makers of the year for Warner Bros. Cooper's only film in 1946 was Fritz Lang's romantic thriller Cloak and Dagger, about a mild-mannered physics professor recruited by the OSS during the last years of World War II to investigate the German atomic bomb program. Playing a part loosely based on physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, Cooper was uneasy with the role and unable to convey the "inner sense" of the character. The film received poor reviews and was a box-office failure. In 1947, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's epic adventure film Unconquered with Paulette Goddard, about a Virginia militiaman who defends settlers against an unscrupulous gun trader and hostile Indians on the Western frontier during the eighteenth century. The film received mixed reviews, but even long-time DeMille critic James Agee acknowledged the picture had "some authentic flavor of the period". This last of four films made with DeMille was Cooper's most lucrative, earning the actor over $300,000 (equal to $ today) in salary and percentage of profits. Unconquered would be his last unqualified box-office success for the next five years.
In 1948, after making Leo McCarey's romantic comedy Good Sam, Cooper sold his company to Universal Studios and signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. that gave him script and director approval and a guaranteed $295,000 (equal to $ today) per picture. His first film under the new contract was King Vidor's drama The Fountainhead (1949) with Patricia Neal and Raymond Massey. In the film, Cooper plays an idealistic and uncompromising architect who struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism in the face of societal pressures to conform to popular standards. Based on the novel by Ayn Rand who also wrote the screenplay, the film reflects her philosophy and attacks the concepts of collectivism while promoting the virtues of individualism. For most critics, Cooper was hopelessly miscast in the role of Howard Roark. In his review for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther concluded he was "Mr. Deeds out of his element". Cooper returned to his element in Delmer Daves' war drama Task Force (1949), about a retiring rear admiral who reminisces about his long career as a naval aviator and his role in the development of aircraft carriers. Cooper's performance and the Technicolor newsreel footage supplied by the United States Navy made the film one of Cooper's most popular during this period. In the next two years, Cooper made four poorly received films: Michael Curtiz' period drama Bright Leaf (1950), Stuart Heisler's Western melodrama Dallas (1950), Henry Hathaway's wartime comedy You're in the Navy Now (1951), and Raoul Walsh's Western action film Distant Drums (1951).
Cooper's most important film during the post-war years was Fred Zinnemann's Western drama High Noon (1952) with Grace Kelly and Katy Jurado for United Artists. In the film, Cooper plays retiring sheriff Will Kane who is preparing to leave town on his honeymoon when he learns that an outlaw he helped put away and his three henchmen are returning to seek their revenge. Unable to gain the support of the frightened townspeople, and abandoned by his young bride, Kane nevertheless stays to face the outlaws alone. During the filming, Cooper was in poor health and in considerable pain from stomach ulcers. His ravaged face and discomfort in some scenes "photographed as self-doubt", according to biographer Hector Arce, and contributed to the effectiveness of his performance. Considered one of the first "adult" Westerns for its theme of moral courage, High Noon received enthusiastic reviews for its artistry, with Time magazine placing it in the ranks of Stagecoach and The Gunfighter. Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote that Cooper was "at the top of his form", and John McCarten, in The New Yorker, wrote that Cooper was never more effective. The film earned $3.75 million in the United States and $18 million worldwide. Following the example of his friend James Stewart, Cooper accepted a lower salary in exchange for a percent of the profits, and ended up making $600,000. Cooper's understated performance was widely praised, and earned him his second Academy Award for Best Actor.
Later films, 1953–1961
After appearing in André de Toth's Civil War drama Springfield Rifle (1952)—a standard Warner Bros. film that was overshadowed by the success of its predecessor—Cooper made four films outside the United States. In Mark Robson's drama Return to Paradise (1953), Cooper plays an American wanderer who liberates the inhabitants of a Polynesian island from the puritanical rule of a misguided pastor. Cooper endured spartan living conditions, long hours, and ill health during the three-month location shoot on the island of Upolu in Western Samoa. Despite its beautiful cinematography, the film received poor reviews. Cooper's next three films were shot in Mexico. In Hugo Fregonese's action adventure film Blowing Wild (1953) with Barbara Stanwyck, he plays a wildcatter in Mexico who gets involved with an oil company executive and his unscrupulous wife with whom he once had an affair.
In 1954, Cooper appeared in Henry Hathaway's Western drama Garden of Evil, with Susan Hayward, about three soldiers of fortune in Mexico hired to rescue a woman's husband. That same year, he appeared in Robert Aldrich's Western adventure Vera Cruz with Burt Lancaster. In the film, Cooper plays an American adventurer hired by Emperor Maximilian I to escort a countess to Vera Cruz during the Mexican Rebellion of 1866. All of these films received poor reviews but did well at the box-office. For his work in Vera Cruz, Cooper earned $1.4 million in salary and percent of the gross.
During this period, Cooper struggled with health problems. As well as his ongoing treatment for ulcers, he suffered a severe shoulder injury during the filming of Blowing Wild when he was hit by metal fragments from a dynamited oil well. During the filming of Vera Cruz, he reinjured his hip falling from a horse, and was burned when Lancaster fired his rifle too close and the wadding from the blank shell pierced his clothing.
In 1955, he appeared in Otto Preminger's biographical war drama The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, about the World War I general who tried to convince government officials of the importance of air power, and was court-martialed after blaming the War Department for a series of air disasters. Some critics felt that Cooper was miscast, and that his dull, tight-lipped performance did not reflect Mitchell's dynamic and caustic personality. In 1956, Cooper was more effective playing a gentle Indiana Quaker in William Wyler's Civil War drama Friendly Persuasion with Dorothy McGuire. Like Sergeant York and High Noon, the film addresses the conflict between religious pacifism and civic duty. For his performance, Cooper received his second Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actor. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, was awarded the Palme d'Or at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival, and went on to earn $8 million worldwide.
In 1956, Cooper traveled to France to make Billy Wilder's romantic comedy Love in the Afternoon with Audrey Hepburn and Maurice Chevalier. In the film, Cooper plays a middle-aged American playboy in Paris who pursues and eventually falls in love with a much younger woman. Despite receiving some positive reviews—including from Bosley Crowther who praised the film's "charming performances"—most reviewers concluded that Cooper was simply too old for the part. While audiences may not have welcomed seeing Cooper's heroic screen image tarnished by his playing an aging roué trying to seduce an innocent young girl, the film was still a box-office success. The following year, Cooper appeared in Philip Dunne's romantic drama Ten North Frederick. In the film, which was based on the novel by John O'Hara, Cooper plays an attorney whose life is ruined by a double-crossing politician and his own secret affair with his daughter's young roommate. While Cooper brought "conviction and controlled anguish" to his performance, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, it was not enough to save what Bosley Crowther called a "hapless film".
Despite his ongoing health problems and several operations for ulcers and hernias, Cooper continued to work in action films. In 1958, he appeared in Anthony Mann's Western drama Man of the West (1958) with Julie London and Lee J. Cobb, about a reformed outlaw and killer who is forced to confront his violent past when the train he is riding in is held up by his former gang members. The film has been called Cooper's "most pathological Western", with its themes of impotent rage, sexual humiliation, and sadism. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, Cooper, who struggled with moral conflicts in his personal life, "understood the anguish of a character striving to retain his integrity ... [and] brought authentic feeling to the role of a tempted and tormented, yet essentially decent man". Mostly ignored by critics at the time, the film is now well-regarded by film scholars and is considered Cooper's last great film.
After his Warner Bros. contract ended, Cooper formed his own production company, Baroda Productions, and made three unusual films in 1959 about redemption. In Delmer Daves' Western drama The Hanging Tree, Cooper plays a frontier doctor who saves a criminal from a lynch mob, and later tries to exploit his sordid past. Cooper delivered a "powerful and persuasive" performance of an emotionally scarred man whose need to dominate others is transformed by the love and sacrifice of a woman. In Robert Rossen's historical adventure They Came to Cordura with Rita Hayworth, he plays an army officer who is found guilty of cowardice and assigned the degrading task of recommending soldiers for the Medal of Honor during the Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916.
While Cooper received positive reviews, Variety and Films in Review felt he was too old for the part. In Michael Anderson's action drama The Wreck of the Mary Deare with Charlton Heston, Cooper plays a disgraced merchant marine officer who decides to stay aboard his sinking cargo ship in order to prove the vessel was deliberately scuttled and to redeem his good name. Like its two predecessors, the film was physically demanding. Cooper, who was a trained scuba diver, did most of his own underwater scenes. Biographer Jeffrey Meyers observed that in all three roles, Cooper effectively conveyed the sense of lost honor and desire for redemption—what Joseph Conrad in Lord Jim called the "struggles of an individual trying to save from the fire his idea of what his moral identity should be".
Personal life
Marriage and family
Cooper was formally introduced to his future wife, 20-year-old New York debutante Veronica Balfe, on Easter Sunday 1933 at a party given by her uncle, art director Cedric Gibbons. Called "Rocky" by her family and friends, she grew up on Park Avenue and attended finishing schools. Her stepfather was Wall Street tycoon Paul Shields. Cooper and Rocky were quietly married at her parents' Park Avenue residence on December 15, 1933. According to his friends, the marriage had a positive impact on Cooper, who turned away from past indiscretions and took control of his life. Athletic and a lover of the outdoors, Rocky shared many of Cooper's interests, including riding, skiing, and skeet-shooting. She organized their social life, and her wealth and social connections provided Cooper access to New York high society. Cooper and his wife owned homes in the Los Angeles area in Encino (1933–36), Brentwood (1936–53), and Holmby Hills (1954–61), and owned a vacation home in Aspen, Colorado (1949–53).
Gary and Veronica Cooper's daughter, Maria Veronica Cooper, was born on September 15, 1937. By all accounts, he was a patient and affectionate father, teaching Maria to ride a bicycle, play tennis, ski, and ride horses. Sharing many of her parents' interests, she accompanied them on their travels and was often photographed with them. Like her father, she developed a love for art and drawing. As a family they vacationed together in Sun Valley, Idaho, spent time at Rocky's parents' country house in Southampton, New York, and took frequent trips to Europe. Cooper and Rocky were legally separated on May 16, 1951, when Cooper moved out of their home. For over two years, they maintained a fragile and uneasy family life with their daughter. Cooper moved back into their home in November 1953, and their formal reconciliation occurred in February 1954.
Romantic relationships
Prior to his marriage, Cooper had a series of romantic relationships with leading actresses, beginning in 1927 with Clara Bow, who advanced his career by helping him get one of his first leading roles in Children of Divorce. Bow was also responsible for getting Cooper a role in Wings, which generated an enormous amount of fan mail for the young actor. In 1928, he had a relationship with another experienced actress, Evelyn Brent, whom he met while filming Beau Sabreur. In 1929, while filming The Wolf Song, Cooper began an intense affair with Lupe Vélez, which was the most important romance of his early life. During their two years together, Cooper also had brief affairs with Marlene Dietrich while filming Morocco in 1930 and with Carole Lombard while making I Take This Woman in 1931. During his year abroad in 1931–32, Cooper had an affair with the married Countess Dorothy di Frasso, while staying at her Villa Madama near Rome.
After he was married in December 1933, Cooper remained faithful to his wife until the summer of 1942, when he began an affair with Ingrid Bergman during the production of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Their relationship lasted through the completion of filming Saratoga Trunk in June 1943. In 1948, after finishing work on The Fountainhead, Cooper began an affair with actress Patricia Neal, his co-star. At first they kept their affair discreet, but eventually it became an open secret in Hollywood, and Cooper's wife confronted him with the rumors, which he admitted were true. He also confessed that he was in love with Neal, and continued to see her. Cooper and his wife were legally separated in May 1951, but he did not seek a divorce. Neal later claimed that Cooper hit her after she went on a date with Kirk Douglas, and that he arranged for her to have an abortion when she became pregnant with Cooper's child. Neal ended their relationship in late December 1951. During his three-year separation from his wife, Cooper was rumored to have had affairs with Grace Kelly, Lorraine Chanel, and Gisèle Pascal.
Cooper biographers have explored his friendship in the late twenties with the actor Anderson Lawler, with whom Cooper shared a house on and off for a year, while at the same time seeing Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent and Lupe Vélez. Lupe Vélez once told Hedda Hopper of Vélez' affair with Cooper; whenever he would come home after seeing Lawler, she would sniff for Lawler's cologne. Vélez' biographer Michelle Vogel has reported that Vélez consented to Cooper's sexual behavior with Lawler, but only as long as she, too, could participate. In later life, he became involved in a relationship with the costume designer Irene, and was, according to Irene, "the only man she ever loved". A year after his death in 1961, Irene committed suicide by jumping from the 11th floor of the Knickerbocker Hotel, after telling Doris Day of her grief over Cooper's death.
Friendships, interests, and character
Cooper's twenty-year friendship with Ernest Hemingway began at Sun Valley in October 1940. The previous year, Hemingway drew upon Cooper's image when he created the character of Robert Jordan for the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The two shared a passion for the outdoors, and for years they hunted duck and pheasant, and skied together in Sun Valley. Both men admired the work of Rudyard Kipling—Cooper kept a copy of the poem "If—" in his dressing room—and retained as adults Kipling's sense of boyish adventure.
As well as admiring Cooper's hunting skills and knowledge of the outdoors, Hemingway believed his character matched his screen persona, once telling a friend, "If you made up a character like Coop, nobody would believe it. He's just too good to be true." They saw each other often, and their friendship remained strong through the years.
Cooper's social life generally centered on sports, outdoor activities, and dinner parties with his family and friends from the film industry, including directors Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, William Wellman, and Fred Zinnemann, and actors Joel McCrea, James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, and Robert Taylor. As well as hunting, Cooper enjoyed riding, fishing, skiing, and later in life, scuba diving. He never abandoned his early love for art and drawing, and over the years, he and his wife acquired a private collection of modern paintings, including works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Cooper owned several works by Pablo Picasso, whom he met in 1956. Cooper also had a lifelong passion for automobiles, with a collection that included a 1930 Duesenberg.
Cooper was naturally reserved and introspective, and loved the solitude of outdoor activities. Not unlike his screen persona, his communication style frequently consisted of long silences with an occasional "yup" and "shucks". He once said, "If others have more interesting things to say than I have, I keep quiet." According to his friends, Cooper could also be an articulate, well-informed conversationalist on topics ranging from horses, guns, and Western history to film production, sports cars, and modern art. He was modest and unpretentious, frequently downplaying his acting abilities and career accomplishments. His friends and colleagues described him as charming, well-mannered, and thoughtful, with a lively boyish sense of humor. Cooper maintained a sense of propriety throughout his career and never misused his movie star status—never sought special treatment or refused to work with a director or leading lady. His close friend Joel McCrea recalled, "Coop never fought, he never got mad, he never told anybody off that I know of; everybody that worked with him liked him."
Political views
Like his father, Cooper was a conservative Republican; he voted for Calvin Coolidge in 1924, Herbert Hoover in 1928 and 1932, and campaigned for Wendell Willkie in 1940. When Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for an unprecedented fourth presidential term in 1944, Cooper campaigned for Thomas E. Dewey and criticized Roosevelt for being dishonest and adopting "foreign" ideas. In a radio address that he paid for himself just prior to the election, Cooper said, "I disagree with the New Deal belief that the America all of us love is old and worn-out and finished—and has to borrow foreign notions that don't even seem to work any too well where they come from ... Our country is a young country that just has to make up its mind to be itself again." He also attended a Republican rally at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that drew 93,000 Dewey supporters.
Cooper was one of the founding members of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a conservative organization dedicated, according to its statement of principles, to preserving the "American way of life" and opposing communism and fascism. The organization — whose membership included Walter Brennan, Laraine Day, Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Hedda Hopper, Ronald Reagan, Barbara Stanwyck, and John Wayne — advised the United States Congress to investigate communist influence in the motion picture industry. On October 23, 1947, Cooper was subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and was asked if he had observed any "communistic influence" in Hollywood.
Cooper recounted statements he'd heard suggesting that the Constitution was out of date and that Congress was an unnecessary institution—comments that Cooper said he found to be "very un-American" and testified that he had rejected several scripts because he thought they were "tinged with communist ideas". Unlike some other witnesses, Cooper did not name any individuals, nor did he name any scripts, during his testimony.
In 1951, while making High Noon, Cooper became friends with the film's screenwriter, Carl Foreman, who had been a member of the Communist Party. When Foreman was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Cooper put his career on the line to defend Foreman. When John Wayne and others threatened Cooper with blacklisting himself and the loss of his passport if he did not walk off the film, Cooper gave a statement to the press in support of Foreman, calling him "the finest kind of American". When producer Stanley Kramer removed Foreman's name as screenwriter, Cooper and director Fred Zinnemann threatened to walk off the film if Foreman's name was not restored. Foreman later said that, of all his friends and allies and colleagues in Hollywood, "Cooper was the only big one who tried to help. The only one." Cooper even offered to testify in Foreman's behalf before the committee, but character witnesses were not allowed. Foreman always sent future scripts to Cooper for first refusal, including The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Key and The Guns of Navarone. Cooper had to turn them down because of his age.
Religion
Cooper was baptized in the Anglican Church in December 1911 in Britain, and was raised in the Episcopal Church in the United States. While he was not an observant Christian for most of his adult life, many of his friends believed he had a deeply spiritual side.
On June 26, 1953, Cooper accompanied his wife and daughter, who were devout Catholics, to Rome, where they had an audience with Pope Pius XII. Cooper and his wife were still separated at the time, but the papal visit marked the beginning of their gradual reconciliation. In the coming years, Cooper contemplated his mortality and his personal behavior, and started discussing Catholicism with his family. He began attending church with them regularly, and met with their parish priest, who offered Cooper spiritual guidance. After several months of study, Cooper was baptized as a Roman Catholic on April 9, 1959, before a small group of family and friends at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.
Final years and death
On April 14, 1960, Cooper underwent surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had metastasized to his colon. He fell ill again on May 31 and underwent further surgery at Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles in early June to remove a malignant tumor from his large intestine. After recuperating over the summer, Cooper took his family on vacation to the south of France before traveling to the UK in the fall to star in The Naked Edge. In December 1960, he worked on the NBC television documentary The Real West, which was part of the company's Project 20 series.
On December 27, his wife learned from their family doctor that Cooper's cancer had spread to his lungs and bones and was inoperable. His family decided not to tell him immediately.
On January 9, 1961, Cooper attended a dinner that was given in his honor and hosted by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin at the Friars Club. The dinner was attended by many of his industry friends and concluded with a brief speech by Cooper who said, "The only achievement I'm proud of is the friends I've made in this community."
In mid-January, Cooper took his family to Sun Valley for their last vacation together. Cooper and Hemingway hiked through the snow together for the last time. On February 27, after returning to Los Angeles, Cooper learned that he was dying. He later told his family, "We'll pray for a miracle; but if not, and that's God's will, that's all right too." On April 17, Cooper watched the Academy Awards ceremony on television and saw his good friend James Stewart, who had presented Cooper with his first Oscar years earlier, accept on Cooper's behalf an honorary award for lifetime achievement—his third Oscar. Holding back tears, Stewart said, "Coop, I'll get this to you right away. And Coop, I want you to know this, that with this goes all the warm friendship and the affection and the admiration and the deep, the deep respect of all of us. We're very, very proud of you, Coop. All of us are tremendously proud." The following day, newspapers around the world announced the news that Cooper was dying. In the coming days he received numerous messages of appreciation and encouragement, including telegrams from Pope John XXIII and Queen Elizabeth II, and a telephone call from President John F. Kennedy.
In his last public statement on May 4, Cooper said, "I know that what is happening is God's will. I am not afraid of the future." He received the last rites on May 12. Cooper died quietly the following day, Saturday, May 13, 1961, at 12:47 P.M.
A requiem mass was held on May 18 at the Church of the Good Shepherd, attended by many of Cooper's friends, including James Stewart, Jack Benny, Henry Hathaway, Joel McCrea, Audrey Hepburn, Jack L. Warner, John Ford, John Wayne, Edward G. Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Fred Astaire, Randolph Scott, Walter Pidgeon, Bob Hope and Marlene Dietrich. Cooper was buried in the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. In May 1974, after his family relocated to New York, Cooper's remains were exhumed and reburied in Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton. His grave is marked by a three-ton boulder from a Montauk quarry.
Acting style and reputation
Cooper's acting style consisted of three essential characteristics: his ability to project elements of his own personality onto the characters he portrayed, to appear natural and authentic in his roles, and to underplay and deliver restrained performances calibrated for the camera and the screen. Acting teacher Lee Strasberg once observed: "The simplest examples of Stanislavsky's ideas are actors such as Gary Cooper, John Wayne, and Spencer Tracy. They try not to act but to be themselves, to respond or react. They refuse to say or do anything they feel not to be consonant with their own characters." Film director François Truffaut ranked Cooper among "the greatest actors" because of his ability to deliver great performances "without direction". This ability to project elements of his own personality onto his characters produced a continuity across his performances to the extent that critics and audiences were convinced that he was simply "playing himself".
Cooper's ability to project his personality onto his characters played an important part in his appearing natural and authentic on screen. Actor John Barrymore said of Cooper, "This fellow is the world's greatest actor. He does without effort what the rest of us spend our lives trying to learn—namely, to be natural." Charles Laughton, who played opposite Cooper in Devil and the Deep agreed, "In truth, that boy hasn't the least idea how well he acts ... He gets at it from the inside, from his own clear way of looking at life." William Wyler, who directed Cooper in two films, called him a "superb actor, a master of movie acting".
In his review of Cooper's performance in The Real Glory, Graham Greene wrote, "Sometimes his lean photogenic face seems to leave everything to the lens, but there is no question here of his not acting. Watch him inoculate the girl against cholera—the casual jab of the needle, and the dressing slapped on while he talks, as though a thousand arms had taught him where to stab and he doesn't have to think anymore."
Cooper's style of underplaying before the camera surprised many of his directors and fellow actors. Even in his earliest feature films, he recognized the camera's ability to pick up slight gestures and facial movements. Commenting on Cooper's performance in Sergeant York, director Howard Hawks observed, "He worked very hard and yet he didn't seem to be working. He was a strange actor because you'd look at him during a scene and you'd think ... this isn't going to be any good. But when you saw the rushes in the projection room the next day you could read in his face all the things he'd been thinking." Sam Wood, who directed Cooper in four films, had similar observations about Cooper's performance in Pride of the Yankees, noting, "What I thought was underplaying turned out to be just the right approach. On the screen he's perfect, yet on the set you'd swear it's the worst job of acting in the history of motion pictures."
Fellow actors admired his abilities as an actor. Commenting on her two films playing opposite Cooper, actress Ingrid Bergman concluded, "The personality of this man was so enormous, so overpowering—and that expression in his eyes and his face, it was so delicate and so underplayed. You just didn't notice it until you saw it on the screen. I thought he was marvelous; the most underplaying and the most natural actor I ever worked with."
Tom Hanks declared, "In only one scene in the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, we see the future of screen acting in the form of Gary Cooper. He is quiet and natural, somehow different from the other cast members. He does something mysterious with his eyes and shoulders that is much more like 'being' than 'acting'."
Daniel Day-Lewis said, "I don't particularly like westerns as a genre, but I do love certain westerns. 'High Noon' means a lot to me – I love the purity and the honesty, I love Gary Cooper in that film, the idea of the last man standing."
Chris Pratt stated, "I started watching Westerns when I was shooting in London about four or five years ago. I really fell in love with Gary Cooper, and his stuff. That sucked me into the Westerns. Before, I never got engrossed in the story. I'd just dip in, and there were guys in horses in black and white. High Noon's later Gary Cooper, I liked that. But I liked 'The Westerner'. That's my favorite one. I have that poster hung up in my house because I really like that one."
To Al Pacino, "Gary Cooper was a phenomenon—his ability to take some thing and elevate it, give it such dignity. One of the great presences."
Mylène Demongeot first got with Gary Cooper for the opening of the first escalator to be installed in a cinema, at the Rex Theatre in Paris, on June 7, 1957. She declared in a 2015 filmed interview: "Gary Cooper ... il est sublime ! Aaahhh (Mylène pushing a cry of love not to say ecstasy) il est sublime ... Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Là je dois dire que ça fait partie des stars, y'a Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, ces grands Américains que j'ai rencontrés comme ça, c'est vraiment des mecs incroyables. Y'en a plus des comme ça ! Euh non. (Gary Cooper was sublime, there I have to say, now he, was part of the stars, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, those great americans who I've met really were unbelievable guys, there aren't any like them anymore)."
Career assessment and legacy
Cooper's career spanned thirty-six years, from 1925 to 1961. During that time, he appeared in eighty-four feature films in a leading role. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His natural and authentic acting style appealed powerfully to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major movie genres, including Westerns, war films, adventure films, drama films, crime films, romance films, comedy films, and romantic comedy films. He appeared on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities for twenty-three consecutive years, from 1936 to 1958. According to Quigley's annual poll, Cooper was one of the top money-making stars for eighteen years, appearing in the top ten in 1936–37, 1941–49, and 1951–57. He topped the list in 1953. In Quigley's list of all-time money-making stars, Cooper is listed fourth, after John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Tom Cruise. At the time of his death, it was estimated that his films grossed well over $200 million (equivalent to $ billion in ).
In over half of his feature films, Cooper portrayed Westerners, soldiers, pilots, sailors, and explorers—all men of action. In the rest he played a wide range of characters, included doctors, professors, artists, architects, clerks, and baseball players. Cooper's heroic screen image changed with each period of his career. In his early films, he played the young naive hero sure of his moral position and trusting in the triumph of simple virtues (The Virginian). After becoming a major star, his Western screen persona was replaced by a more cautious hero in adventure films and dramas (A Farewell to Arms). During the height of his career, from 1936 to 1943, he played a new type of hero—a champion of the common man willing to sacrifice himself for others (Mr. Deeds, Meet John Doe, and For Whom the Bell Tolls).
In the post-war years, Cooper attempted broader variations on his screen image, which now reflected a hero increasingly at odds with the world who must face adversity alone (The Fountainhead and High Noon). In his final films, Cooper's hero rejects the violence of the past, and seeks to reclaim lost honor and find redemption (Friendly Persuasion and Man of the West). The screen persona he developed and sustained throughout his career represented the ideal American hero—a tall, handsome, and sincere man of steadfast integrity who emphasized action over intellect, and combined the heroic qualities of the romantic lover, the adventurer, and the common man.
On February 6, 1960, Cooper was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6243 Hollywood Boulevard for his contribution to the film industry. He was awarded a star on the sidewalk outside the Ellen Theater in Bozeman, Montana.
On May 6, 1961, he was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters in recognition of his significant contribution to the arts. On July 30, 1961, he was posthumously awarded the David di Donatello Special Award in Italy for his career achievements.
In 1966, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. In 2015, he was inducted into the Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Hall of Fame. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper eleventh on its list of the 25 male stars of classic Hollywood. Three of his characters—Will Kane, Lou Gehrig, and Sergeant York—made AFI's list of the one hundred greatest heroes and villains, all of them as heroes. His Lou Gehrig line, "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.", is ranked by AFI as the thirty-eighth greatest movie quote of all time.
More than a half century after his death, Cooper's enduring legacy, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, is his image of the ideal American hero preserved in his film performances. Charlton Heston once observed, "He projected the kind of man Americans would like to be, probably more than any actor that's ever lived."
In the TV series Justified, based on works and characters created by Elmore Leonard, Gary Cooper is used throughout the six seasons as the man whom U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant, aspires to be. When his colleague asks Marshall Givens how he thinks his dangerous plan to bring down a villain can possibly work, he replies: "Why not? Worked for Gary Cooper."
Gary Cooper is referenced several times in the critically acclaimed television series The Sopranos, with protagonist Tony Soprano asking "What ever happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type." while complaining about his problems to his therapist.
In the 1930s hit song "Puttin' On the Ritz", Cooper is referenced in the line "dress up like a million dollar trooper/Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper, Super duper!" More than two decades after Cooper's death a new version of the song was released in 1983 by Taco; the original lyrics were kept, including the references to Cooper.
In J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Cooper is "spotted" by Holden Caulfield to distract a woman he is dancing with.
Awards and nominations
Filmography
The following is a list of feature films in which Cooper appeared in a leading role.
The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)
Children of Divorce (1927)
Arizona Bound (1927)
Wings (1927)
Nevada (1927)
It (1927)
The Last Outlaw (1927)
Beau Sabreur (1928)
The Legion of the Condemned (1928)
Doomsday (1928)
Half a Bride (1928)
Lilac Time (1928)
The First Kiss (1928)
The Shopworn Angel (1928)
Wolf Song (1929)
Betrayal (1929)
The Virginian (1929)
Only the Brave (1930)
The Texan (1930)
Seven Days' Leave (1930)
A Man from Wyoming (1930)
The Spoilers (1930)
Morocco (1930)
Fighting Caravans (1931)
City Streets (1931)
I Take This Woman (1931)
His Woman (1931)
Devil and the Deep (1932)
If I Had a Million (1932)
A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Today We Live (1933)
One Sunday Afternoon (1933)
Design for Living (1933)
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
Operator 13 (1934)
Now and Forever (1934)
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
The Wedding Night (1935)
Peter Ibbetson (1935)
Desire (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
The Plainsman (1936)
Souls at Sea (1937)
The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
Beau Geste (1939)
The Real Glory (1939)
The Westerner (1940)
North West Mounted Police (1940)
Meet John Doe (1941)
Sergeant York (1941)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
Casanova Brown (1944)
Along Came Jones (1945)
Saratoga Trunk (1945)
Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Unconquered (1947)
Good Sam (1948)
The Fountainhead (1949)
Task Force (1949)
Bright Leaf (1950)
Dallas (1950)
You're in the Navy Now (1951)
It's a Big Country (1951)
Distant Drums (1951)
High Noon (1952)
Springfield Rifle (1952)
Return to Paradise (1953)
Blowing Wild (1953)
Garden of Evil (1954)
Vera Cruz (1954)
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Ten North Frederick (1958)
Man of the West (1958)
The Hanging Tree (1959)
They Came to Cordura (1959)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
The Naked Edge (1961)
Radio appearances
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Adrien Le Bihan, Gary Cooper, le prince des acteurs, LettMotif, 2021, 358p.()
External links
1901 births
1961 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Academy Honorary Award recipients
American expatriates in England
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
American male television actors
American people of English descent
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
California Republicans
Catholics from Montana
Conservatism in the United States
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from prostate cancer
Grinnell College people
Male Western (genre) film actors
Male actors from Montana
Paramount Pictures contract players
People educated at Dunstable Grammar School
People from Brentwood, Los Angeles
People from Dunstable
People from Helena, Montana
People from Holmby Hills, Los Angeles | 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"
]
|
[
"Gary Cooper",
"Silent films, 1925-28",
"Was there a Silent film released in 1925?",
"The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky,"
]
| C_6ade1075ca2849c5aee8a7091d6b357c_1 | Was he in any other films? | 3 | Was Gary Cooper in any other films, other than the silent films? | Gary Cooper | In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, including Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt work--which sometimes injured horses and riders--"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name. Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week. Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal--finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings, the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada--both films directed by John Waters. In 1928, Paramount paired Cooper with a youthful Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss--advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride. That year, Cooper also made Lilac Time with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928. CANNOTANSWER | a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur ( | Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent, and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, as well as receiving an Academy Honorary Award for his career achievements in 1961. He was one of the top 10 film personalities for 23 consecutive years, and one of the top money-making stars for 18 years. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper at No. 11 on its list of the 25 greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Cooper's career spanned 36 years, from 1925 to 1961, and included leading roles in 84 feature films. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era through to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His screen persona appealed strongly to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major film genres. His ability to project his own personality onto the characters he played contributed to his natural and authentic appearance on screen. Throughout his career, he sustained a screen persona that represented the ideal American hero.
Cooper began his career as a film extra and stunt rider, but soon landed acting roles. After establishing himself as a Western hero in his early silent films, he appeared as the Virginian and became a movie star in 1929 with his first sound picture, The Virginian. In the early 1930s, he expanded his heroic image to include more cautious characters in adventure films and dramas such as A Farewell to Arms (1932) and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935). During the height of his career, Cooper portrayed a new type of hero—a champion of the common man—in films such as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), Sergeant York (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). He later portrayed more mature characters at odds with the world in films such as The Fountainhead (1949) and High Noon (1952). In his final films, he played non-violent characters searching for redemption in films such as Friendly Persuasion (1956) and Man of the West (1958).
Early life
Frank James Cooper was born in Helena, Montana, on May 7, 1901, the younger of two sons of English parents Alice (née Brazier; 1873–1967) and Charles Henry Cooper (1865–1946). His brother, Arthur, was six years his senior. Cooper's father came from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, and became a prominent lawyer, rancher, and Montana Supreme Court justice. His mother hailed from Gillingham, Kent, and married Charles in Montana. In 1906, Charles purchased the Seven-Bar-Nine cattle ranch, about north of Helena near Craig, Montana. Cooper and Arthur spent their summers at the ranch and learned to ride horses, hunt, and fish. Cooper attended Central Grade School in Helena.
Alice wanted her sons to have an English education, so she took them back to England in 1909 to enroll them in Dunstable Grammar School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. While there, Cooper and his brother lived with their father's cousins, William and Emily Barton, at their home in Houghton Regis. Cooper studied Latin, French, and English history at Dunstable until 1912. While he adapted to English school discipline and learned the requisite social graces, he never adjusted to the rigid class structure and formal Eton collars he was required to wear. He received his confirmation in the Church of England at the Church of All Saints in Houghton Regis on December 3, 1911. His mother accompanied her sons back to the U.S. in August 1912, and Cooper resumed his education at Johnson Grammar School in Helena.
When Cooper was 15, he injured his hip in a car accident. On his doctor's recommendation, he returned to the Seven-Bar-Nine ranch to recuperate by horseback riding. The misguided therapy left him with his characteristic stiff, off-balanced walk and slightly angled horse-riding style. He left Helena High School after two years in 1918, and returned to the family ranch to work full-time as a cowboy. In 1919, his father arranged for him to attend Gallatin County High School in Bozeman, Montana, where English teacher Ida Davis encouraged him to focus on academics and participate in debating and dramatics. Cooper later called Davis "the woman partly responsible for [him] giving up cowboy-ing and going to college".
Cooper was still attending high school in 1920 when he took three art courses at Montana Agricultural College in Bozeman. His interest in art was inspired years earlier by the Western paintings of Charles Marion Russell and Frederic Remington. Cooper especially admired and studied Russell's Lewis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross' Hole (1910), which still hangs in the state capitol building in Helena. In 1922, to continue his art education, he enrolled in Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. He did well academically in most of his courses, but was not accepted into the school's drama club. His drawings and watercolor paintings were exhibited throughout the dormitory, and he was named art editor for the college yearbook. During the summers of 1922 and 1923, Cooper worked at Yellowstone National Park as a tour guide driving the yellow open-top buses. Despite a promising first 18 months at Grinnell, he left college suddenly in February 1924, spent a month in Chicago looking for work as an artist, and then returned to Helena, where he sold editorial cartoons to the local Independent newspaper.
In autumn 1924, Cooper's father left the Montana Supreme Court bench and moved with his wife to Los Angeles to administer the estates of two relatives, and Cooper joined his parents there in November at his father's request. After briefly working a series of unpromising jobs, he met two friends from Montana who were working as film extras and stunt riders in low-budget Western films for the small movie studios on Poverty Row. They introduced him to another Montana cowboy, rodeo champion Jay "Slim" Talbot, who took him to see a casting director. Wanting money for a professional art course, Cooper worked as a film extra for $5 a day, and as a stunt rider for $10. Cooper and Talbot became close friends and hunting companions, and Talbot later worked as Cooper's stuntman and stand-in for over three decades.
Career
Silent films, 1925–1928
In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, but also the already emergent major studios, Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt workwhich sometimes injured horses and riders"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name.
Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week.
Cooper's first important film role was a supporting part in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) starring Ronald Colman and Vilma Bánky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal—finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings (both 1927), the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada—both films directed by John Waters.
Paramount paired Cooper with Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss (both 1928)—advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride (also both 1928). Around the same time, Cooper made Lilac Time (1928) with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928.
Hollywood stardom, 1929–1935
Cooper became a major movie star in 1929 with the release of his first talking picture, The Virginian (1929), which was directed by Victor Fleming and co-starred Mary Brian and Walter Huston. Based on the popular novel by Owen Wister, The Virginian was one of the first sound films to define the Western code of honor and helped establish many of the conventions of the Western movie genre that persist to the present day. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, the romantic image of the tall, handsome, and shy cowboy hero who embodied male freedom, courage, and honor was created in large part by Cooper in the film. Unlike some silent film actors who had trouble adapting to the new sound medium, Cooper transitioned naturally, with his "deep and clear" and "pleasantly drawling" voice, which was perfectly suited for the characters he portrayed on screen, also according to Meyers. Looking to capitalize on Cooper's growing popularity, Paramount cast him in several Westerns and wartime dramas, including Only the Brave, The Texan, Seven Days' Leave, A Man from Wyoming, and The Spoilers (all released in 1930). Norman Rockwell depicted Cooper in his role as The Texan for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on May 24, 1930.
One of the more important performances in Cooper's early career was his portrayal of a sullen legionnaire in Josef von Sternberg's film Morocco (also 1930) with Marlene Dietrich in her introduction to American audiences. During production, von Sternberg focused his energies on Dietrich and treated Cooper dismissively. Tensions came to a head after von Sternberg yelled directions at Cooper in German. The actor approached the director, picked him up by the collar, and said, "If you expect to work in this country you'd better get on to the language we use here." Despite the tensions on the set, Cooper produced "one of his best performances", according to Thornton Delehanty of the New York Evening Post.
After returning to the Western genre in Zane Grey's Fighting Caravans (1931) with French actress Lili Damita, Cooper appeared in the Dashiell Hammett crime film City Streets (also 1931), co-starring Sylvia Sidney and Paul Lukas, playing a westerner who gets involved with big-city gangsters in order to save the woman he loves. Cooper concluded the year with appearances in two unsuccessful films: I Take This Woman (also 1931) with Carole Lombard, and His Woman with Claudette Colbert. The demands and pressures of making ten films in two years left Cooper exhausted and in poor health, suffering from anemia and jaundice. He had lost during that period, and felt lonely, isolated, and depressed by his sudden fame and wealth. In May 1931, Cooper left Hollywood and sailed to Algiers and then Italy, where he lived for the next year.
During his time abroad, Cooper stayed with the Countess Dorothy di Frasso at the Villa Madama in Rome, where she taught him about good food and vintage wines, how to read Italian and French menus, and how to socialize among Europe's nobility and upper classes. After guiding him through the great art museums and galleries of Italy, she accompanied him on a ten-week big-game hunting safari on the slopes of Mount Kenya in East Africa, where he was credited with over sixty kills, including two lions, a rhinoceros, and various antelopes. His safari experience in Africa had a profound influence on Cooper and intensified his love of the wilderness. After returning to Europe, he and the countess set off on a Mediterranean cruise of the Italian and French Rivieras. Rested and rejuvenated by his year-long exile, a healthy Cooper returned to Hollywood in April 1932 and negotiated a new contract with Paramount for two films per year, a salary of $4,000 a week, and director and script approval.
In 1932, after completing Devil and the Deep with Tallulah Bankhead to fulfill his old contract, Cooper appeared in A Farewell to Arms, the first film adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel. Co-starring Helen Hayes, a leading New York theatre star and Academy Award winner, and Adolphe Menjou, the film presented Cooper with one of his most ambitious and challenging dramatic roles, playing an American ambulance driver wounded in Italy who falls in love with an English nurse during World War I. Critics praised his highly intense and emotional performance, and the film became one of the year's most commercially successful pictures. In 1933, after making Today We Live with Joan Crawford and One Sunday Afternoon with Fay Wray, Cooper appeared in the Ernst Lubitsch comedy film Design for Living, based on the successful Noël Coward play. Co-starring Miriam Hopkins and Fredric March, the film was a box office success, ranking as one of the top ten highest-grossing films of 1933. All three of the lead actors—March, Cooper, and Hopkins—received attention from this film as they were all at the peak of their careers. Cooper's performance — playing an American artist in Europe competing with his playwright friend for the affections of a beautiful woman — was singled out for its versatility and revealed his genuine ability to do light comedy. Cooper changed his name legally to "Gary Cooper" in August 1933.
In 1934, Cooper was loaned out to MGM for the Civil War drama film Operator 13 with Marion Davies, about a beautiful Union spy who falls in love with a Confederate soldier. Despite Richard Boleslawski's imaginative direction and George J. Folsey's lavish cinematography, the film did poorly at the box office.
Back at Paramount, Cooper appeared in his first of seven films by director Henry Hathaway, Now and Forever, with Carole Lombard and Shirley Temple. In the film, he plays a confidence man who tries to sell his daughter to the relatives who raised her, but is eventually won over by the adorable girl. Impressed by Temple's intelligence and charm, Cooper developed a close rapport with her, both on and off screen. The film was a box-office success.
The following year, Cooper was loaned out to Samuel Goldwyn Productions to appear in King Vidor's romance film The Wedding Night with Anna Sten, who was being groomed as "another Garbo". In the film, Cooper plays an alcoholic novelist who retreats to his family's New England farm where he meets and falls in love with a beautiful Polish neighbor. Cooper delivered a performance of surprising range and depth, according to biographer Larry Swindell. Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, the film was not popular with American audiences, who may have been offended by the film's depiction of an extramarital affair and its tragic ending.
That same year, Cooper appeared in two Henry Hathaway films: the melodrama Peter Ibbetson with Ann Harding, about a man caught up in a dream world created by his love for a childhood sweetheart, and the adventure film The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, about a daring British officer and his men who defend their stronghold at Bengal against rebellious local tribes. While the former, championed by the surrealists became more successful in Europe than in the United States, the latter was nominated for seven Academy Awards and became one of Cooper's most popular and successful adventure films. Hathaway had the highest respect for Cooper's acting ability, calling him "the best actor of all of them".
American folk hero, 1936–1943
From Mr. Deeds to The Real Glory, 1936–1939
Cooper's career took an important turn in 1936. After making Frank Borzage's romantic comedy film Desire with Marlene Dietrich at Paramount—in which he delivered a performance considered by some contemporary critics as one of his finest—Cooper returned to Poverty Row for the first time since his early silent film days to make Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town with Jean Arthur for Columbia Pictures. In the film, Cooper plays the character of Longfellow Deeds, a quiet, innocent writer of greeting cards who inherits a fortune, leaves behind his idyllic life in Vermont, and travels to New York where he faces a world of corruption and deceit. Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin were able to use Cooper's well-established screen persona as the "quintessential American hero"—a symbol of honesty, courage, and goodness—to create a new type of "folk hero" for the common man. Commenting on Cooper's impact on the character and the film, Capra observed:
Both Desire and Mr. Deeds opened in April 1936 to critical praise and were major box-office successes. In his review in The New York Times, Frank Nugent wrote that Cooper was "proving himself one of the best light comedians in Hollywood". For his performance in Mr. Deeds, Cooper received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Cooper appeared in two other Paramount films in 1936. In Lewis Milestone's adventure film The General Died at Dawn with Madeleine Carroll, he plays an American soldier of fortune in China who helps the peasants defend themselves against the oppression of a cruel warlord. Written by playwright Clifford Odets, the film was a critical and commercial success.
In Cecil B. DeMille's sprawling frontier epic The Plainsman—his first of four films with the director—Cooper portrays Wild Bill Hickok in a highly fictionalized version of the opening of the American western frontier. The film was an even greater box-office hit than its predecessor, due in large part to Jean Arthur's definitive depiction of Calamity Jane and Cooper's inspired portrayal of Hickock as an enigmatic figure of "deepening mythic substance". That year, Cooper appeared for the first time on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities, where he would remain for the next twenty-three years.
In late 1936, Paramount was preparing a new contract for Cooper that would raise his salary to $8,000 a week when Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn for six films over six years with a minimum guarantee of $150,000 per picture. Paramount brought suit against Goldwyn and Cooper, and the court ruled that Cooper's new Goldwyn contract afforded the actor sufficient time to also honor his Paramount agreement. Cooper continued to make films with both studios, and by 1939 the United States Treasury reported that Cooper was the country's highest wage earner, at $482,819 (equivalent to $ million in ).
In contrast to his output the previous year, Cooper appeared in only one picture in 1937, Henry Hathaway's adventure film Souls at Sea. A critical and box-office failure, Cooper referred to it as his "almost picture", saying, "It was almost exciting, and almost interesting. And I was almost good." In 1938, he appeared in Archie Mayo's biographical film The Adventures of Marco Polo. Plagued by production problems and a weak screenplay, the film became Goldwyn's biggest failure to that date, losing $700,000. During this period, Cooper turned down several important roles, including the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. Cooper was producer David O. Selznick's first choice for the part. He made several overtures to the actor, but Cooper had doubts about the project, and did not feel suited to the role. Cooper later admitted, "It was one of the best roles ever offered in Hollywood ... But I said no. I didn't see myself as quite that dashing, and later, when I saw Clark Gable play the role to perfection, I knew I was right."
Back at Paramount, Cooper returned to a more comfortable genre in Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938) with Claudette Colbert. In the film, Cooper plays a wealthy American businessman in France who falls in love with an impoverished aristocrat's daughter and persuades her to become his eighth wife. Despite the clever screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, and solid performances by Cooper and Colbert, American audiences had trouble accepting Cooper in the role of a shallow philanderer. It succeeded only at the European box office market.
In the fall of 1938, Cooper appeared in H. C. Potter's romantic comedy The Cowboy and the Lady with Merle Oberon, about a sweet-natured rodeo cowboy who falls in love with the wealthy daughter of a presidential hopeful, believing her to be a poor, hard-working lady's maid. The efforts of three directors and several eminent screenwriters could not salvage what could have been a fine vehicle for Cooper. While more successful than its predecessor, the film was Cooper's fourth consecutive box-office failure in the American market.
In the next two years, Cooper was more discerning about the roles he accepted and made four successful large-scale adventure and cowboy films. In William A. Wellman's adventure film Beau Geste (1939), he plays one of three daring English brothers who join the French Foreign Legion in the Sahara to fight local tribes. Filmed in the same Mojave Desert locations as the original 1926 version with Ronald Colman, Beau Geste provided Cooper with magnificent sets, exotic settings, high-spirited action, and a role tailored to his personality and screen persona. This was the last film in Cooper's contract with Paramount.
In Henry Hathaway's The Real Glory (1939), he plays a military doctor who accompanies a small group of American Army officers to the Philippines to help the Christian Filipinos defend themselves against Muslim radicals. Many film critics praised Cooper's performance, including author and film critic Graham Greene, who recognized that he "never acted better".
From The Westerner to For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940–1943
Cooper returned to the Western genre in William Wyler's The Westerner (1940) with Walter Brennan and Doris Davenport, about a drifting cowboy who defends homesteaders against Roy Bean, a corrupt judge known as the "law west of the Pecos". Screenwriter Niven Busch relied on Cooper's extensive knowledge of Western history while working on the script. The film received positive reviews and did well at the box-office, with reviewers praising the performances of the two lead actors. That same year, Cooper appeared in his first all-Technicolor feature, Cecil B. DeMille's adventure film North West Mounted Police (1940). In the film, Cooper plays a Texas Ranger who pursues an outlaw into western Canada where he joins forces with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who are after the same man, a leader of the North-West Rebellion. While not as popular with critics as its predecessor, the film was another box-office success—the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1940.
The early 1940s were Cooper's prime years as an actor. In a relatively short period, he appeared in five critically successful and popular films that produced some of his finest performances. When Frank Capra offered him the lead role in Meet John Doe before Robert Riskin even developed the script, Cooper accepted his friend's offer, saying, "It's okay, Frank, I don't need a script." In the film, Cooper plays Long John Willoughby, a down-and-out bush-league pitcher hired by a newspaper to pretend to be a man who promises to commit suicide on Christmas Eve to protest all the hypocrisy and corruption in the country. Considered by some critics to be Capra's best film at the time, Meet John Doe was received as a "national event" with Cooper appearing on the front cover of Time magazine on March 3, 1941. In his review in the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes called Cooper's performance a "splendid and utterly persuasive portrayal" and praised his "utterly realistic acting which comes through with such authority". Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote, "Gary Cooper, of course, is 'John Doe' to the life and in the whole—shy, bewildered, non-aggressive, but a veritable tiger when aroused."
That same year, Cooper made two films with director and good friend Howard Hawks. In the biographical film Sergeant York, Cooper portrays war hero Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. The film chronicles York's early backwoods days in Tennessee, his religious conversion and subsequent piety, his stand as a conscientious objector, and finally his heroic actions at the Battle of the Argonne Forest, which earned him the Medal of Honor. Initially, Cooper was nervous and uncertain about playing a living hero, so he traveled to Tennessee to visit York at his home, and the two quiet men established an immediate rapport and discovered they had much in common. Inspired by York's encouragement, Cooper delivered a performance that Howard Barnes of the New York Herald Tribune called "one of extraordinary conviction and versatility", and that Archer Winston of the New York Post called "one of his best". After the film's release, Cooper was awarded the Distinguished Citizenship Medal by the Veterans of Foreign Wars for his "powerful contribution to the promotion of patriotism and loyalty". York admired Cooper's performance and helped promote the film for Warner Bros. Sergeant York became the top-grossing film of the year and was nominated for eleven Academy Awards. Accepting his first Academy Award for Best Actor from his friend James Stewart, Cooper said, "It was Sergeant Alvin York who won this award. Shucks, I've been in the business sixteen years and sometimes dreamed I might get one of these. That's all I can say ... Funny when I was dreaming I always made a better speech."
Cooper concluded the year back at Goldwyn with Howard Hawks to make the romantic comedy Ball of Fire with Barbara Stanwyck. In the film, Cooper plays a shy linguistics professor who leads a team of seven scholars who are writing an encyclopedia. While researching slang, he meets Stanwyck's flirtatious burlesque stripper Sugarpuss O'Shea who blows the dust off their staid life of books. The screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder provided Cooper the opportunity to exercise the full range of his light comedy skills. In his review for the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote that Cooper handled the role with "great skill and comic emphasis" and that his performance was "utterly delightful". Though small in scale, Ball of Fire was one of the top-grossing films of the year—Cooper's fourth consecutive picture to make the top twenty.
Cooper's only film appearance in 1942 was also his last under his Goldwyn contract. In Sam Wood's biographical film The Pride of the Yankees, Cooper portrays baseball star Lou Gehrig who established a record with the New York Yankees for playing in 2,130 consecutive games. Cooper was reluctant to play the seven-time All-Star, who only died the previous year from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — now commonly called "Lou Gehrig's disease". Beyond the challenges of effectively portraying such a popular and nationally recognized figure, Cooper knew very little about baseball and was not left-handed like Gehrig.
After Gehrig's widow visited the actor and expressed her desire that he portray her husband, Cooper accepted the role that covered a twenty-year span of Gehrig's life—his early love of baseball, his rise to greatness, his loving marriage, and his struggle with illness, culminating in his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939 before 62,000 fans. Cooper quickly learned the physical movements of a baseball player and developed a fluid, believable swing. The handedness issue was solved by reversing the print for certain batting scenes. The film was one of the year's top ten pictures and received eleven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's third).
Soon after the publication of Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, Paramount paid $150,000 for the film rights with the express intent of casting Cooper in the lead role of Robert Jordan, an American explosives expert who fights alongside the Republican loyalists during the Spanish Civil War. The original director, Cecil B. DeMille, was replaced by Sam Wood who brought in Dudley Nichols for the screenplay. After the start of principal photography in the Sierra Nevada in late 1942, Ingrid Bergman was brought in to replace ballerina Vera Zorina as the female lead—a change supported by Cooper and Hemingway. The love scenes between Bergman and Cooper were "rapturous" and passionate. Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune wrote that both actors performed with "the true stature and authority of stars". While the film distorted the novel's original political themes and meaning, For Whom the Bell Tolls was a critical and commercial success and received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's fourth).
World War II related activities
Due to his age and health, Cooper did not serve in the military during World War II, but like many of his colleagues, he got involved in the war effort by entertaining the troops. In June 1943, he visited military hospitals in San Diego, and often appeared at the Hollywood Canteen serving food to the servicemen. In late 1943, Cooper undertook a tour of the South West Pacific with actresses Una Merkel and Phyllis Brooks, and accordionist Andy Arcari.
Traveling on a B-24A Liberator bomber, the group toured the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Queensland, Brisbane—where General Douglas MacArthur told Cooper he was watching Sergeant York in a Manila theater when Japanese bombs began falling—New Guinea, Jayapura, and throughout the Solomon Islands.
The group often shared the same sparse living conditions and K-rations as the troops. Cooper met with the servicemen and women, visited military hospitals, introduced his attractive colleagues, and participated in occasional skits. The shows concluded with Cooper's moving recitation of Lou Gehrig's farewell speech. When he returned to the United States, he visited military hospitals throughout the country. Cooper later called his time with the troops the "greatest emotional experience" of his life.
Mature roles, 1944–1952
In 1944, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's wartime adventure film The Story of Dr. Wassell with Laraine Day — his third movie with the director. In the film, Cooper plays American doctor and missionary Corydon M. Wassell, who leads a group of wounded sailors through the jungles of Java to safety. Despite receiving poor reviews, Dr. Wassell was one of the top-grossing films of the year. With his Goldwyn and Paramount contracts now concluded, Cooper decided to remain independent and formed his own production company, International Pictures, with Leo Spitz, William Goetz, and Nunnally Johnson. The fledgling studio's first offering was Sam Wood's romantic comedy Casanova Brown with Teresa Wright, about a man who learns his soon-to-be ex-wife is pregnant with his child, just as he is about to marry another woman. The film received poor reviews, with the New York Daily News calling it "delightful nonsense", and Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, criticizing Cooper's "somewhat obvious and ridiculous clowning". The film was barely profitable.
In 1945, Cooper starred in and produced Stuart Heisler's Western comedy Along Came Jones with Loretta Young for International. In this lighthearted parody of his past heroic image, Cooper plays comically inept cowboy Melody Jones who is mistaken for a ruthless killer. Audiences embraced Cooper's character, and the film was one of the top box-office pictures of the year—a testament to Cooper's still vital audience appeal. It was also International's biggest financial success during its brief history before being sold off to Universal Studios in 1946.
Cooper's career during the post-war years drifted in new directions as American society was changing. While he still played conventional heroic roles, his films now relied less on his heroic screen persona and more on novel stories and exotic settings. In November 1945, Cooper appeared in Sam Wood's nineteenth-century period drama Saratoga Trunk with Ingrid Bergman, about a Texas cowboy and his relationship with a beautiful fortune-hunter. Filmed in early 1943, the movie's release was delayed for two years due to the increased demand for war movies. Despite poor reviews, Saratoga Trunk did well at the box office and became one of the top money-makers of the year for Warner Bros. Cooper's only film in 1946 was Fritz Lang's romantic thriller Cloak and Dagger, about a mild-mannered physics professor recruited by the OSS during the last years of World War II to investigate the German atomic bomb program. Playing a part loosely based on physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, Cooper was uneasy with the role and unable to convey the "inner sense" of the character. The film received poor reviews and was a box-office failure. In 1947, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's epic adventure film Unconquered with Paulette Goddard, about a Virginia militiaman who defends settlers against an unscrupulous gun trader and hostile Indians on the Western frontier during the eighteenth century. The film received mixed reviews, but even long-time DeMille critic James Agee acknowledged the picture had "some authentic flavor of the period". This last of four films made with DeMille was Cooper's most lucrative, earning the actor over $300,000 (equal to $ today) in salary and percentage of profits. Unconquered would be his last unqualified box-office success for the next five years.
In 1948, after making Leo McCarey's romantic comedy Good Sam, Cooper sold his company to Universal Studios and signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. that gave him script and director approval and a guaranteed $295,000 (equal to $ today) per picture. His first film under the new contract was King Vidor's drama The Fountainhead (1949) with Patricia Neal and Raymond Massey. In the film, Cooper plays an idealistic and uncompromising architect who struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism in the face of societal pressures to conform to popular standards. Based on the novel by Ayn Rand who also wrote the screenplay, the film reflects her philosophy and attacks the concepts of collectivism while promoting the virtues of individualism. For most critics, Cooper was hopelessly miscast in the role of Howard Roark. In his review for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther concluded he was "Mr. Deeds out of his element". Cooper returned to his element in Delmer Daves' war drama Task Force (1949), about a retiring rear admiral who reminisces about his long career as a naval aviator and his role in the development of aircraft carriers. Cooper's performance and the Technicolor newsreel footage supplied by the United States Navy made the film one of Cooper's most popular during this period. In the next two years, Cooper made four poorly received films: Michael Curtiz' period drama Bright Leaf (1950), Stuart Heisler's Western melodrama Dallas (1950), Henry Hathaway's wartime comedy You're in the Navy Now (1951), and Raoul Walsh's Western action film Distant Drums (1951).
Cooper's most important film during the post-war years was Fred Zinnemann's Western drama High Noon (1952) with Grace Kelly and Katy Jurado for United Artists. In the film, Cooper plays retiring sheriff Will Kane who is preparing to leave town on his honeymoon when he learns that an outlaw he helped put away and his three henchmen are returning to seek their revenge. Unable to gain the support of the frightened townspeople, and abandoned by his young bride, Kane nevertheless stays to face the outlaws alone. During the filming, Cooper was in poor health and in considerable pain from stomach ulcers. His ravaged face and discomfort in some scenes "photographed as self-doubt", according to biographer Hector Arce, and contributed to the effectiveness of his performance. Considered one of the first "adult" Westerns for its theme of moral courage, High Noon received enthusiastic reviews for its artistry, with Time magazine placing it in the ranks of Stagecoach and The Gunfighter. Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote that Cooper was "at the top of his form", and John McCarten, in The New Yorker, wrote that Cooper was never more effective. The film earned $3.75 million in the United States and $18 million worldwide. Following the example of his friend James Stewart, Cooper accepted a lower salary in exchange for a percent of the profits, and ended up making $600,000. Cooper's understated performance was widely praised, and earned him his second Academy Award for Best Actor.
Later films, 1953–1961
After appearing in André de Toth's Civil War drama Springfield Rifle (1952)—a standard Warner Bros. film that was overshadowed by the success of its predecessor—Cooper made four films outside the United States. In Mark Robson's drama Return to Paradise (1953), Cooper plays an American wanderer who liberates the inhabitants of a Polynesian island from the puritanical rule of a misguided pastor. Cooper endured spartan living conditions, long hours, and ill health during the three-month location shoot on the island of Upolu in Western Samoa. Despite its beautiful cinematography, the film received poor reviews. Cooper's next three films were shot in Mexico. In Hugo Fregonese's action adventure film Blowing Wild (1953) with Barbara Stanwyck, he plays a wildcatter in Mexico who gets involved with an oil company executive and his unscrupulous wife with whom he once had an affair.
In 1954, Cooper appeared in Henry Hathaway's Western drama Garden of Evil, with Susan Hayward, about three soldiers of fortune in Mexico hired to rescue a woman's husband. That same year, he appeared in Robert Aldrich's Western adventure Vera Cruz with Burt Lancaster. In the film, Cooper plays an American adventurer hired by Emperor Maximilian I to escort a countess to Vera Cruz during the Mexican Rebellion of 1866. All of these films received poor reviews but did well at the box-office. For his work in Vera Cruz, Cooper earned $1.4 million in salary and percent of the gross.
During this period, Cooper struggled with health problems. As well as his ongoing treatment for ulcers, he suffered a severe shoulder injury during the filming of Blowing Wild when he was hit by metal fragments from a dynamited oil well. During the filming of Vera Cruz, he reinjured his hip falling from a horse, and was burned when Lancaster fired his rifle too close and the wadding from the blank shell pierced his clothing.
In 1955, he appeared in Otto Preminger's biographical war drama The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, about the World War I general who tried to convince government officials of the importance of air power, and was court-martialed after blaming the War Department for a series of air disasters. Some critics felt that Cooper was miscast, and that his dull, tight-lipped performance did not reflect Mitchell's dynamic and caustic personality. In 1956, Cooper was more effective playing a gentle Indiana Quaker in William Wyler's Civil War drama Friendly Persuasion with Dorothy McGuire. Like Sergeant York and High Noon, the film addresses the conflict between religious pacifism and civic duty. For his performance, Cooper received his second Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actor. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, was awarded the Palme d'Or at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival, and went on to earn $8 million worldwide.
In 1956, Cooper traveled to France to make Billy Wilder's romantic comedy Love in the Afternoon with Audrey Hepburn and Maurice Chevalier. In the film, Cooper plays a middle-aged American playboy in Paris who pursues and eventually falls in love with a much younger woman. Despite receiving some positive reviews—including from Bosley Crowther who praised the film's "charming performances"—most reviewers concluded that Cooper was simply too old for the part. While audiences may not have welcomed seeing Cooper's heroic screen image tarnished by his playing an aging roué trying to seduce an innocent young girl, the film was still a box-office success. The following year, Cooper appeared in Philip Dunne's romantic drama Ten North Frederick. In the film, which was based on the novel by John O'Hara, Cooper plays an attorney whose life is ruined by a double-crossing politician and his own secret affair with his daughter's young roommate. While Cooper brought "conviction and controlled anguish" to his performance, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, it was not enough to save what Bosley Crowther called a "hapless film".
Despite his ongoing health problems and several operations for ulcers and hernias, Cooper continued to work in action films. In 1958, he appeared in Anthony Mann's Western drama Man of the West (1958) with Julie London and Lee J. Cobb, about a reformed outlaw and killer who is forced to confront his violent past when the train he is riding in is held up by his former gang members. The film has been called Cooper's "most pathological Western", with its themes of impotent rage, sexual humiliation, and sadism. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, Cooper, who struggled with moral conflicts in his personal life, "understood the anguish of a character striving to retain his integrity ... [and] brought authentic feeling to the role of a tempted and tormented, yet essentially decent man". Mostly ignored by critics at the time, the film is now well-regarded by film scholars and is considered Cooper's last great film.
After his Warner Bros. contract ended, Cooper formed his own production company, Baroda Productions, and made three unusual films in 1959 about redemption. In Delmer Daves' Western drama The Hanging Tree, Cooper plays a frontier doctor who saves a criminal from a lynch mob, and later tries to exploit his sordid past. Cooper delivered a "powerful and persuasive" performance of an emotionally scarred man whose need to dominate others is transformed by the love and sacrifice of a woman. In Robert Rossen's historical adventure They Came to Cordura with Rita Hayworth, he plays an army officer who is found guilty of cowardice and assigned the degrading task of recommending soldiers for the Medal of Honor during the Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916.
While Cooper received positive reviews, Variety and Films in Review felt he was too old for the part. In Michael Anderson's action drama The Wreck of the Mary Deare with Charlton Heston, Cooper plays a disgraced merchant marine officer who decides to stay aboard his sinking cargo ship in order to prove the vessel was deliberately scuttled and to redeem his good name. Like its two predecessors, the film was physically demanding. Cooper, who was a trained scuba diver, did most of his own underwater scenes. Biographer Jeffrey Meyers observed that in all three roles, Cooper effectively conveyed the sense of lost honor and desire for redemption—what Joseph Conrad in Lord Jim called the "struggles of an individual trying to save from the fire his idea of what his moral identity should be".
Personal life
Marriage and family
Cooper was formally introduced to his future wife, 20-year-old New York debutante Veronica Balfe, on Easter Sunday 1933 at a party given by her uncle, art director Cedric Gibbons. Called "Rocky" by her family and friends, she grew up on Park Avenue and attended finishing schools. Her stepfather was Wall Street tycoon Paul Shields. Cooper and Rocky were quietly married at her parents' Park Avenue residence on December 15, 1933. According to his friends, the marriage had a positive impact on Cooper, who turned away from past indiscretions and took control of his life. Athletic and a lover of the outdoors, Rocky shared many of Cooper's interests, including riding, skiing, and skeet-shooting. She organized their social life, and her wealth and social connections provided Cooper access to New York high society. Cooper and his wife owned homes in the Los Angeles area in Encino (1933–36), Brentwood (1936–53), and Holmby Hills (1954–61), and owned a vacation home in Aspen, Colorado (1949–53).
Gary and Veronica Cooper's daughter, Maria Veronica Cooper, was born on September 15, 1937. By all accounts, he was a patient and affectionate father, teaching Maria to ride a bicycle, play tennis, ski, and ride horses. Sharing many of her parents' interests, she accompanied them on their travels and was often photographed with them. Like her father, she developed a love for art and drawing. As a family they vacationed together in Sun Valley, Idaho, spent time at Rocky's parents' country house in Southampton, New York, and took frequent trips to Europe. Cooper and Rocky were legally separated on May 16, 1951, when Cooper moved out of their home. For over two years, they maintained a fragile and uneasy family life with their daughter. Cooper moved back into their home in November 1953, and their formal reconciliation occurred in February 1954.
Romantic relationships
Prior to his marriage, Cooper had a series of romantic relationships with leading actresses, beginning in 1927 with Clara Bow, who advanced his career by helping him get one of his first leading roles in Children of Divorce. Bow was also responsible for getting Cooper a role in Wings, which generated an enormous amount of fan mail for the young actor. In 1928, he had a relationship with another experienced actress, Evelyn Brent, whom he met while filming Beau Sabreur. In 1929, while filming The Wolf Song, Cooper began an intense affair with Lupe Vélez, which was the most important romance of his early life. During their two years together, Cooper also had brief affairs with Marlene Dietrich while filming Morocco in 1930 and with Carole Lombard while making I Take This Woman in 1931. During his year abroad in 1931–32, Cooper had an affair with the married Countess Dorothy di Frasso, while staying at her Villa Madama near Rome.
After he was married in December 1933, Cooper remained faithful to his wife until the summer of 1942, when he began an affair with Ingrid Bergman during the production of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Their relationship lasted through the completion of filming Saratoga Trunk in June 1943. In 1948, after finishing work on The Fountainhead, Cooper began an affair with actress Patricia Neal, his co-star. At first they kept their affair discreet, but eventually it became an open secret in Hollywood, and Cooper's wife confronted him with the rumors, which he admitted were true. He also confessed that he was in love with Neal, and continued to see her. Cooper and his wife were legally separated in May 1951, but he did not seek a divorce. Neal later claimed that Cooper hit her after she went on a date with Kirk Douglas, and that he arranged for her to have an abortion when she became pregnant with Cooper's child. Neal ended their relationship in late December 1951. During his three-year separation from his wife, Cooper was rumored to have had affairs with Grace Kelly, Lorraine Chanel, and Gisèle Pascal.
Cooper biographers have explored his friendship in the late twenties with the actor Anderson Lawler, with whom Cooper shared a house on and off for a year, while at the same time seeing Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent and Lupe Vélez. Lupe Vélez once told Hedda Hopper of Vélez' affair with Cooper; whenever he would come home after seeing Lawler, she would sniff for Lawler's cologne. Vélez' biographer Michelle Vogel has reported that Vélez consented to Cooper's sexual behavior with Lawler, but only as long as she, too, could participate. In later life, he became involved in a relationship with the costume designer Irene, and was, according to Irene, "the only man she ever loved". A year after his death in 1961, Irene committed suicide by jumping from the 11th floor of the Knickerbocker Hotel, after telling Doris Day of her grief over Cooper's death.
Friendships, interests, and character
Cooper's twenty-year friendship with Ernest Hemingway began at Sun Valley in October 1940. The previous year, Hemingway drew upon Cooper's image when he created the character of Robert Jordan for the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The two shared a passion for the outdoors, and for years they hunted duck and pheasant, and skied together in Sun Valley. Both men admired the work of Rudyard Kipling—Cooper kept a copy of the poem "If—" in his dressing room—and retained as adults Kipling's sense of boyish adventure.
As well as admiring Cooper's hunting skills and knowledge of the outdoors, Hemingway believed his character matched his screen persona, once telling a friend, "If you made up a character like Coop, nobody would believe it. He's just too good to be true." They saw each other often, and their friendship remained strong through the years.
Cooper's social life generally centered on sports, outdoor activities, and dinner parties with his family and friends from the film industry, including directors Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, William Wellman, and Fred Zinnemann, and actors Joel McCrea, James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, and Robert Taylor. As well as hunting, Cooper enjoyed riding, fishing, skiing, and later in life, scuba diving. He never abandoned his early love for art and drawing, and over the years, he and his wife acquired a private collection of modern paintings, including works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Cooper owned several works by Pablo Picasso, whom he met in 1956. Cooper also had a lifelong passion for automobiles, with a collection that included a 1930 Duesenberg.
Cooper was naturally reserved and introspective, and loved the solitude of outdoor activities. Not unlike his screen persona, his communication style frequently consisted of long silences with an occasional "yup" and "shucks". He once said, "If others have more interesting things to say than I have, I keep quiet." According to his friends, Cooper could also be an articulate, well-informed conversationalist on topics ranging from horses, guns, and Western history to film production, sports cars, and modern art. He was modest and unpretentious, frequently downplaying his acting abilities and career accomplishments. His friends and colleagues described him as charming, well-mannered, and thoughtful, with a lively boyish sense of humor. Cooper maintained a sense of propriety throughout his career and never misused his movie star status—never sought special treatment or refused to work with a director or leading lady. His close friend Joel McCrea recalled, "Coop never fought, he never got mad, he never told anybody off that I know of; everybody that worked with him liked him."
Political views
Like his father, Cooper was a conservative Republican; he voted for Calvin Coolidge in 1924, Herbert Hoover in 1928 and 1932, and campaigned for Wendell Willkie in 1940. When Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for an unprecedented fourth presidential term in 1944, Cooper campaigned for Thomas E. Dewey and criticized Roosevelt for being dishonest and adopting "foreign" ideas. In a radio address that he paid for himself just prior to the election, Cooper said, "I disagree with the New Deal belief that the America all of us love is old and worn-out and finished—and has to borrow foreign notions that don't even seem to work any too well where they come from ... Our country is a young country that just has to make up its mind to be itself again." He also attended a Republican rally at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that drew 93,000 Dewey supporters.
Cooper was one of the founding members of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a conservative organization dedicated, according to its statement of principles, to preserving the "American way of life" and opposing communism and fascism. The organization — whose membership included Walter Brennan, Laraine Day, Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Hedda Hopper, Ronald Reagan, Barbara Stanwyck, and John Wayne — advised the United States Congress to investigate communist influence in the motion picture industry. On October 23, 1947, Cooper was subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and was asked if he had observed any "communistic influence" in Hollywood.
Cooper recounted statements he'd heard suggesting that the Constitution was out of date and that Congress was an unnecessary institution—comments that Cooper said he found to be "very un-American" and testified that he had rejected several scripts because he thought they were "tinged with communist ideas". Unlike some other witnesses, Cooper did not name any individuals, nor did he name any scripts, during his testimony.
In 1951, while making High Noon, Cooper became friends with the film's screenwriter, Carl Foreman, who had been a member of the Communist Party. When Foreman was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Cooper put his career on the line to defend Foreman. When John Wayne and others threatened Cooper with blacklisting himself and the loss of his passport if he did not walk off the film, Cooper gave a statement to the press in support of Foreman, calling him "the finest kind of American". When producer Stanley Kramer removed Foreman's name as screenwriter, Cooper and director Fred Zinnemann threatened to walk off the film if Foreman's name was not restored. Foreman later said that, of all his friends and allies and colleagues in Hollywood, "Cooper was the only big one who tried to help. The only one." Cooper even offered to testify in Foreman's behalf before the committee, but character witnesses were not allowed. Foreman always sent future scripts to Cooper for first refusal, including The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Key and The Guns of Navarone. Cooper had to turn them down because of his age.
Religion
Cooper was baptized in the Anglican Church in December 1911 in Britain, and was raised in the Episcopal Church in the United States. While he was not an observant Christian for most of his adult life, many of his friends believed he had a deeply spiritual side.
On June 26, 1953, Cooper accompanied his wife and daughter, who were devout Catholics, to Rome, where they had an audience with Pope Pius XII. Cooper and his wife were still separated at the time, but the papal visit marked the beginning of their gradual reconciliation. In the coming years, Cooper contemplated his mortality and his personal behavior, and started discussing Catholicism with his family. He began attending church with them regularly, and met with their parish priest, who offered Cooper spiritual guidance. After several months of study, Cooper was baptized as a Roman Catholic on April 9, 1959, before a small group of family and friends at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.
Final years and death
On April 14, 1960, Cooper underwent surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had metastasized to his colon. He fell ill again on May 31 and underwent further surgery at Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles in early June to remove a malignant tumor from his large intestine. After recuperating over the summer, Cooper took his family on vacation to the south of France before traveling to the UK in the fall to star in The Naked Edge. In December 1960, he worked on the NBC television documentary The Real West, which was part of the company's Project 20 series.
On December 27, his wife learned from their family doctor that Cooper's cancer had spread to his lungs and bones and was inoperable. His family decided not to tell him immediately.
On January 9, 1961, Cooper attended a dinner that was given in his honor and hosted by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin at the Friars Club. The dinner was attended by many of his industry friends and concluded with a brief speech by Cooper who said, "The only achievement I'm proud of is the friends I've made in this community."
In mid-January, Cooper took his family to Sun Valley for their last vacation together. Cooper and Hemingway hiked through the snow together for the last time. On February 27, after returning to Los Angeles, Cooper learned that he was dying. He later told his family, "We'll pray for a miracle; but if not, and that's God's will, that's all right too." On April 17, Cooper watched the Academy Awards ceremony on television and saw his good friend James Stewart, who had presented Cooper with his first Oscar years earlier, accept on Cooper's behalf an honorary award for lifetime achievement—his third Oscar. Holding back tears, Stewart said, "Coop, I'll get this to you right away. And Coop, I want you to know this, that with this goes all the warm friendship and the affection and the admiration and the deep, the deep respect of all of us. We're very, very proud of you, Coop. All of us are tremendously proud." The following day, newspapers around the world announced the news that Cooper was dying. In the coming days he received numerous messages of appreciation and encouragement, including telegrams from Pope John XXIII and Queen Elizabeth II, and a telephone call from President John F. Kennedy.
In his last public statement on May 4, Cooper said, "I know that what is happening is God's will. I am not afraid of the future." He received the last rites on May 12. Cooper died quietly the following day, Saturday, May 13, 1961, at 12:47 P.M.
A requiem mass was held on May 18 at the Church of the Good Shepherd, attended by many of Cooper's friends, including James Stewart, Jack Benny, Henry Hathaway, Joel McCrea, Audrey Hepburn, Jack L. Warner, John Ford, John Wayne, Edward G. Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Fred Astaire, Randolph Scott, Walter Pidgeon, Bob Hope and Marlene Dietrich. Cooper was buried in the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. In May 1974, after his family relocated to New York, Cooper's remains were exhumed and reburied in Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton. His grave is marked by a three-ton boulder from a Montauk quarry.
Acting style and reputation
Cooper's acting style consisted of three essential characteristics: his ability to project elements of his own personality onto the characters he portrayed, to appear natural and authentic in his roles, and to underplay and deliver restrained performances calibrated for the camera and the screen. Acting teacher Lee Strasberg once observed: "The simplest examples of Stanislavsky's ideas are actors such as Gary Cooper, John Wayne, and Spencer Tracy. They try not to act but to be themselves, to respond or react. They refuse to say or do anything they feel not to be consonant with their own characters." Film director François Truffaut ranked Cooper among "the greatest actors" because of his ability to deliver great performances "without direction". This ability to project elements of his own personality onto his characters produced a continuity across his performances to the extent that critics and audiences were convinced that he was simply "playing himself".
Cooper's ability to project his personality onto his characters played an important part in his appearing natural and authentic on screen. Actor John Barrymore said of Cooper, "This fellow is the world's greatest actor. He does without effort what the rest of us spend our lives trying to learn—namely, to be natural." Charles Laughton, who played opposite Cooper in Devil and the Deep agreed, "In truth, that boy hasn't the least idea how well he acts ... He gets at it from the inside, from his own clear way of looking at life." William Wyler, who directed Cooper in two films, called him a "superb actor, a master of movie acting".
In his review of Cooper's performance in The Real Glory, Graham Greene wrote, "Sometimes his lean photogenic face seems to leave everything to the lens, but there is no question here of his not acting. Watch him inoculate the girl against cholera—the casual jab of the needle, and the dressing slapped on while he talks, as though a thousand arms had taught him where to stab and he doesn't have to think anymore."
Cooper's style of underplaying before the camera surprised many of his directors and fellow actors. Even in his earliest feature films, he recognized the camera's ability to pick up slight gestures and facial movements. Commenting on Cooper's performance in Sergeant York, director Howard Hawks observed, "He worked very hard and yet he didn't seem to be working. He was a strange actor because you'd look at him during a scene and you'd think ... this isn't going to be any good. But when you saw the rushes in the projection room the next day you could read in his face all the things he'd been thinking." Sam Wood, who directed Cooper in four films, had similar observations about Cooper's performance in Pride of the Yankees, noting, "What I thought was underplaying turned out to be just the right approach. On the screen he's perfect, yet on the set you'd swear it's the worst job of acting in the history of motion pictures."
Fellow actors admired his abilities as an actor. Commenting on her two films playing opposite Cooper, actress Ingrid Bergman concluded, "The personality of this man was so enormous, so overpowering—and that expression in his eyes and his face, it was so delicate and so underplayed. You just didn't notice it until you saw it on the screen. I thought he was marvelous; the most underplaying and the most natural actor I ever worked with."
Tom Hanks declared, "In only one scene in the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, we see the future of screen acting in the form of Gary Cooper. He is quiet and natural, somehow different from the other cast members. He does something mysterious with his eyes and shoulders that is much more like 'being' than 'acting'."
Daniel Day-Lewis said, "I don't particularly like westerns as a genre, but I do love certain westerns. 'High Noon' means a lot to me – I love the purity and the honesty, I love Gary Cooper in that film, the idea of the last man standing."
Chris Pratt stated, "I started watching Westerns when I was shooting in London about four or five years ago. I really fell in love with Gary Cooper, and his stuff. That sucked me into the Westerns. Before, I never got engrossed in the story. I'd just dip in, and there were guys in horses in black and white. High Noon's later Gary Cooper, I liked that. But I liked 'The Westerner'. That's my favorite one. I have that poster hung up in my house because I really like that one."
To Al Pacino, "Gary Cooper was a phenomenon—his ability to take some thing and elevate it, give it such dignity. One of the great presences."
Mylène Demongeot first got with Gary Cooper for the opening of the first escalator to be installed in a cinema, at the Rex Theatre in Paris, on June 7, 1957. She declared in a 2015 filmed interview: "Gary Cooper ... il est sublime ! Aaahhh (Mylène pushing a cry of love not to say ecstasy) il est sublime ... Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Là je dois dire que ça fait partie des stars, y'a Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, ces grands Américains que j'ai rencontrés comme ça, c'est vraiment des mecs incroyables. Y'en a plus des comme ça ! Euh non. (Gary Cooper was sublime, there I have to say, now he, was part of the stars, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, those great americans who I've met really were unbelievable guys, there aren't any like them anymore)."
Career assessment and legacy
Cooper's career spanned thirty-six years, from 1925 to 1961. During that time, he appeared in eighty-four feature films in a leading role. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His natural and authentic acting style appealed powerfully to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major movie genres, including Westerns, war films, adventure films, drama films, crime films, romance films, comedy films, and romantic comedy films. He appeared on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities for twenty-three consecutive years, from 1936 to 1958. According to Quigley's annual poll, Cooper was one of the top money-making stars for eighteen years, appearing in the top ten in 1936–37, 1941–49, and 1951–57. He topped the list in 1953. In Quigley's list of all-time money-making stars, Cooper is listed fourth, after John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Tom Cruise. At the time of his death, it was estimated that his films grossed well over $200 million (equivalent to $ billion in ).
In over half of his feature films, Cooper portrayed Westerners, soldiers, pilots, sailors, and explorers—all men of action. In the rest he played a wide range of characters, included doctors, professors, artists, architects, clerks, and baseball players. Cooper's heroic screen image changed with each period of his career. In his early films, he played the young naive hero sure of his moral position and trusting in the triumph of simple virtues (The Virginian). After becoming a major star, his Western screen persona was replaced by a more cautious hero in adventure films and dramas (A Farewell to Arms). During the height of his career, from 1936 to 1943, he played a new type of hero—a champion of the common man willing to sacrifice himself for others (Mr. Deeds, Meet John Doe, and For Whom the Bell Tolls).
In the post-war years, Cooper attempted broader variations on his screen image, which now reflected a hero increasingly at odds with the world who must face adversity alone (The Fountainhead and High Noon). In his final films, Cooper's hero rejects the violence of the past, and seeks to reclaim lost honor and find redemption (Friendly Persuasion and Man of the West). The screen persona he developed and sustained throughout his career represented the ideal American hero—a tall, handsome, and sincere man of steadfast integrity who emphasized action over intellect, and combined the heroic qualities of the romantic lover, the adventurer, and the common man.
On February 6, 1960, Cooper was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6243 Hollywood Boulevard for his contribution to the film industry. He was awarded a star on the sidewalk outside the Ellen Theater in Bozeman, Montana.
On May 6, 1961, he was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters in recognition of his significant contribution to the arts. On July 30, 1961, he was posthumously awarded the David di Donatello Special Award in Italy for his career achievements.
In 1966, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. In 2015, he was inducted into the Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Hall of Fame. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper eleventh on its list of the 25 male stars of classic Hollywood. Three of his characters—Will Kane, Lou Gehrig, and Sergeant York—made AFI's list of the one hundred greatest heroes and villains, all of them as heroes. His Lou Gehrig line, "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.", is ranked by AFI as the thirty-eighth greatest movie quote of all time.
More than a half century after his death, Cooper's enduring legacy, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, is his image of the ideal American hero preserved in his film performances. Charlton Heston once observed, "He projected the kind of man Americans would like to be, probably more than any actor that's ever lived."
In the TV series Justified, based on works and characters created by Elmore Leonard, Gary Cooper is used throughout the six seasons as the man whom U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant, aspires to be. When his colleague asks Marshall Givens how he thinks his dangerous plan to bring down a villain can possibly work, he replies: "Why not? Worked for Gary Cooper."
Gary Cooper is referenced several times in the critically acclaimed television series The Sopranos, with protagonist Tony Soprano asking "What ever happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type." while complaining about his problems to his therapist.
In the 1930s hit song "Puttin' On the Ritz", Cooper is referenced in the line "dress up like a million dollar trooper/Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper, Super duper!" More than two decades after Cooper's death a new version of the song was released in 1983 by Taco; the original lyrics were kept, including the references to Cooper.
In J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Cooper is "spotted" by Holden Caulfield to distract a woman he is dancing with.
Awards and nominations
Filmography
The following is a list of feature films in which Cooper appeared in a leading role.
The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)
Children of Divorce (1927)
Arizona Bound (1927)
Wings (1927)
Nevada (1927)
It (1927)
The Last Outlaw (1927)
Beau Sabreur (1928)
The Legion of the Condemned (1928)
Doomsday (1928)
Half a Bride (1928)
Lilac Time (1928)
The First Kiss (1928)
The Shopworn Angel (1928)
Wolf Song (1929)
Betrayal (1929)
The Virginian (1929)
Only the Brave (1930)
The Texan (1930)
Seven Days' Leave (1930)
A Man from Wyoming (1930)
The Spoilers (1930)
Morocco (1930)
Fighting Caravans (1931)
City Streets (1931)
I Take This Woman (1931)
His Woman (1931)
Devil and the Deep (1932)
If I Had a Million (1932)
A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Today We Live (1933)
One Sunday Afternoon (1933)
Design for Living (1933)
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
Operator 13 (1934)
Now and Forever (1934)
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
The Wedding Night (1935)
Peter Ibbetson (1935)
Desire (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
The Plainsman (1936)
Souls at Sea (1937)
The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
Beau Geste (1939)
The Real Glory (1939)
The Westerner (1940)
North West Mounted Police (1940)
Meet John Doe (1941)
Sergeant York (1941)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
Casanova Brown (1944)
Along Came Jones (1945)
Saratoga Trunk (1945)
Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Unconquered (1947)
Good Sam (1948)
The Fountainhead (1949)
Task Force (1949)
Bright Leaf (1950)
Dallas (1950)
You're in the Navy Now (1951)
It's a Big Country (1951)
Distant Drums (1951)
High Noon (1952)
Springfield Rifle (1952)
Return to Paradise (1953)
Blowing Wild (1953)
Garden of Evil (1954)
Vera Cruz (1954)
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Ten North Frederick (1958)
Man of the West (1958)
The Hanging Tree (1959)
They Came to Cordura (1959)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
The Naked Edge (1961)
Radio appearances
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Adrien Le Bihan, Gary Cooper, le prince des acteurs, LettMotif, 2021, 358p.()
External links
1901 births
1961 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Academy Honorary Award recipients
American expatriates in England
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
American male television actors
American people of English descent
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
California Republicans
Catholics from Montana
Conservatism in the United States
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from prostate cancer
Grinnell College people
Male Western (genre) film actors
Male actors from Montana
Paramount Pictures contract players
People educated at Dunstable Grammar School
People from Brentwood, Los Angeles
People from Dunstable
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People from Holmby Hills, Los Angeles | true | [
"The Yaqui Girl is an American short film made in 1910. It was directed by James Young Deer, starring Virginia Chester. This was Virginia's first silent film. The duration of the film is 1,000 feet (300m), which is approximately one hour. The film premiered on December 31, 1910 in the United States. This was the first production of Pathé Frères West Coast company, a new American version of a famous French film company.\n\nCast\nVirginia Chester appeared as 'Silver Love'. Chester starred in several films after her debut in The Yaqui Girl at the age of 14. Restitution was Virginia's first feature length film. She died at the age of 30 from pulmonary tuberculosis.\nThe Frenzy of Firewater (1912)\nA Shot In the Dark (1912) \nFat Bill's Wooing (1912) \nWhen Uncle Sam Was Young (1912) \nTrapper Bill, King of Scouts (1912) \nA Four-Footed Hero (1912) \nHash House Mashers (1915) \nRestitution (1918)\nThe Demon (1918)\nThe Vanity Pool (1918) \nThe Outcasts of Poker Plat (1919)\n\nPlot\nSet in Mexico, a beautiful young Indian maiden falls in love with a Mexican cavalier, who she later finds out is a bandit. He has several girlfriends on the side, and he later suffers for his actions by a gruesome fate. His original lover has him shot so he can no longer be with any other woman. There is no knowledge of any other characters.\n\nProduction\nThe Yaqui Girl was filmed in the United States; mainly in New Jersey. There was also filming in Santiago Canyon, California. The cinematography process used in The Yaqui Girl was spherical. A 35mm Camera was used to shoot this film.\n\nCritical reception\nReviewers spoke on how the film did a poor job at depicting Indians and Mexicans. At the time, this was considered to be a racist remark.\n\nSee also\n List of American films of 1910\n\nReferences\n\n1910 films\nAmerican silent short films\nAmerican films\nAmerican black-and-white films",
"La vendetta di Lady Morgan () is a 1965 Italian horror film directed by Massimo Pupillo and written by Gianni Grimaldi.\n\nCast\nGordon Mitchell as Roger\nErika Blanc as Lillian\nBarbara Nelli as Lady Susan Morgan\nPaul Muller as Sir Harold Morgan \nMichel Forain as Pierre Brissac\nCarlo Kechler as Sir Neville Blackhouse\n\nRelease\nLa vendetta di Lady Morgan was distributed in Italy by I.N.D.I.E.F. when it was released on December 16, 1965. It grossed a total of 61 million Italian lire. Unlike Pupillo's other horror films, La vendetta di Lady Morgan only received a theatrical release domestically in West Germany in 1967.\n\nThe film was the last horror film Pupillo directed due to his lack of interest in making any more films in the genre; he turned down propositions to make other horror films. Pupillo spoke on the topic, explaining that \"I started in the horror genre because I wanted to get out of documentaries, I wanted to enter the commercial market. In Italy, when you do a certain type of film, you become labelled and you can't do anything else. I remember one day, a producer called me to do a film only because the other producers told him he had to get either Mario Bava or me. When I understood this, I felt dead.\"\n\nReception\nFrom retrospective reviews, Roberto Curti, author of Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957-1969 stated that the film was \"by no means the best, but perhaps most peculiar\" of the three horror films Pupillo directed. Louis Paul noted in his book Italian Horror Film Directors, that the film was made in a \"more careful and studied manner that any of Pupillo's other films as a director\" and that the film was \"a successful attempt at emulating the better Gothic horror films of earlier years, but by 1966, audiences were tuned into and expecting more from the colorful and violence-soaked horror films other filmmakers were churning out.\"\n\nSee also\nList of horror films of 1965\nList of Italian films of 1965\n\nReferences\n\nFootnotes\n\nSources\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1965 films\n1965 horror films\nFilms scored by Piero Umiliani\nItalian films\nItalian horror films\n1960s Italian-language films\nGothic horror films"
]
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[
"Gary Cooper",
"Silent films, 1925-28",
"Was there a Silent film released in 1925?",
"The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky,",
"Was he in any other films?",
"a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur ("
]
| C_6ade1075ca2849c5aee8a7091d6b357c_1 | Did he collaborate with any other producers? | 4 | Did Gary Cooper collaborate with any other producers, other than the silent films? | Gary Cooper | In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, including Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt work--which sometimes injured horses and riders--"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name. Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week. Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal--finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings, the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada--both films directed by John Waters. In 1928, Paramount paired Cooper with a youthful Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss--advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride. That year, Cooper also made Lilac Time with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928. CANNOTANSWER | On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week. | Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent, and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, as well as receiving an Academy Honorary Award for his career achievements in 1961. He was one of the top 10 film personalities for 23 consecutive years, and one of the top money-making stars for 18 years. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper at No. 11 on its list of the 25 greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Cooper's career spanned 36 years, from 1925 to 1961, and included leading roles in 84 feature films. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era through to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His screen persona appealed strongly to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major film genres. His ability to project his own personality onto the characters he played contributed to his natural and authentic appearance on screen. Throughout his career, he sustained a screen persona that represented the ideal American hero.
Cooper began his career as a film extra and stunt rider, but soon landed acting roles. After establishing himself as a Western hero in his early silent films, he appeared as the Virginian and became a movie star in 1929 with his first sound picture, The Virginian. In the early 1930s, he expanded his heroic image to include more cautious characters in adventure films and dramas such as A Farewell to Arms (1932) and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935). During the height of his career, Cooper portrayed a new type of hero—a champion of the common man—in films such as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), Sergeant York (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). He later portrayed more mature characters at odds with the world in films such as The Fountainhead (1949) and High Noon (1952). In his final films, he played non-violent characters searching for redemption in films such as Friendly Persuasion (1956) and Man of the West (1958).
Early life
Frank James Cooper was born in Helena, Montana, on May 7, 1901, the younger of two sons of English parents Alice (née Brazier; 1873–1967) and Charles Henry Cooper (1865–1946). His brother, Arthur, was six years his senior. Cooper's father came from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, and became a prominent lawyer, rancher, and Montana Supreme Court justice. His mother hailed from Gillingham, Kent, and married Charles in Montana. In 1906, Charles purchased the Seven-Bar-Nine cattle ranch, about north of Helena near Craig, Montana. Cooper and Arthur spent their summers at the ranch and learned to ride horses, hunt, and fish. Cooper attended Central Grade School in Helena.
Alice wanted her sons to have an English education, so she took them back to England in 1909 to enroll them in Dunstable Grammar School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. While there, Cooper and his brother lived with their father's cousins, William and Emily Barton, at their home in Houghton Regis. Cooper studied Latin, French, and English history at Dunstable until 1912. While he adapted to English school discipline and learned the requisite social graces, he never adjusted to the rigid class structure and formal Eton collars he was required to wear. He received his confirmation in the Church of England at the Church of All Saints in Houghton Regis on December 3, 1911. His mother accompanied her sons back to the U.S. in August 1912, and Cooper resumed his education at Johnson Grammar School in Helena.
When Cooper was 15, he injured his hip in a car accident. On his doctor's recommendation, he returned to the Seven-Bar-Nine ranch to recuperate by horseback riding. The misguided therapy left him with his characteristic stiff, off-balanced walk and slightly angled horse-riding style. He left Helena High School after two years in 1918, and returned to the family ranch to work full-time as a cowboy. In 1919, his father arranged for him to attend Gallatin County High School in Bozeman, Montana, where English teacher Ida Davis encouraged him to focus on academics and participate in debating and dramatics. Cooper later called Davis "the woman partly responsible for [him] giving up cowboy-ing and going to college".
Cooper was still attending high school in 1920 when he took three art courses at Montana Agricultural College in Bozeman. His interest in art was inspired years earlier by the Western paintings of Charles Marion Russell and Frederic Remington. Cooper especially admired and studied Russell's Lewis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross' Hole (1910), which still hangs in the state capitol building in Helena. In 1922, to continue his art education, he enrolled in Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. He did well academically in most of his courses, but was not accepted into the school's drama club. His drawings and watercolor paintings were exhibited throughout the dormitory, and he was named art editor for the college yearbook. During the summers of 1922 and 1923, Cooper worked at Yellowstone National Park as a tour guide driving the yellow open-top buses. Despite a promising first 18 months at Grinnell, he left college suddenly in February 1924, spent a month in Chicago looking for work as an artist, and then returned to Helena, where he sold editorial cartoons to the local Independent newspaper.
In autumn 1924, Cooper's father left the Montana Supreme Court bench and moved with his wife to Los Angeles to administer the estates of two relatives, and Cooper joined his parents there in November at his father's request. After briefly working a series of unpromising jobs, he met two friends from Montana who were working as film extras and stunt riders in low-budget Western films for the small movie studios on Poverty Row. They introduced him to another Montana cowboy, rodeo champion Jay "Slim" Talbot, who took him to see a casting director. Wanting money for a professional art course, Cooper worked as a film extra for $5 a day, and as a stunt rider for $10. Cooper and Talbot became close friends and hunting companions, and Talbot later worked as Cooper's stuntman and stand-in for over three decades.
Career
Silent films, 1925–1928
In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, but also the already emergent major studios, Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt workwhich sometimes injured horses and riders"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name.
Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week.
Cooper's first important film role was a supporting part in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) starring Ronald Colman and Vilma Bánky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal—finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings (both 1927), the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada—both films directed by John Waters.
Paramount paired Cooper with Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss (both 1928)—advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride (also both 1928). Around the same time, Cooper made Lilac Time (1928) with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928.
Hollywood stardom, 1929–1935
Cooper became a major movie star in 1929 with the release of his first talking picture, The Virginian (1929), which was directed by Victor Fleming and co-starred Mary Brian and Walter Huston. Based on the popular novel by Owen Wister, The Virginian was one of the first sound films to define the Western code of honor and helped establish many of the conventions of the Western movie genre that persist to the present day. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, the romantic image of the tall, handsome, and shy cowboy hero who embodied male freedom, courage, and honor was created in large part by Cooper in the film. Unlike some silent film actors who had trouble adapting to the new sound medium, Cooper transitioned naturally, with his "deep and clear" and "pleasantly drawling" voice, which was perfectly suited for the characters he portrayed on screen, also according to Meyers. Looking to capitalize on Cooper's growing popularity, Paramount cast him in several Westerns and wartime dramas, including Only the Brave, The Texan, Seven Days' Leave, A Man from Wyoming, and The Spoilers (all released in 1930). Norman Rockwell depicted Cooper in his role as The Texan for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on May 24, 1930.
One of the more important performances in Cooper's early career was his portrayal of a sullen legionnaire in Josef von Sternberg's film Morocco (also 1930) with Marlene Dietrich in her introduction to American audiences. During production, von Sternberg focused his energies on Dietrich and treated Cooper dismissively. Tensions came to a head after von Sternberg yelled directions at Cooper in German. The actor approached the director, picked him up by the collar, and said, "If you expect to work in this country you'd better get on to the language we use here." Despite the tensions on the set, Cooper produced "one of his best performances", according to Thornton Delehanty of the New York Evening Post.
After returning to the Western genre in Zane Grey's Fighting Caravans (1931) with French actress Lili Damita, Cooper appeared in the Dashiell Hammett crime film City Streets (also 1931), co-starring Sylvia Sidney and Paul Lukas, playing a westerner who gets involved with big-city gangsters in order to save the woman he loves. Cooper concluded the year with appearances in two unsuccessful films: I Take This Woman (also 1931) with Carole Lombard, and His Woman with Claudette Colbert. The demands and pressures of making ten films in two years left Cooper exhausted and in poor health, suffering from anemia and jaundice. He had lost during that period, and felt lonely, isolated, and depressed by his sudden fame and wealth. In May 1931, Cooper left Hollywood and sailed to Algiers and then Italy, where he lived for the next year.
During his time abroad, Cooper stayed with the Countess Dorothy di Frasso at the Villa Madama in Rome, where she taught him about good food and vintage wines, how to read Italian and French menus, and how to socialize among Europe's nobility and upper classes. After guiding him through the great art museums and galleries of Italy, she accompanied him on a ten-week big-game hunting safari on the slopes of Mount Kenya in East Africa, where he was credited with over sixty kills, including two lions, a rhinoceros, and various antelopes. His safari experience in Africa had a profound influence on Cooper and intensified his love of the wilderness. After returning to Europe, he and the countess set off on a Mediterranean cruise of the Italian and French Rivieras. Rested and rejuvenated by his year-long exile, a healthy Cooper returned to Hollywood in April 1932 and negotiated a new contract with Paramount for two films per year, a salary of $4,000 a week, and director and script approval.
In 1932, after completing Devil and the Deep with Tallulah Bankhead to fulfill his old contract, Cooper appeared in A Farewell to Arms, the first film adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel. Co-starring Helen Hayes, a leading New York theatre star and Academy Award winner, and Adolphe Menjou, the film presented Cooper with one of his most ambitious and challenging dramatic roles, playing an American ambulance driver wounded in Italy who falls in love with an English nurse during World War I. Critics praised his highly intense and emotional performance, and the film became one of the year's most commercially successful pictures. In 1933, after making Today We Live with Joan Crawford and One Sunday Afternoon with Fay Wray, Cooper appeared in the Ernst Lubitsch comedy film Design for Living, based on the successful Noël Coward play. Co-starring Miriam Hopkins and Fredric March, the film was a box office success, ranking as one of the top ten highest-grossing films of 1933. All three of the lead actors—March, Cooper, and Hopkins—received attention from this film as they were all at the peak of their careers. Cooper's performance — playing an American artist in Europe competing with his playwright friend for the affections of a beautiful woman — was singled out for its versatility and revealed his genuine ability to do light comedy. Cooper changed his name legally to "Gary Cooper" in August 1933.
In 1934, Cooper was loaned out to MGM for the Civil War drama film Operator 13 with Marion Davies, about a beautiful Union spy who falls in love with a Confederate soldier. Despite Richard Boleslawski's imaginative direction and George J. Folsey's lavish cinematography, the film did poorly at the box office.
Back at Paramount, Cooper appeared in his first of seven films by director Henry Hathaway, Now and Forever, with Carole Lombard and Shirley Temple. In the film, he plays a confidence man who tries to sell his daughter to the relatives who raised her, but is eventually won over by the adorable girl. Impressed by Temple's intelligence and charm, Cooper developed a close rapport with her, both on and off screen. The film was a box-office success.
The following year, Cooper was loaned out to Samuel Goldwyn Productions to appear in King Vidor's romance film The Wedding Night with Anna Sten, who was being groomed as "another Garbo". In the film, Cooper plays an alcoholic novelist who retreats to his family's New England farm where he meets and falls in love with a beautiful Polish neighbor. Cooper delivered a performance of surprising range and depth, according to biographer Larry Swindell. Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, the film was not popular with American audiences, who may have been offended by the film's depiction of an extramarital affair and its tragic ending.
That same year, Cooper appeared in two Henry Hathaway films: the melodrama Peter Ibbetson with Ann Harding, about a man caught up in a dream world created by his love for a childhood sweetheart, and the adventure film The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, about a daring British officer and his men who defend their stronghold at Bengal against rebellious local tribes. While the former, championed by the surrealists became more successful in Europe than in the United States, the latter was nominated for seven Academy Awards and became one of Cooper's most popular and successful adventure films. Hathaway had the highest respect for Cooper's acting ability, calling him "the best actor of all of them".
American folk hero, 1936–1943
From Mr. Deeds to The Real Glory, 1936–1939
Cooper's career took an important turn in 1936. After making Frank Borzage's romantic comedy film Desire with Marlene Dietrich at Paramount—in which he delivered a performance considered by some contemporary critics as one of his finest—Cooper returned to Poverty Row for the first time since his early silent film days to make Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town with Jean Arthur for Columbia Pictures. In the film, Cooper plays the character of Longfellow Deeds, a quiet, innocent writer of greeting cards who inherits a fortune, leaves behind his idyllic life in Vermont, and travels to New York where he faces a world of corruption and deceit. Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin were able to use Cooper's well-established screen persona as the "quintessential American hero"—a symbol of honesty, courage, and goodness—to create a new type of "folk hero" for the common man. Commenting on Cooper's impact on the character and the film, Capra observed:
Both Desire and Mr. Deeds opened in April 1936 to critical praise and were major box-office successes. In his review in The New York Times, Frank Nugent wrote that Cooper was "proving himself one of the best light comedians in Hollywood". For his performance in Mr. Deeds, Cooper received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Cooper appeared in two other Paramount films in 1936. In Lewis Milestone's adventure film The General Died at Dawn with Madeleine Carroll, he plays an American soldier of fortune in China who helps the peasants defend themselves against the oppression of a cruel warlord. Written by playwright Clifford Odets, the film was a critical and commercial success.
In Cecil B. DeMille's sprawling frontier epic The Plainsman—his first of four films with the director—Cooper portrays Wild Bill Hickok in a highly fictionalized version of the opening of the American western frontier. The film was an even greater box-office hit than its predecessor, due in large part to Jean Arthur's definitive depiction of Calamity Jane and Cooper's inspired portrayal of Hickock as an enigmatic figure of "deepening mythic substance". That year, Cooper appeared for the first time on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities, where he would remain for the next twenty-three years.
In late 1936, Paramount was preparing a new contract for Cooper that would raise his salary to $8,000 a week when Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn for six films over six years with a minimum guarantee of $150,000 per picture. Paramount brought suit against Goldwyn and Cooper, and the court ruled that Cooper's new Goldwyn contract afforded the actor sufficient time to also honor his Paramount agreement. Cooper continued to make films with both studios, and by 1939 the United States Treasury reported that Cooper was the country's highest wage earner, at $482,819 (equivalent to $ million in ).
In contrast to his output the previous year, Cooper appeared in only one picture in 1937, Henry Hathaway's adventure film Souls at Sea. A critical and box-office failure, Cooper referred to it as his "almost picture", saying, "It was almost exciting, and almost interesting. And I was almost good." In 1938, he appeared in Archie Mayo's biographical film The Adventures of Marco Polo. Plagued by production problems and a weak screenplay, the film became Goldwyn's biggest failure to that date, losing $700,000. During this period, Cooper turned down several important roles, including the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. Cooper was producer David O. Selznick's first choice for the part. He made several overtures to the actor, but Cooper had doubts about the project, and did not feel suited to the role. Cooper later admitted, "It was one of the best roles ever offered in Hollywood ... But I said no. I didn't see myself as quite that dashing, and later, when I saw Clark Gable play the role to perfection, I knew I was right."
Back at Paramount, Cooper returned to a more comfortable genre in Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938) with Claudette Colbert. In the film, Cooper plays a wealthy American businessman in France who falls in love with an impoverished aristocrat's daughter and persuades her to become his eighth wife. Despite the clever screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, and solid performances by Cooper and Colbert, American audiences had trouble accepting Cooper in the role of a shallow philanderer. It succeeded only at the European box office market.
In the fall of 1938, Cooper appeared in H. C. Potter's romantic comedy The Cowboy and the Lady with Merle Oberon, about a sweet-natured rodeo cowboy who falls in love with the wealthy daughter of a presidential hopeful, believing her to be a poor, hard-working lady's maid. The efforts of three directors and several eminent screenwriters could not salvage what could have been a fine vehicle for Cooper. While more successful than its predecessor, the film was Cooper's fourth consecutive box-office failure in the American market.
In the next two years, Cooper was more discerning about the roles he accepted and made four successful large-scale adventure and cowboy films. In William A. Wellman's adventure film Beau Geste (1939), he plays one of three daring English brothers who join the French Foreign Legion in the Sahara to fight local tribes. Filmed in the same Mojave Desert locations as the original 1926 version with Ronald Colman, Beau Geste provided Cooper with magnificent sets, exotic settings, high-spirited action, and a role tailored to his personality and screen persona. This was the last film in Cooper's contract with Paramount.
In Henry Hathaway's The Real Glory (1939), he plays a military doctor who accompanies a small group of American Army officers to the Philippines to help the Christian Filipinos defend themselves against Muslim radicals. Many film critics praised Cooper's performance, including author and film critic Graham Greene, who recognized that he "never acted better".
From The Westerner to For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940–1943
Cooper returned to the Western genre in William Wyler's The Westerner (1940) with Walter Brennan and Doris Davenport, about a drifting cowboy who defends homesteaders against Roy Bean, a corrupt judge known as the "law west of the Pecos". Screenwriter Niven Busch relied on Cooper's extensive knowledge of Western history while working on the script. The film received positive reviews and did well at the box-office, with reviewers praising the performances of the two lead actors. That same year, Cooper appeared in his first all-Technicolor feature, Cecil B. DeMille's adventure film North West Mounted Police (1940). In the film, Cooper plays a Texas Ranger who pursues an outlaw into western Canada where he joins forces with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who are after the same man, a leader of the North-West Rebellion. While not as popular with critics as its predecessor, the film was another box-office success—the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1940.
The early 1940s were Cooper's prime years as an actor. In a relatively short period, he appeared in five critically successful and popular films that produced some of his finest performances. When Frank Capra offered him the lead role in Meet John Doe before Robert Riskin even developed the script, Cooper accepted his friend's offer, saying, "It's okay, Frank, I don't need a script." In the film, Cooper plays Long John Willoughby, a down-and-out bush-league pitcher hired by a newspaper to pretend to be a man who promises to commit suicide on Christmas Eve to protest all the hypocrisy and corruption in the country. Considered by some critics to be Capra's best film at the time, Meet John Doe was received as a "national event" with Cooper appearing on the front cover of Time magazine on March 3, 1941. In his review in the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes called Cooper's performance a "splendid and utterly persuasive portrayal" and praised his "utterly realistic acting which comes through with such authority". Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote, "Gary Cooper, of course, is 'John Doe' to the life and in the whole—shy, bewildered, non-aggressive, but a veritable tiger when aroused."
That same year, Cooper made two films with director and good friend Howard Hawks. In the biographical film Sergeant York, Cooper portrays war hero Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. The film chronicles York's early backwoods days in Tennessee, his religious conversion and subsequent piety, his stand as a conscientious objector, and finally his heroic actions at the Battle of the Argonne Forest, which earned him the Medal of Honor. Initially, Cooper was nervous and uncertain about playing a living hero, so he traveled to Tennessee to visit York at his home, and the two quiet men established an immediate rapport and discovered they had much in common. Inspired by York's encouragement, Cooper delivered a performance that Howard Barnes of the New York Herald Tribune called "one of extraordinary conviction and versatility", and that Archer Winston of the New York Post called "one of his best". After the film's release, Cooper was awarded the Distinguished Citizenship Medal by the Veterans of Foreign Wars for his "powerful contribution to the promotion of patriotism and loyalty". York admired Cooper's performance and helped promote the film for Warner Bros. Sergeant York became the top-grossing film of the year and was nominated for eleven Academy Awards. Accepting his first Academy Award for Best Actor from his friend James Stewart, Cooper said, "It was Sergeant Alvin York who won this award. Shucks, I've been in the business sixteen years and sometimes dreamed I might get one of these. That's all I can say ... Funny when I was dreaming I always made a better speech."
Cooper concluded the year back at Goldwyn with Howard Hawks to make the romantic comedy Ball of Fire with Barbara Stanwyck. In the film, Cooper plays a shy linguistics professor who leads a team of seven scholars who are writing an encyclopedia. While researching slang, he meets Stanwyck's flirtatious burlesque stripper Sugarpuss O'Shea who blows the dust off their staid life of books. The screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder provided Cooper the opportunity to exercise the full range of his light comedy skills. In his review for the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote that Cooper handled the role with "great skill and comic emphasis" and that his performance was "utterly delightful". Though small in scale, Ball of Fire was one of the top-grossing films of the year—Cooper's fourth consecutive picture to make the top twenty.
Cooper's only film appearance in 1942 was also his last under his Goldwyn contract. In Sam Wood's biographical film The Pride of the Yankees, Cooper portrays baseball star Lou Gehrig who established a record with the New York Yankees for playing in 2,130 consecutive games. Cooper was reluctant to play the seven-time All-Star, who only died the previous year from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — now commonly called "Lou Gehrig's disease". Beyond the challenges of effectively portraying such a popular and nationally recognized figure, Cooper knew very little about baseball and was not left-handed like Gehrig.
After Gehrig's widow visited the actor and expressed her desire that he portray her husband, Cooper accepted the role that covered a twenty-year span of Gehrig's life—his early love of baseball, his rise to greatness, his loving marriage, and his struggle with illness, culminating in his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939 before 62,000 fans. Cooper quickly learned the physical movements of a baseball player and developed a fluid, believable swing. The handedness issue was solved by reversing the print for certain batting scenes. The film was one of the year's top ten pictures and received eleven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's third).
Soon after the publication of Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, Paramount paid $150,000 for the film rights with the express intent of casting Cooper in the lead role of Robert Jordan, an American explosives expert who fights alongside the Republican loyalists during the Spanish Civil War. The original director, Cecil B. DeMille, was replaced by Sam Wood who brought in Dudley Nichols for the screenplay. After the start of principal photography in the Sierra Nevada in late 1942, Ingrid Bergman was brought in to replace ballerina Vera Zorina as the female lead—a change supported by Cooper and Hemingway. The love scenes between Bergman and Cooper were "rapturous" and passionate. Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune wrote that both actors performed with "the true stature and authority of stars". While the film distorted the novel's original political themes and meaning, For Whom the Bell Tolls was a critical and commercial success and received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's fourth).
World War II related activities
Due to his age and health, Cooper did not serve in the military during World War II, but like many of his colleagues, he got involved in the war effort by entertaining the troops. In June 1943, he visited military hospitals in San Diego, and often appeared at the Hollywood Canteen serving food to the servicemen. In late 1943, Cooper undertook a tour of the South West Pacific with actresses Una Merkel and Phyllis Brooks, and accordionist Andy Arcari.
Traveling on a B-24A Liberator bomber, the group toured the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Queensland, Brisbane—where General Douglas MacArthur told Cooper he was watching Sergeant York in a Manila theater when Japanese bombs began falling—New Guinea, Jayapura, and throughout the Solomon Islands.
The group often shared the same sparse living conditions and K-rations as the troops. Cooper met with the servicemen and women, visited military hospitals, introduced his attractive colleagues, and participated in occasional skits. The shows concluded with Cooper's moving recitation of Lou Gehrig's farewell speech. When he returned to the United States, he visited military hospitals throughout the country. Cooper later called his time with the troops the "greatest emotional experience" of his life.
Mature roles, 1944–1952
In 1944, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's wartime adventure film The Story of Dr. Wassell with Laraine Day — his third movie with the director. In the film, Cooper plays American doctor and missionary Corydon M. Wassell, who leads a group of wounded sailors through the jungles of Java to safety. Despite receiving poor reviews, Dr. Wassell was one of the top-grossing films of the year. With his Goldwyn and Paramount contracts now concluded, Cooper decided to remain independent and formed his own production company, International Pictures, with Leo Spitz, William Goetz, and Nunnally Johnson. The fledgling studio's first offering was Sam Wood's romantic comedy Casanova Brown with Teresa Wright, about a man who learns his soon-to-be ex-wife is pregnant with his child, just as he is about to marry another woman. The film received poor reviews, with the New York Daily News calling it "delightful nonsense", and Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, criticizing Cooper's "somewhat obvious and ridiculous clowning". The film was barely profitable.
In 1945, Cooper starred in and produced Stuart Heisler's Western comedy Along Came Jones with Loretta Young for International. In this lighthearted parody of his past heroic image, Cooper plays comically inept cowboy Melody Jones who is mistaken for a ruthless killer. Audiences embraced Cooper's character, and the film was one of the top box-office pictures of the year—a testament to Cooper's still vital audience appeal. It was also International's biggest financial success during its brief history before being sold off to Universal Studios in 1946.
Cooper's career during the post-war years drifted in new directions as American society was changing. While he still played conventional heroic roles, his films now relied less on his heroic screen persona and more on novel stories and exotic settings. In November 1945, Cooper appeared in Sam Wood's nineteenth-century period drama Saratoga Trunk with Ingrid Bergman, about a Texas cowboy and his relationship with a beautiful fortune-hunter. Filmed in early 1943, the movie's release was delayed for two years due to the increased demand for war movies. Despite poor reviews, Saratoga Trunk did well at the box office and became one of the top money-makers of the year for Warner Bros. Cooper's only film in 1946 was Fritz Lang's romantic thriller Cloak and Dagger, about a mild-mannered physics professor recruited by the OSS during the last years of World War II to investigate the German atomic bomb program. Playing a part loosely based on physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, Cooper was uneasy with the role and unable to convey the "inner sense" of the character. The film received poor reviews and was a box-office failure. In 1947, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's epic adventure film Unconquered with Paulette Goddard, about a Virginia militiaman who defends settlers against an unscrupulous gun trader and hostile Indians on the Western frontier during the eighteenth century. The film received mixed reviews, but even long-time DeMille critic James Agee acknowledged the picture had "some authentic flavor of the period". This last of four films made with DeMille was Cooper's most lucrative, earning the actor over $300,000 (equal to $ today) in salary and percentage of profits. Unconquered would be his last unqualified box-office success for the next five years.
In 1948, after making Leo McCarey's romantic comedy Good Sam, Cooper sold his company to Universal Studios and signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. that gave him script and director approval and a guaranteed $295,000 (equal to $ today) per picture. His first film under the new contract was King Vidor's drama The Fountainhead (1949) with Patricia Neal and Raymond Massey. In the film, Cooper plays an idealistic and uncompromising architect who struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism in the face of societal pressures to conform to popular standards. Based on the novel by Ayn Rand who also wrote the screenplay, the film reflects her philosophy and attacks the concepts of collectivism while promoting the virtues of individualism. For most critics, Cooper was hopelessly miscast in the role of Howard Roark. In his review for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther concluded he was "Mr. Deeds out of his element". Cooper returned to his element in Delmer Daves' war drama Task Force (1949), about a retiring rear admiral who reminisces about his long career as a naval aviator and his role in the development of aircraft carriers. Cooper's performance and the Technicolor newsreel footage supplied by the United States Navy made the film one of Cooper's most popular during this period. In the next two years, Cooper made four poorly received films: Michael Curtiz' period drama Bright Leaf (1950), Stuart Heisler's Western melodrama Dallas (1950), Henry Hathaway's wartime comedy You're in the Navy Now (1951), and Raoul Walsh's Western action film Distant Drums (1951).
Cooper's most important film during the post-war years was Fred Zinnemann's Western drama High Noon (1952) with Grace Kelly and Katy Jurado for United Artists. In the film, Cooper plays retiring sheriff Will Kane who is preparing to leave town on his honeymoon when he learns that an outlaw he helped put away and his three henchmen are returning to seek their revenge. Unable to gain the support of the frightened townspeople, and abandoned by his young bride, Kane nevertheless stays to face the outlaws alone. During the filming, Cooper was in poor health and in considerable pain from stomach ulcers. His ravaged face and discomfort in some scenes "photographed as self-doubt", according to biographer Hector Arce, and contributed to the effectiveness of his performance. Considered one of the first "adult" Westerns for its theme of moral courage, High Noon received enthusiastic reviews for its artistry, with Time magazine placing it in the ranks of Stagecoach and The Gunfighter. Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote that Cooper was "at the top of his form", and John McCarten, in The New Yorker, wrote that Cooper was never more effective. The film earned $3.75 million in the United States and $18 million worldwide. Following the example of his friend James Stewart, Cooper accepted a lower salary in exchange for a percent of the profits, and ended up making $600,000. Cooper's understated performance was widely praised, and earned him his second Academy Award for Best Actor.
Later films, 1953–1961
After appearing in André de Toth's Civil War drama Springfield Rifle (1952)—a standard Warner Bros. film that was overshadowed by the success of its predecessor—Cooper made four films outside the United States. In Mark Robson's drama Return to Paradise (1953), Cooper plays an American wanderer who liberates the inhabitants of a Polynesian island from the puritanical rule of a misguided pastor. Cooper endured spartan living conditions, long hours, and ill health during the three-month location shoot on the island of Upolu in Western Samoa. Despite its beautiful cinematography, the film received poor reviews. Cooper's next three films were shot in Mexico. In Hugo Fregonese's action adventure film Blowing Wild (1953) with Barbara Stanwyck, he plays a wildcatter in Mexico who gets involved with an oil company executive and his unscrupulous wife with whom he once had an affair.
In 1954, Cooper appeared in Henry Hathaway's Western drama Garden of Evil, with Susan Hayward, about three soldiers of fortune in Mexico hired to rescue a woman's husband. That same year, he appeared in Robert Aldrich's Western adventure Vera Cruz with Burt Lancaster. In the film, Cooper plays an American adventurer hired by Emperor Maximilian I to escort a countess to Vera Cruz during the Mexican Rebellion of 1866. All of these films received poor reviews but did well at the box-office. For his work in Vera Cruz, Cooper earned $1.4 million in salary and percent of the gross.
During this period, Cooper struggled with health problems. As well as his ongoing treatment for ulcers, he suffered a severe shoulder injury during the filming of Blowing Wild when he was hit by metal fragments from a dynamited oil well. During the filming of Vera Cruz, he reinjured his hip falling from a horse, and was burned when Lancaster fired his rifle too close and the wadding from the blank shell pierced his clothing.
In 1955, he appeared in Otto Preminger's biographical war drama The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, about the World War I general who tried to convince government officials of the importance of air power, and was court-martialed after blaming the War Department for a series of air disasters. Some critics felt that Cooper was miscast, and that his dull, tight-lipped performance did not reflect Mitchell's dynamic and caustic personality. In 1956, Cooper was more effective playing a gentle Indiana Quaker in William Wyler's Civil War drama Friendly Persuasion with Dorothy McGuire. Like Sergeant York and High Noon, the film addresses the conflict between religious pacifism and civic duty. For his performance, Cooper received his second Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actor. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, was awarded the Palme d'Or at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival, and went on to earn $8 million worldwide.
In 1956, Cooper traveled to France to make Billy Wilder's romantic comedy Love in the Afternoon with Audrey Hepburn and Maurice Chevalier. In the film, Cooper plays a middle-aged American playboy in Paris who pursues and eventually falls in love with a much younger woman. Despite receiving some positive reviews—including from Bosley Crowther who praised the film's "charming performances"—most reviewers concluded that Cooper was simply too old for the part. While audiences may not have welcomed seeing Cooper's heroic screen image tarnished by his playing an aging roué trying to seduce an innocent young girl, the film was still a box-office success. The following year, Cooper appeared in Philip Dunne's romantic drama Ten North Frederick. In the film, which was based on the novel by John O'Hara, Cooper plays an attorney whose life is ruined by a double-crossing politician and his own secret affair with his daughter's young roommate. While Cooper brought "conviction and controlled anguish" to his performance, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, it was not enough to save what Bosley Crowther called a "hapless film".
Despite his ongoing health problems and several operations for ulcers and hernias, Cooper continued to work in action films. In 1958, he appeared in Anthony Mann's Western drama Man of the West (1958) with Julie London and Lee J. Cobb, about a reformed outlaw and killer who is forced to confront his violent past when the train he is riding in is held up by his former gang members. The film has been called Cooper's "most pathological Western", with its themes of impotent rage, sexual humiliation, and sadism. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, Cooper, who struggled with moral conflicts in his personal life, "understood the anguish of a character striving to retain his integrity ... [and] brought authentic feeling to the role of a tempted and tormented, yet essentially decent man". Mostly ignored by critics at the time, the film is now well-regarded by film scholars and is considered Cooper's last great film.
After his Warner Bros. contract ended, Cooper formed his own production company, Baroda Productions, and made three unusual films in 1959 about redemption. In Delmer Daves' Western drama The Hanging Tree, Cooper plays a frontier doctor who saves a criminal from a lynch mob, and later tries to exploit his sordid past. Cooper delivered a "powerful and persuasive" performance of an emotionally scarred man whose need to dominate others is transformed by the love and sacrifice of a woman. In Robert Rossen's historical adventure They Came to Cordura with Rita Hayworth, he plays an army officer who is found guilty of cowardice and assigned the degrading task of recommending soldiers for the Medal of Honor during the Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916.
While Cooper received positive reviews, Variety and Films in Review felt he was too old for the part. In Michael Anderson's action drama The Wreck of the Mary Deare with Charlton Heston, Cooper plays a disgraced merchant marine officer who decides to stay aboard his sinking cargo ship in order to prove the vessel was deliberately scuttled and to redeem his good name. Like its two predecessors, the film was physically demanding. Cooper, who was a trained scuba diver, did most of his own underwater scenes. Biographer Jeffrey Meyers observed that in all three roles, Cooper effectively conveyed the sense of lost honor and desire for redemption—what Joseph Conrad in Lord Jim called the "struggles of an individual trying to save from the fire his idea of what his moral identity should be".
Personal life
Marriage and family
Cooper was formally introduced to his future wife, 20-year-old New York debutante Veronica Balfe, on Easter Sunday 1933 at a party given by her uncle, art director Cedric Gibbons. Called "Rocky" by her family and friends, she grew up on Park Avenue and attended finishing schools. Her stepfather was Wall Street tycoon Paul Shields. Cooper and Rocky were quietly married at her parents' Park Avenue residence on December 15, 1933. According to his friends, the marriage had a positive impact on Cooper, who turned away from past indiscretions and took control of his life. Athletic and a lover of the outdoors, Rocky shared many of Cooper's interests, including riding, skiing, and skeet-shooting. She organized their social life, and her wealth and social connections provided Cooper access to New York high society. Cooper and his wife owned homes in the Los Angeles area in Encino (1933–36), Brentwood (1936–53), and Holmby Hills (1954–61), and owned a vacation home in Aspen, Colorado (1949–53).
Gary and Veronica Cooper's daughter, Maria Veronica Cooper, was born on September 15, 1937. By all accounts, he was a patient and affectionate father, teaching Maria to ride a bicycle, play tennis, ski, and ride horses. Sharing many of her parents' interests, she accompanied them on their travels and was often photographed with them. Like her father, she developed a love for art and drawing. As a family they vacationed together in Sun Valley, Idaho, spent time at Rocky's parents' country house in Southampton, New York, and took frequent trips to Europe. Cooper and Rocky were legally separated on May 16, 1951, when Cooper moved out of their home. For over two years, they maintained a fragile and uneasy family life with their daughter. Cooper moved back into their home in November 1953, and their formal reconciliation occurred in February 1954.
Romantic relationships
Prior to his marriage, Cooper had a series of romantic relationships with leading actresses, beginning in 1927 with Clara Bow, who advanced his career by helping him get one of his first leading roles in Children of Divorce. Bow was also responsible for getting Cooper a role in Wings, which generated an enormous amount of fan mail for the young actor. In 1928, he had a relationship with another experienced actress, Evelyn Brent, whom he met while filming Beau Sabreur. In 1929, while filming The Wolf Song, Cooper began an intense affair with Lupe Vélez, which was the most important romance of his early life. During their two years together, Cooper also had brief affairs with Marlene Dietrich while filming Morocco in 1930 and with Carole Lombard while making I Take This Woman in 1931. During his year abroad in 1931–32, Cooper had an affair with the married Countess Dorothy di Frasso, while staying at her Villa Madama near Rome.
After he was married in December 1933, Cooper remained faithful to his wife until the summer of 1942, when he began an affair with Ingrid Bergman during the production of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Their relationship lasted through the completion of filming Saratoga Trunk in June 1943. In 1948, after finishing work on The Fountainhead, Cooper began an affair with actress Patricia Neal, his co-star. At first they kept their affair discreet, but eventually it became an open secret in Hollywood, and Cooper's wife confronted him with the rumors, which he admitted were true. He also confessed that he was in love with Neal, and continued to see her. Cooper and his wife were legally separated in May 1951, but he did not seek a divorce. Neal later claimed that Cooper hit her after she went on a date with Kirk Douglas, and that he arranged for her to have an abortion when she became pregnant with Cooper's child. Neal ended their relationship in late December 1951. During his three-year separation from his wife, Cooper was rumored to have had affairs with Grace Kelly, Lorraine Chanel, and Gisèle Pascal.
Cooper biographers have explored his friendship in the late twenties with the actor Anderson Lawler, with whom Cooper shared a house on and off for a year, while at the same time seeing Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent and Lupe Vélez. Lupe Vélez once told Hedda Hopper of Vélez' affair with Cooper; whenever he would come home after seeing Lawler, she would sniff for Lawler's cologne. Vélez' biographer Michelle Vogel has reported that Vélez consented to Cooper's sexual behavior with Lawler, but only as long as she, too, could participate. In later life, he became involved in a relationship with the costume designer Irene, and was, according to Irene, "the only man she ever loved". A year after his death in 1961, Irene committed suicide by jumping from the 11th floor of the Knickerbocker Hotel, after telling Doris Day of her grief over Cooper's death.
Friendships, interests, and character
Cooper's twenty-year friendship with Ernest Hemingway began at Sun Valley in October 1940. The previous year, Hemingway drew upon Cooper's image when he created the character of Robert Jordan for the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The two shared a passion for the outdoors, and for years they hunted duck and pheasant, and skied together in Sun Valley. Both men admired the work of Rudyard Kipling—Cooper kept a copy of the poem "If—" in his dressing room—and retained as adults Kipling's sense of boyish adventure.
As well as admiring Cooper's hunting skills and knowledge of the outdoors, Hemingway believed his character matched his screen persona, once telling a friend, "If you made up a character like Coop, nobody would believe it. He's just too good to be true." They saw each other often, and their friendship remained strong through the years.
Cooper's social life generally centered on sports, outdoor activities, and dinner parties with his family and friends from the film industry, including directors Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, William Wellman, and Fred Zinnemann, and actors Joel McCrea, James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, and Robert Taylor. As well as hunting, Cooper enjoyed riding, fishing, skiing, and later in life, scuba diving. He never abandoned his early love for art and drawing, and over the years, he and his wife acquired a private collection of modern paintings, including works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Cooper owned several works by Pablo Picasso, whom he met in 1956. Cooper also had a lifelong passion for automobiles, with a collection that included a 1930 Duesenberg.
Cooper was naturally reserved and introspective, and loved the solitude of outdoor activities. Not unlike his screen persona, his communication style frequently consisted of long silences with an occasional "yup" and "shucks". He once said, "If others have more interesting things to say than I have, I keep quiet." According to his friends, Cooper could also be an articulate, well-informed conversationalist on topics ranging from horses, guns, and Western history to film production, sports cars, and modern art. He was modest and unpretentious, frequently downplaying his acting abilities and career accomplishments. His friends and colleagues described him as charming, well-mannered, and thoughtful, with a lively boyish sense of humor. Cooper maintained a sense of propriety throughout his career and never misused his movie star status—never sought special treatment or refused to work with a director or leading lady. His close friend Joel McCrea recalled, "Coop never fought, he never got mad, he never told anybody off that I know of; everybody that worked with him liked him."
Political views
Like his father, Cooper was a conservative Republican; he voted for Calvin Coolidge in 1924, Herbert Hoover in 1928 and 1932, and campaigned for Wendell Willkie in 1940. When Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for an unprecedented fourth presidential term in 1944, Cooper campaigned for Thomas E. Dewey and criticized Roosevelt for being dishonest and adopting "foreign" ideas. In a radio address that he paid for himself just prior to the election, Cooper said, "I disagree with the New Deal belief that the America all of us love is old and worn-out and finished—and has to borrow foreign notions that don't even seem to work any too well where they come from ... Our country is a young country that just has to make up its mind to be itself again." He also attended a Republican rally at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that drew 93,000 Dewey supporters.
Cooper was one of the founding members of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a conservative organization dedicated, according to its statement of principles, to preserving the "American way of life" and opposing communism and fascism. The organization — whose membership included Walter Brennan, Laraine Day, Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Hedda Hopper, Ronald Reagan, Barbara Stanwyck, and John Wayne — advised the United States Congress to investigate communist influence in the motion picture industry. On October 23, 1947, Cooper was subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and was asked if he had observed any "communistic influence" in Hollywood.
Cooper recounted statements he'd heard suggesting that the Constitution was out of date and that Congress was an unnecessary institution—comments that Cooper said he found to be "very un-American" and testified that he had rejected several scripts because he thought they were "tinged with communist ideas". Unlike some other witnesses, Cooper did not name any individuals, nor did he name any scripts, during his testimony.
In 1951, while making High Noon, Cooper became friends with the film's screenwriter, Carl Foreman, who had been a member of the Communist Party. When Foreman was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Cooper put his career on the line to defend Foreman. When John Wayne and others threatened Cooper with blacklisting himself and the loss of his passport if he did not walk off the film, Cooper gave a statement to the press in support of Foreman, calling him "the finest kind of American". When producer Stanley Kramer removed Foreman's name as screenwriter, Cooper and director Fred Zinnemann threatened to walk off the film if Foreman's name was not restored. Foreman later said that, of all his friends and allies and colleagues in Hollywood, "Cooper was the only big one who tried to help. The only one." Cooper even offered to testify in Foreman's behalf before the committee, but character witnesses were not allowed. Foreman always sent future scripts to Cooper for first refusal, including The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Key and The Guns of Navarone. Cooper had to turn them down because of his age.
Religion
Cooper was baptized in the Anglican Church in December 1911 in Britain, and was raised in the Episcopal Church in the United States. While he was not an observant Christian for most of his adult life, many of his friends believed he had a deeply spiritual side.
On June 26, 1953, Cooper accompanied his wife and daughter, who were devout Catholics, to Rome, where they had an audience with Pope Pius XII. Cooper and his wife were still separated at the time, but the papal visit marked the beginning of their gradual reconciliation. In the coming years, Cooper contemplated his mortality and his personal behavior, and started discussing Catholicism with his family. He began attending church with them regularly, and met with their parish priest, who offered Cooper spiritual guidance. After several months of study, Cooper was baptized as a Roman Catholic on April 9, 1959, before a small group of family and friends at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.
Final years and death
On April 14, 1960, Cooper underwent surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had metastasized to his colon. He fell ill again on May 31 and underwent further surgery at Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles in early June to remove a malignant tumor from his large intestine. After recuperating over the summer, Cooper took his family on vacation to the south of France before traveling to the UK in the fall to star in The Naked Edge. In December 1960, he worked on the NBC television documentary The Real West, which was part of the company's Project 20 series.
On December 27, his wife learned from their family doctor that Cooper's cancer had spread to his lungs and bones and was inoperable. His family decided not to tell him immediately.
On January 9, 1961, Cooper attended a dinner that was given in his honor and hosted by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin at the Friars Club. The dinner was attended by many of his industry friends and concluded with a brief speech by Cooper who said, "The only achievement I'm proud of is the friends I've made in this community."
In mid-January, Cooper took his family to Sun Valley for their last vacation together. Cooper and Hemingway hiked through the snow together for the last time. On February 27, after returning to Los Angeles, Cooper learned that he was dying. He later told his family, "We'll pray for a miracle; but if not, and that's God's will, that's all right too." On April 17, Cooper watched the Academy Awards ceremony on television and saw his good friend James Stewart, who had presented Cooper with his first Oscar years earlier, accept on Cooper's behalf an honorary award for lifetime achievement—his third Oscar. Holding back tears, Stewart said, "Coop, I'll get this to you right away. And Coop, I want you to know this, that with this goes all the warm friendship and the affection and the admiration and the deep, the deep respect of all of us. We're very, very proud of you, Coop. All of us are tremendously proud." The following day, newspapers around the world announced the news that Cooper was dying. In the coming days he received numerous messages of appreciation and encouragement, including telegrams from Pope John XXIII and Queen Elizabeth II, and a telephone call from President John F. Kennedy.
In his last public statement on May 4, Cooper said, "I know that what is happening is God's will. I am not afraid of the future." He received the last rites on May 12. Cooper died quietly the following day, Saturday, May 13, 1961, at 12:47 P.M.
A requiem mass was held on May 18 at the Church of the Good Shepherd, attended by many of Cooper's friends, including James Stewart, Jack Benny, Henry Hathaway, Joel McCrea, Audrey Hepburn, Jack L. Warner, John Ford, John Wayne, Edward G. Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Fred Astaire, Randolph Scott, Walter Pidgeon, Bob Hope and Marlene Dietrich. Cooper was buried in the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. In May 1974, after his family relocated to New York, Cooper's remains were exhumed and reburied in Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton. His grave is marked by a three-ton boulder from a Montauk quarry.
Acting style and reputation
Cooper's acting style consisted of three essential characteristics: his ability to project elements of his own personality onto the characters he portrayed, to appear natural and authentic in his roles, and to underplay and deliver restrained performances calibrated for the camera and the screen. Acting teacher Lee Strasberg once observed: "The simplest examples of Stanislavsky's ideas are actors such as Gary Cooper, John Wayne, and Spencer Tracy. They try not to act but to be themselves, to respond or react. They refuse to say or do anything they feel not to be consonant with their own characters." Film director François Truffaut ranked Cooper among "the greatest actors" because of his ability to deliver great performances "without direction". This ability to project elements of his own personality onto his characters produced a continuity across his performances to the extent that critics and audiences were convinced that he was simply "playing himself".
Cooper's ability to project his personality onto his characters played an important part in his appearing natural and authentic on screen. Actor John Barrymore said of Cooper, "This fellow is the world's greatest actor. He does without effort what the rest of us spend our lives trying to learn—namely, to be natural." Charles Laughton, who played opposite Cooper in Devil and the Deep agreed, "In truth, that boy hasn't the least idea how well he acts ... He gets at it from the inside, from his own clear way of looking at life." William Wyler, who directed Cooper in two films, called him a "superb actor, a master of movie acting".
In his review of Cooper's performance in The Real Glory, Graham Greene wrote, "Sometimes his lean photogenic face seems to leave everything to the lens, but there is no question here of his not acting. Watch him inoculate the girl against cholera—the casual jab of the needle, and the dressing slapped on while he talks, as though a thousand arms had taught him where to stab and he doesn't have to think anymore."
Cooper's style of underplaying before the camera surprised many of his directors and fellow actors. Even in his earliest feature films, he recognized the camera's ability to pick up slight gestures and facial movements. Commenting on Cooper's performance in Sergeant York, director Howard Hawks observed, "He worked very hard and yet he didn't seem to be working. He was a strange actor because you'd look at him during a scene and you'd think ... this isn't going to be any good. But when you saw the rushes in the projection room the next day you could read in his face all the things he'd been thinking." Sam Wood, who directed Cooper in four films, had similar observations about Cooper's performance in Pride of the Yankees, noting, "What I thought was underplaying turned out to be just the right approach. On the screen he's perfect, yet on the set you'd swear it's the worst job of acting in the history of motion pictures."
Fellow actors admired his abilities as an actor. Commenting on her two films playing opposite Cooper, actress Ingrid Bergman concluded, "The personality of this man was so enormous, so overpowering—and that expression in his eyes and his face, it was so delicate and so underplayed. You just didn't notice it until you saw it on the screen. I thought he was marvelous; the most underplaying and the most natural actor I ever worked with."
Tom Hanks declared, "In only one scene in the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, we see the future of screen acting in the form of Gary Cooper. He is quiet and natural, somehow different from the other cast members. He does something mysterious with his eyes and shoulders that is much more like 'being' than 'acting'."
Daniel Day-Lewis said, "I don't particularly like westerns as a genre, but I do love certain westerns. 'High Noon' means a lot to me – I love the purity and the honesty, I love Gary Cooper in that film, the idea of the last man standing."
Chris Pratt stated, "I started watching Westerns when I was shooting in London about four or five years ago. I really fell in love with Gary Cooper, and his stuff. That sucked me into the Westerns. Before, I never got engrossed in the story. I'd just dip in, and there were guys in horses in black and white. High Noon's later Gary Cooper, I liked that. But I liked 'The Westerner'. That's my favorite one. I have that poster hung up in my house because I really like that one."
To Al Pacino, "Gary Cooper was a phenomenon—his ability to take some thing and elevate it, give it such dignity. One of the great presences."
Mylène Demongeot first got with Gary Cooper for the opening of the first escalator to be installed in a cinema, at the Rex Theatre in Paris, on June 7, 1957. She declared in a 2015 filmed interview: "Gary Cooper ... il est sublime ! Aaahhh (Mylène pushing a cry of love not to say ecstasy) il est sublime ... Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Là je dois dire que ça fait partie des stars, y'a Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, ces grands Américains que j'ai rencontrés comme ça, c'est vraiment des mecs incroyables. Y'en a plus des comme ça ! Euh non. (Gary Cooper was sublime, there I have to say, now he, was part of the stars, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, those great americans who I've met really were unbelievable guys, there aren't any like them anymore)."
Career assessment and legacy
Cooper's career spanned thirty-six years, from 1925 to 1961. During that time, he appeared in eighty-four feature films in a leading role. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His natural and authentic acting style appealed powerfully to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major movie genres, including Westerns, war films, adventure films, drama films, crime films, romance films, comedy films, and romantic comedy films. He appeared on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities for twenty-three consecutive years, from 1936 to 1958. According to Quigley's annual poll, Cooper was one of the top money-making stars for eighteen years, appearing in the top ten in 1936–37, 1941–49, and 1951–57. He topped the list in 1953. In Quigley's list of all-time money-making stars, Cooper is listed fourth, after John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Tom Cruise. At the time of his death, it was estimated that his films grossed well over $200 million (equivalent to $ billion in ).
In over half of his feature films, Cooper portrayed Westerners, soldiers, pilots, sailors, and explorers—all men of action. In the rest he played a wide range of characters, included doctors, professors, artists, architects, clerks, and baseball players. Cooper's heroic screen image changed with each period of his career. In his early films, he played the young naive hero sure of his moral position and trusting in the triumph of simple virtues (The Virginian). After becoming a major star, his Western screen persona was replaced by a more cautious hero in adventure films and dramas (A Farewell to Arms). During the height of his career, from 1936 to 1943, he played a new type of hero—a champion of the common man willing to sacrifice himself for others (Mr. Deeds, Meet John Doe, and For Whom the Bell Tolls).
In the post-war years, Cooper attempted broader variations on his screen image, which now reflected a hero increasingly at odds with the world who must face adversity alone (The Fountainhead and High Noon). In his final films, Cooper's hero rejects the violence of the past, and seeks to reclaim lost honor and find redemption (Friendly Persuasion and Man of the West). The screen persona he developed and sustained throughout his career represented the ideal American hero—a tall, handsome, and sincere man of steadfast integrity who emphasized action over intellect, and combined the heroic qualities of the romantic lover, the adventurer, and the common man.
On February 6, 1960, Cooper was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6243 Hollywood Boulevard for his contribution to the film industry. He was awarded a star on the sidewalk outside the Ellen Theater in Bozeman, Montana.
On May 6, 1961, he was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters in recognition of his significant contribution to the arts. On July 30, 1961, he was posthumously awarded the David di Donatello Special Award in Italy for his career achievements.
In 1966, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. In 2015, he was inducted into the Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Hall of Fame. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper eleventh on its list of the 25 male stars of classic Hollywood. Three of his characters—Will Kane, Lou Gehrig, and Sergeant York—made AFI's list of the one hundred greatest heroes and villains, all of them as heroes. His Lou Gehrig line, "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.", is ranked by AFI as the thirty-eighth greatest movie quote of all time.
More than a half century after his death, Cooper's enduring legacy, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, is his image of the ideal American hero preserved in his film performances. Charlton Heston once observed, "He projected the kind of man Americans would like to be, probably more than any actor that's ever lived."
In the TV series Justified, based on works and characters created by Elmore Leonard, Gary Cooper is used throughout the six seasons as the man whom U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant, aspires to be. When his colleague asks Marshall Givens how he thinks his dangerous plan to bring down a villain can possibly work, he replies: "Why not? Worked for Gary Cooper."
Gary Cooper is referenced several times in the critically acclaimed television series The Sopranos, with protagonist Tony Soprano asking "What ever happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type." while complaining about his problems to his therapist.
In the 1930s hit song "Puttin' On the Ritz", Cooper is referenced in the line "dress up like a million dollar trooper/Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper, Super duper!" More than two decades after Cooper's death a new version of the song was released in 1983 by Taco; the original lyrics were kept, including the references to Cooper.
In J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Cooper is "spotted" by Holden Caulfield to distract a woman he is dancing with.
Awards and nominations
Filmography
The following is a list of feature films in which Cooper appeared in a leading role.
The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)
Children of Divorce (1927)
Arizona Bound (1927)
Wings (1927)
Nevada (1927)
It (1927)
The Last Outlaw (1927)
Beau Sabreur (1928)
The Legion of the Condemned (1928)
Doomsday (1928)
Half a Bride (1928)
Lilac Time (1928)
The First Kiss (1928)
The Shopworn Angel (1928)
Wolf Song (1929)
Betrayal (1929)
The Virginian (1929)
Only the Brave (1930)
The Texan (1930)
Seven Days' Leave (1930)
A Man from Wyoming (1930)
The Spoilers (1930)
Morocco (1930)
Fighting Caravans (1931)
City Streets (1931)
I Take This Woman (1931)
His Woman (1931)
Devil and the Deep (1932)
If I Had a Million (1932)
A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Today We Live (1933)
One Sunday Afternoon (1933)
Design for Living (1933)
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
Operator 13 (1934)
Now and Forever (1934)
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
The Wedding Night (1935)
Peter Ibbetson (1935)
Desire (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
The Plainsman (1936)
Souls at Sea (1937)
The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
Beau Geste (1939)
The Real Glory (1939)
The Westerner (1940)
North West Mounted Police (1940)
Meet John Doe (1941)
Sergeant York (1941)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
Casanova Brown (1944)
Along Came Jones (1945)
Saratoga Trunk (1945)
Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Unconquered (1947)
Good Sam (1948)
The Fountainhead (1949)
Task Force (1949)
Bright Leaf (1950)
Dallas (1950)
You're in the Navy Now (1951)
It's a Big Country (1951)
Distant Drums (1951)
High Noon (1952)
Springfield Rifle (1952)
Return to Paradise (1953)
Blowing Wild (1953)
Garden of Evil (1954)
Vera Cruz (1954)
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Ten North Frederick (1958)
Man of the West (1958)
The Hanging Tree (1959)
They Came to Cordura (1959)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
The Naked Edge (1961)
Radio appearances
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Adrien Le Bihan, Gary Cooper, le prince des acteurs, LettMotif, 2021, 358p.()
External links
1901 births
1961 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Academy Honorary Award recipients
American expatriates in England
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
American male television actors
American people of English descent
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
California Republicans
Catholics from Montana
Conservatism in the United States
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from prostate cancer
Grinnell College people
Male Western (genre) film actors
Male actors from Montana
Paramount Pictures contract players
People educated at Dunstable Grammar School
People from Brentwood, Los Angeles
People from Dunstable
People from Helena, Montana
People from Holmby Hills, Los Angeles | true | [
"Sam Taylor is an American rock record producer. Taylor got his start working as a video producer with ZZ Top. He went on to produce and manage several Houston, Texas area rock bands, such as King's X, Galactic Cowboys, and Atomic Opera. After breaking off his relationship with those bands, he later returned to produce the Third Day album Conspiracy No. 5, and also to collaborate with longtime friend and cellist Max Dyer on a project called Moons of Jupiter.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nAmerican record producers\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nPlace of birth missing (living people)",
"KickRaux is a Jamaican DJ, record producer, songwriter and music executive. He has collaborated with producers and vocalists such as Vybz Kartel, Major Lazer, Tyga, Wizkid, Machel Montano, Chronixx, Konshens, Busta Rhymes, Charly Black, Demarco and is known for his remixes of artists such as Migos, Jay Z, Mila J, Kranium & M.I.A. Major Lazer frontman Diplo referred to KickRaux as \"one of (his) favorite new producers.\" In early 2014, KickRaux was credited with coining the term Future Dancehall, which refers to his style of music productions.\n\nEarly life \nKickRaux was born in Portmore, Jamaica and raised in Miami, Florida. His early remixes led to a feature on MTV UK's The Wrap Up. KickRaux replaced the name Rieces Pieces under which he produced his first remix of M.I.A. featuring Jay Z \"XXXO'\". In 2012 he produced several dancehall remixes which led to radio play on BBC Radio 1Xtra and other international radio stations across Russia, France, Canada, Australia and the Caribbean. In 2013, KickRaux went back to EDM bass music to collaborate and release EDM remixes which received positive reviews and support from a number or publications (MTV Hive, Spin Magazine, Vibe, Peace Magazine, Pigeons & Planes, The Frontliner) and DJs of the genre (Flosstradamus, Dj Carnage, Nick Catchdubs, Dirty South Joe and Swizzymack). This led to a US city tour which included sharing the stage with Krewella and Brillz. In 2013 he partnered with MTV for an Exclusive Guest Mix. He also partnered with MySpace for a front page release premiere\n\nLater work\n\nProduction credits\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nKickRaux Website\n\nLiving people\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\n\nAmerican record producers\nMusicians from Florida"
]
|
[
"Gary Cooper",
"Silent films, 1925-28",
"Was there a Silent film released in 1925?",
"The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky,",
"Was he in any other films?",
"a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (",
"Did he collaborate with any other producers?",
"On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week."
]
| C_6ade1075ca2849c5aee8a7091d6b357c_1 | WHat did they produce together? | 5 | WHat did Gary Cooper produce together with Samuel goldwyn productions? | Gary Cooper | In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, including Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt work--which sometimes injured horses and riders--"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name. Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week. Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal--finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings, the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada--both films directed by John Waters. In 1928, Paramount paired Cooper with a youthful Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss--advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride. That year, Cooper also made Lilac Time with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928. CANNOTANSWER | The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) | Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent, and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, as well as receiving an Academy Honorary Award for his career achievements in 1961. He was one of the top 10 film personalities for 23 consecutive years, and one of the top money-making stars for 18 years. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper at No. 11 on its list of the 25 greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Cooper's career spanned 36 years, from 1925 to 1961, and included leading roles in 84 feature films. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era through to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His screen persona appealed strongly to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major film genres. His ability to project his own personality onto the characters he played contributed to his natural and authentic appearance on screen. Throughout his career, he sustained a screen persona that represented the ideal American hero.
Cooper began his career as a film extra and stunt rider, but soon landed acting roles. After establishing himself as a Western hero in his early silent films, he appeared as the Virginian and became a movie star in 1929 with his first sound picture, The Virginian. In the early 1930s, he expanded his heroic image to include more cautious characters in adventure films and dramas such as A Farewell to Arms (1932) and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935). During the height of his career, Cooper portrayed a new type of hero—a champion of the common man—in films such as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), Sergeant York (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). He later portrayed more mature characters at odds with the world in films such as The Fountainhead (1949) and High Noon (1952). In his final films, he played non-violent characters searching for redemption in films such as Friendly Persuasion (1956) and Man of the West (1958).
Early life
Frank James Cooper was born in Helena, Montana, on May 7, 1901, the younger of two sons of English parents Alice (née Brazier; 1873–1967) and Charles Henry Cooper (1865–1946). His brother, Arthur, was six years his senior. Cooper's father came from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, and became a prominent lawyer, rancher, and Montana Supreme Court justice. His mother hailed from Gillingham, Kent, and married Charles in Montana. In 1906, Charles purchased the Seven-Bar-Nine cattle ranch, about north of Helena near Craig, Montana. Cooper and Arthur spent their summers at the ranch and learned to ride horses, hunt, and fish. Cooper attended Central Grade School in Helena.
Alice wanted her sons to have an English education, so she took them back to England in 1909 to enroll them in Dunstable Grammar School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. While there, Cooper and his brother lived with their father's cousins, William and Emily Barton, at their home in Houghton Regis. Cooper studied Latin, French, and English history at Dunstable until 1912. While he adapted to English school discipline and learned the requisite social graces, he never adjusted to the rigid class structure and formal Eton collars he was required to wear. He received his confirmation in the Church of England at the Church of All Saints in Houghton Regis on December 3, 1911. His mother accompanied her sons back to the U.S. in August 1912, and Cooper resumed his education at Johnson Grammar School in Helena.
When Cooper was 15, he injured his hip in a car accident. On his doctor's recommendation, he returned to the Seven-Bar-Nine ranch to recuperate by horseback riding. The misguided therapy left him with his characteristic stiff, off-balanced walk and slightly angled horse-riding style. He left Helena High School after two years in 1918, and returned to the family ranch to work full-time as a cowboy. In 1919, his father arranged for him to attend Gallatin County High School in Bozeman, Montana, where English teacher Ida Davis encouraged him to focus on academics and participate in debating and dramatics. Cooper later called Davis "the woman partly responsible for [him] giving up cowboy-ing and going to college".
Cooper was still attending high school in 1920 when he took three art courses at Montana Agricultural College in Bozeman. His interest in art was inspired years earlier by the Western paintings of Charles Marion Russell and Frederic Remington. Cooper especially admired and studied Russell's Lewis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross' Hole (1910), which still hangs in the state capitol building in Helena. In 1922, to continue his art education, he enrolled in Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. He did well academically in most of his courses, but was not accepted into the school's drama club. His drawings and watercolor paintings were exhibited throughout the dormitory, and he was named art editor for the college yearbook. During the summers of 1922 and 1923, Cooper worked at Yellowstone National Park as a tour guide driving the yellow open-top buses. Despite a promising first 18 months at Grinnell, he left college suddenly in February 1924, spent a month in Chicago looking for work as an artist, and then returned to Helena, where he sold editorial cartoons to the local Independent newspaper.
In autumn 1924, Cooper's father left the Montana Supreme Court bench and moved with his wife to Los Angeles to administer the estates of two relatives, and Cooper joined his parents there in November at his father's request. After briefly working a series of unpromising jobs, he met two friends from Montana who were working as film extras and stunt riders in low-budget Western films for the small movie studios on Poverty Row. They introduced him to another Montana cowboy, rodeo champion Jay "Slim" Talbot, who took him to see a casting director. Wanting money for a professional art course, Cooper worked as a film extra for $5 a day, and as a stunt rider for $10. Cooper and Talbot became close friends and hunting companions, and Talbot later worked as Cooper's stuntman and stand-in for over three decades.
Career
Silent films, 1925–1928
In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, but also the already emergent major studios, Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt workwhich sometimes injured horses and riders"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name.
Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week.
Cooper's first important film role was a supporting part in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) starring Ronald Colman and Vilma Bánky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal—finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings (both 1927), the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada—both films directed by John Waters.
Paramount paired Cooper with Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss (both 1928)—advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride (also both 1928). Around the same time, Cooper made Lilac Time (1928) with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928.
Hollywood stardom, 1929–1935
Cooper became a major movie star in 1929 with the release of his first talking picture, The Virginian (1929), which was directed by Victor Fleming and co-starred Mary Brian and Walter Huston. Based on the popular novel by Owen Wister, The Virginian was one of the first sound films to define the Western code of honor and helped establish many of the conventions of the Western movie genre that persist to the present day. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, the romantic image of the tall, handsome, and shy cowboy hero who embodied male freedom, courage, and honor was created in large part by Cooper in the film. Unlike some silent film actors who had trouble adapting to the new sound medium, Cooper transitioned naturally, with his "deep and clear" and "pleasantly drawling" voice, which was perfectly suited for the characters he portrayed on screen, also according to Meyers. Looking to capitalize on Cooper's growing popularity, Paramount cast him in several Westerns and wartime dramas, including Only the Brave, The Texan, Seven Days' Leave, A Man from Wyoming, and The Spoilers (all released in 1930). Norman Rockwell depicted Cooper in his role as The Texan for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on May 24, 1930.
One of the more important performances in Cooper's early career was his portrayal of a sullen legionnaire in Josef von Sternberg's film Morocco (also 1930) with Marlene Dietrich in her introduction to American audiences. During production, von Sternberg focused his energies on Dietrich and treated Cooper dismissively. Tensions came to a head after von Sternberg yelled directions at Cooper in German. The actor approached the director, picked him up by the collar, and said, "If you expect to work in this country you'd better get on to the language we use here." Despite the tensions on the set, Cooper produced "one of his best performances", according to Thornton Delehanty of the New York Evening Post.
After returning to the Western genre in Zane Grey's Fighting Caravans (1931) with French actress Lili Damita, Cooper appeared in the Dashiell Hammett crime film City Streets (also 1931), co-starring Sylvia Sidney and Paul Lukas, playing a westerner who gets involved with big-city gangsters in order to save the woman he loves. Cooper concluded the year with appearances in two unsuccessful films: I Take This Woman (also 1931) with Carole Lombard, and His Woman with Claudette Colbert. The demands and pressures of making ten films in two years left Cooper exhausted and in poor health, suffering from anemia and jaundice. He had lost during that period, and felt lonely, isolated, and depressed by his sudden fame and wealth. In May 1931, Cooper left Hollywood and sailed to Algiers and then Italy, where he lived for the next year.
During his time abroad, Cooper stayed with the Countess Dorothy di Frasso at the Villa Madama in Rome, where she taught him about good food and vintage wines, how to read Italian and French menus, and how to socialize among Europe's nobility and upper classes. After guiding him through the great art museums and galleries of Italy, she accompanied him on a ten-week big-game hunting safari on the slopes of Mount Kenya in East Africa, where he was credited with over sixty kills, including two lions, a rhinoceros, and various antelopes. His safari experience in Africa had a profound influence on Cooper and intensified his love of the wilderness. After returning to Europe, he and the countess set off on a Mediterranean cruise of the Italian and French Rivieras. Rested and rejuvenated by his year-long exile, a healthy Cooper returned to Hollywood in April 1932 and negotiated a new contract with Paramount for two films per year, a salary of $4,000 a week, and director and script approval.
In 1932, after completing Devil and the Deep with Tallulah Bankhead to fulfill his old contract, Cooper appeared in A Farewell to Arms, the first film adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel. Co-starring Helen Hayes, a leading New York theatre star and Academy Award winner, and Adolphe Menjou, the film presented Cooper with one of his most ambitious and challenging dramatic roles, playing an American ambulance driver wounded in Italy who falls in love with an English nurse during World War I. Critics praised his highly intense and emotional performance, and the film became one of the year's most commercially successful pictures. In 1933, after making Today We Live with Joan Crawford and One Sunday Afternoon with Fay Wray, Cooper appeared in the Ernst Lubitsch comedy film Design for Living, based on the successful Noël Coward play. Co-starring Miriam Hopkins and Fredric March, the film was a box office success, ranking as one of the top ten highest-grossing films of 1933. All three of the lead actors—March, Cooper, and Hopkins—received attention from this film as they were all at the peak of their careers. Cooper's performance — playing an American artist in Europe competing with his playwright friend for the affections of a beautiful woman — was singled out for its versatility and revealed his genuine ability to do light comedy. Cooper changed his name legally to "Gary Cooper" in August 1933.
In 1934, Cooper was loaned out to MGM for the Civil War drama film Operator 13 with Marion Davies, about a beautiful Union spy who falls in love with a Confederate soldier. Despite Richard Boleslawski's imaginative direction and George J. Folsey's lavish cinematography, the film did poorly at the box office.
Back at Paramount, Cooper appeared in his first of seven films by director Henry Hathaway, Now and Forever, with Carole Lombard and Shirley Temple. In the film, he plays a confidence man who tries to sell his daughter to the relatives who raised her, but is eventually won over by the adorable girl. Impressed by Temple's intelligence and charm, Cooper developed a close rapport with her, both on and off screen. The film was a box-office success.
The following year, Cooper was loaned out to Samuel Goldwyn Productions to appear in King Vidor's romance film The Wedding Night with Anna Sten, who was being groomed as "another Garbo". In the film, Cooper plays an alcoholic novelist who retreats to his family's New England farm where he meets and falls in love with a beautiful Polish neighbor. Cooper delivered a performance of surprising range and depth, according to biographer Larry Swindell. Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, the film was not popular with American audiences, who may have been offended by the film's depiction of an extramarital affair and its tragic ending.
That same year, Cooper appeared in two Henry Hathaway films: the melodrama Peter Ibbetson with Ann Harding, about a man caught up in a dream world created by his love for a childhood sweetheart, and the adventure film The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, about a daring British officer and his men who defend their stronghold at Bengal against rebellious local tribes. While the former, championed by the surrealists became more successful in Europe than in the United States, the latter was nominated for seven Academy Awards and became one of Cooper's most popular and successful adventure films. Hathaway had the highest respect for Cooper's acting ability, calling him "the best actor of all of them".
American folk hero, 1936–1943
From Mr. Deeds to The Real Glory, 1936–1939
Cooper's career took an important turn in 1936. After making Frank Borzage's romantic comedy film Desire with Marlene Dietrich at Paramount—in which he delivered a performance considered by some contemporary critics as one of his finest—Cooper returned to Poverty Row for the first time since his early silent film days to make Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town with Jean Arthur for Columbia Pictures. In the film, Cooper plays the character of Longfellow Deeds, a quiet, innocent writer of greeting cards who inherits a fortune, leaves behind his idyllic life in Vermont, and travels to New York where he faces a world of corruption and deceit. Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin were able to use Cooper's well-established screen persona as the "quintessential American hero"—a symbol of honesty, courage, and goodness—to create a new type of "folk hero" for the common man. Commenting on Cooper's impact on the character and the film, Capra observed:
Both Desire and Mr. Deeds opened in April 1936 to critical praise and were major box-office successes. In his review in The New York Times, Frank Nugent wrote that Cooper was "proving himself one of the best light comedians in Hollywood". For his performance in Mr. Deeds, Cooper received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Cooper appeared in two other Paramount films in 1936. In Lewis Milestone's adventure film The General Died at Dawn with Madeleine Carroll, he plays an American soldier of fortune in China who helps the peasants defend themselves against the oppression of a cruel warlord. Written by playwright Clifford Odets, the film was a critical and commercial success.
In Cecil B. DeMille's sprawling frontier epic The Plainsman—his first of four films with the director—Cooper portrays Wild Bill Hickok in a highly fictionalized version of the opening of the American western frontier. The film was an even greater box-office hit than its predecessor, due in large part to Jean Arthur's definitive depiction of Calamity Jane and Cooper's inspired portrayal of Hickock as an enigmatic figure of "deepening mythic substance". That year, Cooper appeared for the first time on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities, where he would remain for the next twenty-three years.
In late 1936, Paramount was preparing a new contract for Cooper that would raise his salary to $8,000 a week when Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn for six films over six years with a minimum guarantee of $150,000 per picture. Paramount brought suit against Goldwyn and Cooper, and the court ruled that Cooper's new Goldwyn contract afforded the actor sufficient time to also honor his Paramount agreement. Cooper continued to make films with both studios, and by 1939 the United States Treasury reported that Cooper was the country's highest wage earner, at $482,819 (equivalent to $ million in ).
In contrast to his output the previous year, Cooper appeared in only one picture in 1937, Henry Hathaway's adventure film Souls at Sea. A critical and box-office failure, Cooper referred to it as his "almost picture", saying, "It was almost exciting, and almost interesting. And I was almost good." In 1938, he appeared in Archie Mayo's biographical film The Adventures of Marco Polo. Plagued by production problems and a weak screenplay, the film became Goldwyn's biggest failure to that date, losing $700,000. During this period, Cooper turned down several important roles, including the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. Cooper was producer David O. Selznick's first choice for the part. He made several overtures to the actor, but Cooper had doubts about the project, and did not feel suited to the role. Cooper later admitted, "It was one of the best roles ever offered in Hollywood ... But I said no. I didn't see myself as quite that dashing, and later, when I saw Clark Gable play the role to perfection, I knew I was right."
Back at Paramount, Cooper returned to a more comfortable genre in Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938) with Claudette Colbert. In the film, Cooper plays a wealthy American businessman in France who falls in love with an impoverished aristocrat's daughter and persuades her to become his eighth wife. Despite the clever screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, and solid performances by Cooper and Colbert, American audiences had trouble accepting Cooper in the role of a shallow philanderer. It succeeded only at the European box office market.
In the fall of 1938, Cooper appeared in H. C. Potter's romantic comedy The Cowboy and the Lady with Merle Oberon, about a sweet-natured rodeo cowboy who falls in love with the wealthy daughter of a presidential hopeful, believing her to be a poor, hard-working lady's maid. The efforts of three directors and several eminent screenwriters could not salvage what could have been a fine vehicle for Cooper. While more successful than its predecessor, the film was Cooper's fourth consecutive box-office failure in the American market.
In the next two years, Cooper was more discerning about the roles he accepted and made four successful large-scale adventure and cowboy films. In William A. Wellman's adventure film Beau Geste (1939), he plays one of three daring English brothers who join the French Foreign Legion in the Sahara to fight local tribes. Filmed in the same Mojave Desert locations as the original 1926 version with Ronald Colman, Beau Geste provided Cooper with magnificent sets, exotic settings, high-spirited action, and a role tailored to his personality and screen persona. This was the last film in Cooper's contract with Paramount.
In Henry Hathaway's The Real Glory (1939), he plays a military doctor who accompanies a small group of American Army officers to the Philippines to help the Christian Filipinos defend themselves against Muslim radicals. Many film critics praised Cooper's performance, including author and film critic Graham Greene, who recognized that he "never acted better".
From The Westerner to For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940–1943
Cooper returned to the Western genre in William Wyler's The Westerner (1940) with Walter Brennan and Doris Davenport, about a drifting cowboy who defends homesteaders against Roy Bean, a corrupt judge known as the "law west of the Pecos". Screenwriter Niven Busch relied on Cooper's extensive knowledge of Western history while working on the script. The film received positive reviews and did well at the box-office, with reviewers praising the performances of the two lead actors. That same year, Cooper appeared in his first all-Technicolor feature, Cecil B. DeMille's adventure film North West Mounted Police (1940). In the film, Cooper plays a Texas Ranger who pursues an outlaw into western Canada where he joins forces with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who are after the same man, a leader of the North-West Rebellion. While not as popular with critics as its predecessor, the film was another box-office success—the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1940.
The early 1940s were Cooper's prime years as an actor. In a relatively short period, he appeared in five critically successful and popular films that produced some of his finest performances. When Frank Capra offered him the lead role in Meet John Doe before Robert Riskin even developed the script, Cooper accepted his friend's offer, saying, "It's okay, Frank, I don't need a script." In the film, Cooper plays Long John Willoughby, a down-and-out bush-league pitcher hired by a newspaper to pretend to be a man who promises to commit suicide on Christmas Eve to protest all the hypocrisy and corruption in the country. Considered by some critics to be Capra's best film at the time, Meet John Doe was received as a "national event" with Cooper appearing on the front cover of Time magazine on March 3, 1941. In his review in the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes called Cooper's performance a "splendid and utterly persuasive portrayal" and praised his "utterly realistic acting which comes through with such authority". Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote, "Gary Cooper, of course, is 'John Doe' to the life and in the whole—shy, bewildered, non-aggressive, but a veritable tiger when aroused."
That same year, Cooper made two films with director and good friend Howard Hawks. In the biographical film Sergeant York, Cooper portrays war hero Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. The film chronicles York's early backwoods days in Tennessee, his religious conversion and subsequent piety, his stand as a conscientious objector, and finally his heroic actions at the Battle of the Argonne Forest, which earned him the Medal of Honor. Initially, Cooper was nervous and uncertain about playing a living hero, so he traveled to Tennessee to visit York at his home, and the two quiet men established an immediate rapport and discovered they had much in common. Inspired by York's encouragement, Cooper delivered a performance that Howard Barnes of the New York Herald Tribune called "one of extraordinary conviction and versatility", and that Archer Winston of the New York Post called "one of his best". After the film's release, Cooper was awarded the Distinguished Citizenship Medal by the Veterans of Foreign Wars for his "powerful contribution to the promotion of patriotism and loyalty". York admired Cooper's performance and helped promote the film for Warner Bros. Sergeant York became the top-grossing film of the year and was nominated for eleven Academy Awards. Accepting his first Academy Award for Best Actor from his friend James Stewart, Cooper said, "It was Sergeant Alvin York who won this award. Shucks, I've been in the business sixteen years and sometimes dreamed I might get one of these. That's all I can say ... Funny when I was dreaming I always made a better speech."
Cooper concluded the year back at Goldwyn with Howard Hawks to make the romantic comedy Ball of Fire with Barbara Stanwyck. In the film, Cooper plays a shy linguistics professor who leads a team of seven scholars who are writing an encyclopedia. While researching slang, he meets Stanwyck's flirtatious burlesque stripper Sugarpuss O'Shea who blows the dust off their staid life of books. The screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder provided Cooper the opportunity to exercise the full range of his light comedy skills. In his review for the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote that Cooper handled the role with "great skill and comic emphasis" and that his performance was "utterly delightful". Though small in scale, Ball of Fire was one of the top-grossing films of the year—Cooper's fourth consecutive picture to make the top twenty.
Cooper's only film appearance in 1942 was also his last under his Goldwyn contract. In Sam Wood's biographical film The Pride of the Yankees, Cooper portrays baseball star Lou Gehrig who established a record with the New York Yankees for playing in 2,130 consecutive games. Cooper was reluctant to play the seven-time All-Star, who only died the previous year from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — now commonly called "Lou Gehrig's disease". Beyond the challenges of effectively portraying such a popular and nationally recognized figure, Cooper knew very little about baseball and was not left-handed like Gehrig.
After Gehrig's widow visited the actor and expressed her desire that he portray her husband, Cooper accepted the role that covered a twenty-year span of Gehrig's life—his early love of baseball, his rise to greatness, his loving marriage, and his struggle with illness, culminating in his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939 before 62,000 fans. Cooper quickly learned the physical movements of a baseball player and developed a fluid, believable swing. The handedness issue was solved by reversing the print for certain batting scenes. The film was one of the year's top ten pictures and received eleven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's third).
Soon after the publication of Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, Paramount paid $150,000 for the film rights with the express intent of casting Cooper in the lead role of Robert Jordan, an American explosives expert who fights alongside the Republican loyalists during the Spanish Civil War. The original director, Cecil B. DeMille, was replaced by Sam Wood who brought in Dudley Nichols for the screenplay. After the start of principal photography in the Sierra Nevada in late 1942, Ingrid Bergman was brought in to replace ballerina Vera Zorina as the female lead—a change supported by Cooper and Hemingway. The love scenes between Bergman and Cooper were "rapturous" and passionate. Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune wrote that both actors performed with "the true stature and authority of stars". While the film distorted the novel's original political themes and meaning, For Whom the Bell Tolls was a critical and commercial success and received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's fourth).
World War II related activities
Due to his age and health, Cooper did not serve in the military during World War II, but like many of his colleagues, he got involved in the war effort by entertaining the troops. In June 1943, he visited military hospitals in San Diego, and often appeared at the Hollywood Canteen serving food to the servicemen. In late 1943, Cooper undertook a tour of the South West Pacific with actresses Una Merkel and Phyllis Brooks, and accordionist Andy Arcari.
Traveling on a B-24A Liberator bomber, the group toured the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Queensland, Brisbane—where General Douglas MacArthur told Cooper he was watching Sergeant York in a Manila theater when Japanese bombs began falling—New Guinea, Jayapura, and throughout the Solomon Islands.
The group often shared the same sparse living conditions and K-rations as the troops. Cooper met with the servicemen and women, visited military hospitals, introduced his attractive colleagues, and participated in occasional skits. The shows concluded with Cooper's moving recitation of Lou Gehrig's farewell speech. When he returned to the United States, he visited military hospitals throughout the country. Cooper later called his time with the troops the "greatest emotional experience" of his life.
Mature roles, 1944–1952
In 1944, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's wartime adventure film The Story of Dr. Wassell with Laraine Day — his third movie with the director. In the film, Cooper plays American doctor and missionary Corydon M. Wassell, who leads a group of wounded sailors through the jungles of Java to safety. Despite receiving poor reviews, Dr. Wassell was one of the top-grossing films of the year. With his Goldwyn and Paramount contracts now concluded, Cooper decided to remain independent and formed his own production company, International Pictures, with Leo Spitz, William Goetz, and Nunnally Johnson. The fledgling studio's first offering was Sam Wood's romantic comedy Casanova Brown with Teresa Wright, about a man who learns his soon-to-be ex-wife is pregnant with his child, just as he is about to marry another woman. The film received poor reviews, with the New York Daily News calling it "delightful nonsense", and Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, criticizing Cooper's "somewhat obvious and ridiculous clowning". The film was barely profitable.
In 1945, Cooper starred in and produced Stuart Heisler's Western comedy Along Came Jones with Loretta Young for International. In this lighthearted parody of his past heroic image, Cooper plays comically inept cowboy Melody Jones who is mistaken for a ruthless killer. Audiences embraced Cooper's character, and the film was one of the top box-office pictures of the year—a testament to Cooper's still vital audience appeal. It was also International's biggest financial success during its brief history before being sold off to Universal Studios in 1946.
Cooper's career during the post-war years drifted in new directions as American society was changing. While he still played conventional heroic roles, his films now relied less on his heroic screen persona and more on novel stories and exotic settings. In November 1945, Cooper appeared in Sam Wood's nineteenth-century period drama Saratoga Trunk with Ingrid Bergman, about a Texas cowboy and his relationship with a beautiful fortune-hunter. Filmed in early 1943, the movie's release was delayed for two years due to the increased demand for war movies. Despite poor reviews, Saratoga Trunk did well at the box office and became one of the top money-makers of the year for Warner Bros. Cooper's only film in 1946 was Fritz Lang's romantic thriller Cloak and Dagger, about a mild-mannered physics professor recruited by the OSS during the last years of World War II to investigate the German atomic bomb program. Playing a part loosely based on physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, Cooper was uneasy with the role and unable to convey the "inner sense" of the character. The film received poor reviews and was a box-office failure. In 1947, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's epic adventure film Unconquered with Paulette Goddard, about a Virginia militiaman who defends settlers against an unscrupulous gun trader and hostile Indians on the Western frontier during the eighteenth century. The film received mixed reviews, but even long-time DeMille critic James Agee acknowledged the picture had "some authentic flavor of the period". This last of four films made with DeMille was Cooper's most lucrative, earning the actor over $300,000 (equal to $ today) in salary and percentage of profits. Unconquered would be his last unqualified box-office success for the next five years.
In 1948, after making Leo McCarey's romantic comedy Good Sam, Cooper sold his company to Universal Studios and signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. that gave him script and director approval and a guaranteed $295,000 (equal to $ today) per picture. His first film under the new contract was King Vidor's drama The Fountainhead (1949) with Patricia Neal and Raymond Massey. In the film, Cooper plays an idealistic and uncompromising architect who struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism in the face of societal pressures to conform to popular standards. Based on the novel by Ayn Rand who also wrote the screenplay, the film reflects her philosophy and attacks the concepts of collectivism while promoting the virtues of individualism. For most critics, Cooper was hopelessly miscast in the role of Howard Roark. In his review for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther concluded he was "Mr. Deeds out of his element". Cooper returned to his element in Delmer Daves' war drama Task Force (1949), about a retiring rear admiral who reminisces about his long career as a naval aviator and his role in the development of aircraft carriers. Cooper's performance and the Technicolor newsreel footage supplied by the United States Navy made the film one of Cooper's most popular during this period. In the next two years, Cooper made four poorly received films: Michael Curtiz' period drama Bright Leaf (1950), Stuart Heisler's Western melodrama Dallas (1950), Henry Hathaway's wartime comedy You're in the Navy Now (1951), and Raoul Walsh's Western action film Distant Drums (1951).
Cooper's most important film during the post-war years was Fred Zinnemann's Western drama High Noon (1952) with Grace Kelly and Katy Jurado for United Artists. In the film, Cooper plays retiring sheriff Will Kane who is preparing to leave town on his honeymoon when he learns that an outlaw he helped put away and his three henchmen are returning to seek their revenge. Unable to gain the support of the frightened townspeople, and abandoned by his young bride, Kane nevertheless stays to face the outlaws alone. During the filming, Cooper was in poor health and in considerable pain from stomach ulcers. His ravaged face and discomfort in some scenes "photographed as self-doubt", according to biographer Hector Arce, and contributed to the effectiveness of his performance. Considered one of the first "adult" Westerns for its theme of moral courage, High Noon received enthusiastic reviews for its artistry, with Time magazine placing it in the ranks of Stagecoach and The Gunfighter. Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote that Cooper was "at the top of his form", and John McCarten, in The New Yorker, wrote that Cooper was never more effective. The film earned $3.75 million in the United States and $18 million worldwide. Following the example of his friend James Stewart, Cooper accepted a lower salary in exchange for a percent of the profits, and ended up making $600,000. Cooper's understated performance was widely praised, and earned him his second Academy Award for Best Actor.
Later films, 1953–1961
After appearing in André de Toth's Civil War drama Springfield Rifle (1952)—a standard Warner Bros. film that was overshadowed by the success of its predecessor—Cooper made four films outside the United States. In Mark Robson's drama Return to Paradise (1953), Cooper plays an American wanderer who liberates the inhabitants of a Polynesian island from the puritanical rule of a misguided pastor. Cooper endured spartan living conditions, long hours, and ill health during the three-month location shoot on the island of Upolu in Western Samoa. Despite its beautiful cinematography, the film received poor reviews. Cooper's next three films were shot in Mexico. In Hugo Fregonese's action adventure film Blowing Wild (1953) with Barbara Stanwyck, he plays a wildcatter in Mexico who gets involved with an oil company executive and his unscrupulous wife with whom he once had an affair.
In 1954, Cooper appeared in Henry Hathaway's Western drama Garden of Evil, with Susan Hayward, about three soldiers of fortune in Mexico hired to rescue a woman's husband. That same year, he appeared in Robert Aldrich's Western adventure Vera Cruz with Burt Lancaster. In the film, Cooper plays an American adventurer hired by Emperor Maximilian I to escort a countess to Vera Cruz during the Mexican Rebellion of 1866. All of these films received poor reviews but did well at the box-office. For his work in Vera Cruz, Cooper earned $1.4 million in salary and percent of the gross.
During this period, Cooper struggled with health problems. As well as his ongoing treatment for ulcers, he suffered a severe shoulder injury during the filming of Blowing Wild when he was hit by metal fragments from a dynamited oil well. During the filming of Vera Cruz, he reinjured his hip falling from a horse, and was burned when Lancaster fired his rifle too close and the wadding from the blank shell pierced his clothing.
In 1955, he appeared in Otto Preminger's biographical war drama The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, about the World War I general who tried to convince government officials of the importance of air power, and was court-martialed after blaming the War Department for a series of air disasters. Some critics felt that Cooper was miscast, and that his dull, tight-lipped performance did not reflect Mitchell's dynamic and caustic personality. In 1956, Cooper was more effective playing a gentle Indiana Quaker in William Wyler's Civil War drama Friendly Persuasion with Dorothy McGuire. Like Sergeant York and High Noon, the film addresses the conflict between religious pacifism and civic duty. For his performance, Cooper received his second Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actor. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, was awarded the Palme d'Or at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival, and went on to earn $8 million worldwide.
In 1956, Cooper traveled to France to make Billy Wilder's romantic comedy Love in the Afternoon with Audrey Hepburn and Maurice Chevalier. In the film, Cooper plays a middle-aged American playboy in Paris who pursues and eventually falls in love with a much younger woman. Despite receiving some positive reviews—including from Bosley Crowther who praised the film's "charming performances"—most reviewers concluded that Cooper was simply too old for the part. While audiences may not have welcomed seeing Cooper's heroic screen image tarnished by his playing an aging roué trying to seduce an innocent young girl, the film was still a box-office success. The following year, Cooper appeared in Philip Dunne's romantic drama Ten North Frederick. In the film, which was based on the novel by John O'Hara, Cooper plays an attorney whose life is ruined by a double-crossing politician and his own secret affair with his daughter's young roommate. While Cooper brought "conviction and controlled anguish" to his performance, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, it was not enough to save what Bosley Crowther called a "hapless film".
Despite his ongoing health problems and several operations for ulcers and hernias, Cooper continued to work in action films. In 1958, he appeared in Anthony Mann's Western drama Man of the West (1958) with Julie London and Lee J. Cobb, about a reformed outlaw and killer who is forced to confront his violent past when the train he is riding in is held up by his former gang members. The film has been called Cooper's "most pathological Western", with its themes of impotent rage, sexual humiliation, and sadism. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, Cooper, who struggled with moral conflicts in his personal life, "understood the anguish of a character striving to retain his integrity ... [and] brought authentic feeling to the role of a tempted and tormented, yet essentially decent man". Mostly ignored by critics at the time, the film is now well-regarded by film scholars and is considered Cooper's last great film.
After his Warner Bros. contract ended, Cooper formed his own production company, Baroda Productions, and made three unusual films in 1959 about redemption. In Delmer Daves' Western drama The Hanging Tree, Cooper plays a frontier doctor who saves a criminal from a lynch mob, and later tries to exploit his sordid past. Cooper delivered a "powerful and persuasive" performance of an emotionally scarred man whose need to dominate others is transformed by the love and sacrifice of a woman. In Robert Rossen's historical adventure They Came to Cordura with Rita Hayworth, he plays an army officer who is found guilty of cowardice and assigned the degrading task of recommending soldiers for the Medal of Honor during the Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916.
While Cooper received positive reviews, Variety and Films in Review felt he was too old for the part. In Michael Anderson's action drama The Wreck of the Mary Deare with Charlton Heston, Cooper plays a disgraced merchant marine officer who decides to stay aboard his sinking cargo ship in order to prove the vessel was deliberately scuttled and to redeem his good name. Like its two predecessors, the film was physically demanding. Cooper, who was a trained scuba diver, did most of his own underwater scenes. Biographer Jeffrey Meyers observed that in all three roles, Cooper effectively conveyed the sense of lost honor and desire for redemption—what Joseph Conrad in Lord Jim called the "struggles of an individual trying to save from the fire his idea of what his moral identity should be".
Personal life
Marriage and family
Cooper was formally introduced to his future wife, 20-year-old New York debutante Veronica Balfe, on Easter Sunday 1933 at a party given by her uncle, art director Cedric Gibbons. Called "Rocky" by her family and friends, she grew up on Park Avenue and attended finishing schools. Her stepfather was Wall Street tycoon Paul Shields. Cooper and Rocky were quietly married at her parents' Park Avenue residence on December 15, 1933. According to his friends, the marriage had a positive impact on Cooper, who turned away from past indiscretions and took control of his life. Athletic and a lover of the outdoors, Rocky shared many of Cooper's interests, including riding, skiing, and skeet-shooting. She organized their social life, and her wealth and social connections provided Cooper access to New York high society. Cooper and his wife owned homes in the Los Angeles area in Encino (1933–36), Brentwood (1936–53), and Holmby Hills (1954–61), and owned a vacation home in Aspen, Colorado (1949–53).
Gary and Veronica Cooper's daughter, Maria Veronica Cooper, was born on September 15, 1937. By all accounts, he was a patient and affectionate father, teaching Maria to ride a bicycle, play tennis, ski, and ride horses. Sharing many of her parents' interests, she accompanied them on their travels and was often photographed with them. Like her father, she developed a love for art and drawing. As a family they vacationed together in Sun Valley, Idaho, spent time at Rocky's parents' country house in Southampton, New York, and took frequent trips to Europe. Cooper and Rocky were legally separated on May 16, 1951, when Cooper moved out of their home. For over two years, they maintained a fragile and uneasy family life with their daughter. Cooper moved back into their home in November 1953, and their formal reconciliation occurred in February 1954.
Romantic relationships
Prior to his marriage, Cooper had a series of romantic relationships with leading actresses, beginning in 1927 with Clara Bow, who advanced his career by helping him get one of his first leading roles in Children of Divorce. Bow was also responsible for getting Cooper a role in Wings, which generated an enormous amount of fan mail for the young actor. In 1928, he had a relationship with another experienced actress, Evelyn Brent, whom he met while filming Beau Sabreur. In 1929, while filming The Wolf Song, Cooper began an intense affair with Lupe Vélez, which was the most important romance of his early life. During their two years together, Cooper also had brief affairs with Marlene Dietrich while filming Morocco in 1930 and with Carole Lombard while making I Take This Woman in 1931. During his year abroad in 1931–32, Cooper had an affair with the married Countess Dorothy di Frasso, while staying at her Villa Madama near Rome.
After he was married in December 1933, Cooper remained faithful to his wife until the summer of 1942, when he began an affair with Ingrid Bergman during the production of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Their relationship lasted through the completion of filming Saratoga Trunk in June 1943. In 1948, after finishing work on The Fountainhead, Cooper began an affair with actress Patricia Neal, his co-star. At first they kept their affair discreet, but eventually it became an open secret in Hollywood, and Cooper's wife confronted him with the rumors, which he admitted were true. He also confessed that he was in love with Neal, and continued to see her. Cooper and his wife were legally separated in May 1951, but he did not seek a divorce. Neal later claimed that Cooper hit her after she went on a date with Kirk Douglas, and that he arranged for her to have an abortion when she became pregnant with Cooper's child. Neal ended their relationship in late December 1951. During his three-year separation from his wife, Cooper was rumored to have had affairs with Grace Kelly, Lorraine Chanel, and Gisèle Pascal.
Cooper biographers have explored his friendship in the late twenties with the actor Anderson Lawler, with whom Cooper shared a house on and off for a year, while at the same time seeing Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent and Lupe Vélez. Lupe Vélez once told Hedda Hopper of Vélez' affair with Cooper; whenever he would come home after seeing Lawler, she would sniff for Lawler's cologne. Vélez' biographer Michelle Vogel has reported that Vélez consented to Cooper's sexual behavior with Lawler, but only as long as she, too, could participate. In later life, he became involved in a relationship with the costume designer Irene, and was, according to Irene, "the only man she ever loved". A year after his death in 1961, Irene committed suicide by jumping from the 11th floor of the Knickerbocker Hotel, after telling Doris Day of her grief over Cooper's death.
Friendships, interests, and character
Cooper's twenty-year friendship with Ernest Hemingway began at Sun Valley in October 1940. The previous year, Hemingway drew upon Cooper's image when he created the character of Robert Jordan for the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The two shared a passion for the outdoors, and for years they hunted duck and pheasant, and skied together in Sun Valley. Both men admired the work of Rudyard Kipling—Cooper kept a copy of the poem "If—" in his dressing room—and retained as adults Kipling's sense of boyish adventure.
As well as admiring Cooper's hunting skills and knowledge of the outdoors, Hemingway believed his character matched his screen persona, once telling a friend, "If you made up a character like Coop, nobody would believe it. He's just too good to be true." They saw each other often, and their friendship remained strong through the years.
Cooper's social life generally centered on sports, outdoor activities, and dinner parties with his family and friends from the film industry, including directors Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, William Wellman, and Fred Zinnemann, and actors Joel McCrea, James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, and Robert Taylor. As well as hunting, Cooper enjoyed riding, fishing, skiing, and later in life, scuba diving. He never abandoned his early love for art and drawing, and over the years, he and his wife acquired a private collection of modern paintings, including works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Cooper owned several works by Pablo Picasso, whom he met in 1956. Cooper also had a lifelong passion for automobiles, with a collection that included a 1930 Duesenberg.
Cooper was naturally reserved and introspective, and loved the solitude of outdoor activities. Not unlike his screen persona, his communication style frequently consisted of long silences with an occasional "yup" and "shucks". He once said, "If others have more interesting things to say than I have, I keep quiet." According to his friends, Cooper could also be an articulate, well-informed conversationalist on topics ranging from horses, guns, and Western history to film production, sports cars, and modern art. He was modest and unpretentious, frequently downplaying his acting abilities and career accomplishments. His friends and colleagues described him as charming, well-mannered, and thoughtful, with a lively boyish sense of humor. Cooper maintained a sense of propriety throughout his career and never misused his movie star status—never sought special treatment or refused to work with a director or leading lady. His close friend Joel McCrea recalled, "Coop never fought, he never got mad, he never told anybody off that I know of; everybody that worked with him liked him."
Political views
Like his father, Cooper was a conservative Republican; he voted for Calvin Coolidge in 1924, Herbert Hoover in 1928 and 1932, and campaigned for Wendell Willkie in 1940. When Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for an unprecedented fourth presidential term in 1944, Cooper campaigned for Thomas E. Dewey and criticized Roosevelt for being dishonest and adopting "foreign" ideas. In a radio address that he paid for himself just prior to the election, Cooper said, "I disagree with the New Deal belief that the America all of us love is old and worn-out and finished—and has to borrow foreign notions that don't even seem to work any too well where they come from ... Our country is a young country that just has to make up its mind to be itself again." He also attended a Republican rally at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that drew 93,000 Dewey supporters.
Cooper was one of the founding members of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a conservative organization dedicated, according to its statement of principles, to preserving the "American way of life" and opposing communism and fascism. The organization — whose membership included Walter Brennan, Laraine Day, Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Hedda Hopper, Ronald Reagan, Barbara Stanwyck, and John Wayne — advised the United States Congress to investigate communist influence in the motion picture industry. On October 23, 1947, Cooper was subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and was asked if he had observed any "communistic influence" in Hollywood.
Cooper recounted statements he'd heard suggesting that the Constitution was out of date and that Congress was an unnecessary institution—comments that Cooper said he found to be "very un-American" and testified that he had rejected several scripts because he thought they were "tinged with communist ideas". Unlike some other witnesses, Cooper did not name any individuals, nor did he name any scripts, during his testimony.
In 1951, while making High Noon, Cooper became friends with the film's screenwriter, Carl Foreman, who had been a member of the Communist Party. When Foreman was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Cooper put his career on the line to defend Foreman. When John Wayne and others threatened Cooper with blacklisting himself and the loss of his passport if he did not walk off the film, Cooper gave a statement to the press in support of Foreman, calling him "the finest kind of American". When producer Stanley Kramer removed Foreman's name as screenwriter, Cooper and director Fred Zinnemann threatened to walk off the film if Foreman's name was not restored. Foreman later said that, of all his friends and allies and colleagues in Hollywood, "Cooper was the only big one who tried to help. The only one." Cooper even offered to testify in Foreman's behalf before the committee, but character witnesses were not allowed. Foreman always sent future scripts to Cooper for first refusal, including The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Key and The Guns of Navarone. Cooper had to turn them down because of his age.
Religion
Cooper was baptized in the Anglican Church in December 1911 in Britain, and was raised in the Episcopal Church in the United States. While he was not an observant Christian for most of his adult life, many of his friends believed he had a deeply spiritual side.
On June 26, 1953, Cooper accompanied his wife and daughter, who were devout Catholics, to Rome, where they had an audience with Pope Pius XII. Cooper and his wife were still separated at the time, but the papal visit marked the beginning of their gradual reconciliation. In the coming years, Cooper contemplated his mortality and his personal behavior, and started discussing Catholicism with his family. He began attending church with them regularly, and met with their parish priest, who offered Cooper spiritual guidance. After several months of study, Cooper was baptized as a Roman Catholic on April 9, 1959, before a small group of family and friends at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.
Final years and death
On April 14, 1960, Cooper underwent surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had metastasized to his colon. He fell ill again on May 31 and underwent further surgery at Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles in early June to remove a malignant tumor from his large intestine. After recuperating over the summer, Cooper took his family on vacation to the south of France before traveling to the UK in the fall to star in The Naked Edge. In December 1960, he worked on the NBC television documentary The Real West, which was part of the company's Project 20 series.
On December 27, his wife learned from their family doctor that Cooper's cancer had spread to his lungs and bones and was inoperable. His family decided not to tell him immediately.
On January 9, 1961, Cooper attended a dinner that was given in his honor and hosted by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin at the Friars Club. The dinner was attended by many of his industry friends and concluded with a brief speech by Cooper who said, "The only achievement I'm proud of is the friends I've made in this community."
In mid-January, Cooper took his family to Sun Valley for their last vacation together. Cooper and Hemingway hiked through the snow together for the last time. On February 27, after returning to Los Angeles, Cooper learned that he was dying. He later told his family, "We'll pray for a miracle; but if not, and that's God's will, that's all right too." On April 17, Cooper watched the Academy Awards ceremony on television and saw his good friend James Stewart, who had presented Cooper with his first Oscar years earlier, accept on Cooper's behalf an honorary award for lifetime achievement—his third Oscar. Holding back tears, Stewart said, "Coop, I'll get this to you right away. And Coop, I want you to know this, that with this goes all the warm friendship and the affection and the admiration and the deep, the deep respect of all of us. We're very, very proud of you, Coop. All of us are tremendously proud." The following day, newspapers around the world announced the news that Cooper was dying. In the coming days he received numerous messages of appreciation and encouragement, including telegrams from Pope John XXIII and Queen Elizabeth II, and a telephone call from President John F. Kennedy.
In his last public statement on May 4, Cooper said, "I know that what is happening is God's will. I am not afraid of the future." He received the last rites on May 12. Cooper died quietly the following day, Saturday, May 13, 1961, at 12:47 P.M.
A requiem mass was held on May 18 at the Church of the Good Shepherd, attended by many of Cooper's friends, including James Stewart, Jack Benny, Henry Hathaway, Joel McCrea, Audrey Hepburn, Jack L. Warner, John Ford, John Wayne, Edward G. Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Fred Astaire, Randolph Scott, Walter Pidgeon, Bob Hope and Marlene Dietrich. Cooper was buried in the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. In May 1974, after his family relocated to New York, Cooper's remains were exhumed and reburied in Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton. His grave is marked by a three-ton boulder from a Montauk quarry.
Acting style and reputation
Cooper's acting style consisted of three essential characteristics: his ability to project elements of his own personality onto the characters he portrayed, to appear natural and authentic in his roles, and to underplay and deliver restrained performances calibrated for the camera and the screen. Acting teacher Lee Strasberg once observed: "The simplest examples of Stanislavsky's ideas are actors such as Gary Cooper, John Wayne, and Spencer Tracy. They try not to act but to be themselves, to respond or react. They refuse to say or do anything they feel not to be consonant with their own characters." Film director François Truffaut ranked Cooper among "the greatest actors" because of his ability to deliver great performances "without direction". This ability to project elements of his own personality onto his characters produced a continuity across his performances to the extent that critics and audiences were convinced that he was simply "playing himself".
Cooper's ability to project his personality onto his characters played an important part in his appearing natural and authentic on screen. Actor John Barrymore said of Cooper, "This fellow is the world's greatest actor. He does without effort what the rest of us spend our lives trying to learn—namely, to be natural." Charles Laughton, who played opposite Cooper in Devil and the Deep agreed, "In truth, that boy hasn't the least idea how well he acts ... He gets at it from the inside, from his own clear way of looking at life." William Wyler, who directed Cooper in two films, called him a "superb actor, a master of movie acting".
In his review of Cooper's performance in The Real Glory, Graham Greene wrote, "Sometimes his lean photogenic face seems to leave everything to the lens, but there is no question here of his not acting. Watch him inoculate the girl against cholera—the casual jab of the needle, and the dressing slapped on while he talks, as though a thousand arms had taught him where to stab and he doesn't have to think anymore."
Cooper's style of underplaying before the camera surprised many of his directors and fellow actors. Even in his earliest feature films, he recognized the camera's ability to pick up slight gestures and facial movements. Commenting on Cooper's performance in Sergeant York, director Howard Hawks observed, "He worked very hard and yet he didn't seem to be working. He was a strange actor because you'd look at him during a scene and you'd think ... this isn't going to be any good. But when you saw the rushes in the projection room the next day you could read in his face all the things he'd been thinking." Sam Wood, who directed Cooper in four films, had similar observations about Cooper's performance in Pride of the Yankees, noting, "What I thought was underplaying turned out to be just the right approach. On the screen he's perfect, yet on the set you'd swear it's the worst job of acting in the history of motion pictures."
Fellow actors admired his abilities as an actor. Commenting on her two films playing opposite Cooper, actress Ingrid Bergman concluded, "The personality of this man was so enormous, so overpowering—and that expression in his eyes and his face, it was so delicate and so underplayed. You just didn't notice it until you saw it on the screen. I thought he was marvelous; the most underplaying and the most natural actor I ever worked with."
Tom Hanks declared, "In only one scene in the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, we see the future of screen acting in the form of Gary Cooper. He is quiet and natural, somehow different from the other cast members. He does something mysterious with his eyes and shoulders that is much more like 'being' than 'acting'."
Daniel Day-Lewis said, "I don't particularly like westerns as a genre, but I do love certain westerns. 'High Noon' means a lot to me – I love the purity and the honesty, I love Gary Cooper in that film, the idea of the last man standing."
Chris Pratt stated, "I started watching Westerns when I was shooting in London about four or five years ago. I really fell in love with Gary Cooper, and his stuff. That sucked me into the Westerns. Before, I never got engrossed in the story. I'd just dip in, and there were guys in horses in black and white. High Noon's later Gary Cooper, I liked that. But I liked 'The Westerner'. That's my favorite one. I have that poster hung up in my house because I really like that one."
To Al Pacino, "Gary Cooper was a phenomenon—his ability to take some thing and elevate it, give it such dignity. One of the great presences."
Mylène Demongeot first got with Gary Cooper for the opening of the first escalator to be installed in a cinema, at the Rex Theatre in Paris, on June 7, 1957. She declared in a 2015 filmed interview: "Gary Cooper ... il est sublime ! Aaahhh (Mylène pushing a cry of love not to say ecstasy) il est sublime ... Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Là je dois dire que ça fait partie des stars, y'a Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, ces grands Américains que j'ai rencontrés comme ça, c'est vraiment des mecs incroyables. Y'en a plus des comme ça ! Euh non. (Gary Cooper was sublime, there I have to say, now he, was part of the stars, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, those great americans who I've met really were unbelievable guys, there aren't any like them anymore)."
Career assessment and legacy
Cooper's career spanned thirty-six years, from 1925 to 1961. During that time, he appeared in eighty-four feature films in a leading role. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His natural and authentic acting style appealed powerfully to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major movie genres, including Westerns, war films, adventure films, drama films, crime films, romance films, comedy films, and romantic comedy films. He appeared on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities for twenty-three consecutive years, from 1936 to 1958. According to Quigley's annual poll, Cooper was one of the top money-making stars for eighteen years, appearing in the top ten in 1936–37, 1941–49, and 1951–57. He topped the list in 1953. In Quigley's list of all-time money-making stars, Cooper is listed fourth, after John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Tom Cruise. At the time of his death, it was estimated that his films grossed well over $200 million (equivalent to $ billion in ).
In over half of his feature films, Cooper portrayed Westerners, soldiers, pilots, sailors, and explorers—all men of action. In the rest he played a wide range of characters, included doctors, professors, artists, architects, clerks, and baseball players. Cooper's heroic screen image changed with each period of his career. In his early films, he played the young naive hero sure of his moral position and trusting in the triumph of simple virtues (The Virginian). After becoming a major star, his Western screen persona was replaced by a more cautious hero in adventure films and dramas (A Farewell to Arms). During the height of his career, from 1936 to 1943, he played a new type of hero—a champion of the common man willing to sacrifice himself for others (Mr. Deeds, Meet John Doe, and For Whom the Bell Tolls).
In the post-war years, Cooper attempted broader variations on his screen image, which now reflected a hero increasingly at odds with the world who must face adversity alone (The Fountainhead and High Noon). In his final films, Cooper's hero rejects the violence of the past, and seeks to reclaim lost honor and find redemption (Friendly Persuasion and Man of the West). The screen persona he developed and sustained throughout his career represented the ideal American hero—a tall, handsome, and sincere man of steadfast integrity who emphasized action over intellect, and combined the heroic qualities of the romantic lover, the adventurer, and the common man.
On February 6, 1960, Cooper was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6243 Hollywood Boulevard for his contribution to the film industry. He was awarded a star on the sidewalk outside the Ellen Theater in Bozeman, Montana.
On May 6, 1961, he was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters in recognition of his significant contribution to the arts. On July 30, 1961, he was posthumously awarded the David di Donatello Special Award in Italy for his career achievements.
In 1966, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. In 2015, he was inducted into the Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Hall of Fame. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper eleventh on its list of the 25 male stars of classic Hollywood. Three of his characters—Will Kane, Lou Gehrig, and Sergeant York—made AFI's list of the one hundred greatest heroes and villains, all of them as heroes. His Lou Gehrig line, "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.", is ranked by AFI as the thirty-eighth greatest movie quote of all time.
More than a half century after his death, Cooper's enduring legacy, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, is his image of the ideal American hero preserved in his film performances. Charlton Heston once observed, "He projected the kind of man Americans would like to be, probably more than any actor that's ever lived."
In the TV series Justified, based on works and characters created by Elmore Leonard, Gary Cooper is used throughout the six seasons as the man whom U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant, aspires to be. When his colleague asks Marshall Givens how he thinks his dangerous plan to bring down a villain can possibly work, he replies: "Why not? Worked for Gary Cooper."
Gary Cooper is referenced several times in the critically acclaimed television series The Sopranos, with protagonist Tony Soprano asking "What ever happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type." while complaining about his problems to his therapist.
In the 1930s hit song "Puttin' On the Ritz", Cooper is referenced in the line "dress up like a million dollar trooper/Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper, Super duper!" More than two decades after Cooper's death a new version of the song was released in 1983 by Taco; the original lyrics were kept, including the references to Cooper.
In J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Cooper is "spotted" by Holden Caulfield to distract a woman he is dancing with.
Awards and nominations
Filmography
The following is a list of feature films in which Cooper appeared in a leading role.
The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)
Children of Divorce (1927)
Arizona Bound (1927)
Wings (1927)
Nevada (1927)
It (1927)
The Last Outlaw (1927)
Beau Sabreur (1928)
The Legion of the Condemned (1928)
Doomsday (1928)
Half a Bride (1928)
Lilac Time (1928)
The First Kiss (1928)
The Shopworn Angel (1928)
Wolf Song (1929)
Betrayal (1929)
The Virginian (1929)
Only the Brave (1930)
The Texan (1930)
Seven Days' Leave (1930)
A Man from Wyoming (1930)
The Spoilers (1930)
Morocco (1930)
Fighting Caravans (1931)
City Streets (1931)
I Take This Woman (1931)
His Woman (1931)
Devil and the Deep (1932)
If I Had a Million (1932)
A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Today We Live (1933)
One Sunday Afternoon (1933)
Design for Living (1933)
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
Operator 13 (1934)
Now and Forever (1934)
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
The Wedding Night (1935)
Peter Ibbetson (1935)
Desire (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
The Plainsman (1936)
Souls at Sea (1937)
The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
Beau Geste (1939)
The Real Glory (1939)
The Westerner (1940)
North West Mounted Police (1940)
Meet John Doe (1941)
Sergeant York (1941)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
Casanova Brown (1944)
Along Came Jones (1945)
Saratoga Trunk (1945)
Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Unconquered (1947)
Good Sam (1948)
The Fountainhead (1949)
Task Force (1949)
Bright Leaf (1950)
Dallas (1950)
You're in the Navy Now (1951)
It's a Big Country (1951)
Distant Drums (1951)
High Noon (1952)
Springfield Rifle (1952)
Return to Paradise (1953)
Blowing Wild (1953)
Garden of Evil (1954)
Vera Cruz (1954)
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Ten North Frederick (1958)
Man of the West (1958)
The Hanging Tree (1959)
They Came to Cordura (1959)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
The Naked Edge (1961)
Radio appearances
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Adrien Le Bihan, Gary Cooper, le prince des acteurs, LettMotif, 2021, 358p.()
External links
1901 births
1961 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Academy Honorary Award recipients
American expatriates in England
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
American male television actors
American people of English descent
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
California Republicans
Catholics from Montana
Conservatism in the United States
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from prostate cancer
Grinnell College people
Male Western (genre) film actors
Male actors from Montana
Paramount Pictures contract players
People educated at Dunstable Grammar School
People from Brentwood, Los Angeles
People from Dunstable
People from Helena, Montana
People from Holmby Hills, Los Angeles | true | [
"2 Sins is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. They are known for their violent lyrics and most significant for their best-selling 1994 release, Look What Hell Created.\n\nBiography\nMembers Low Life and Lethal were born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. They began making music together in early 1993. Their first album, entitled Look What Hell Created, was released in the summer of 1994. They would go on to record and produce over sixteen albums and EPs.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums and EPs\n\nSingles\n\nAs featured performer\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican hip hop groups\nMusical groups from Detroit\nMusical groups established in 1993\n1993 establishments in Michigan",
"English Evenings were a British new wave and synth-pop duo that formed in 1983. They released their sole studio album, After Dark, in 1985 but it was not a commercial success, and after a subsequent single a year later that also failed to make any commercial impact they broke up.\n\nHistory\nBefore English Evenings, Lee Walsh was a member of the band Sly Fox, whose name later changed to One Adult. After the band broke up and with its members going their separate ways, Walsh secured a record deal under the name of English Evenings, together with bandmate Graham Lee. They released only one album in 1985, on the UK independent label Safari Records. Although their producer was the famous audio engineer and producer Phil Harding, they did not meet with much success.\n\nAfter disbanding, Graham Lee and Lee Walsh went on to later produce a football song for Leeds United in 1990, entitled \"We Are Leeds\".\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n1985: After Dark\n\nSingles\n1983: \"What's the Matter with Helen?\"/\"English Evenings\"\n1984: \"Touch\"\n1984: \"Tear You Down\"\n1985: \"I Will Return\"\n1986: \"Those Brilliant Teens\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nEnglish new wave musical groups\nEnglish musical duos\nMusical groups established in 1983\nBritish synth-pop new wave groups\nMale musical duos\nNew wave duos"
]
|
[
"Gary Cooper",
"Silent films, 1925-28",
"Was there a Silent film released in 1925?",
"The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky,",
"Was he in any other films?",
"a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (",
"Did he collaborate with any other producers?",
"On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week.",
"WHat did they produce together?",
"The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)"
]
| C_6ade1075ca2849c5aee8a7091d6b357c_1 | Was there any other silent films he produced? | 6 | Was there any other silent films Gary Cooper produced, other than The winning of Barbara worth? | Gary Cooper | In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, including Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt work--which sometimes injured horses and riders--"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name. Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week. Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal--finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings, the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada--both films directed by John Waters. In 1928, Paramount paired Cooper with a youthful Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss--advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride. That year, Cooper also made Lilac Time with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928. CANNOTANSWER | films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). | Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent, and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, as well as receiving an Academy Honorary Award for his career achievements in 1961. He was one of the top 10 film personalities for 23 consecutive years, and one of the top money-making stars for 18 years. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper at No. 11 on its list of the 25 greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Cooper's career spanned 36 years, from 1925 to 1961, and included leading roles in 84 feature films. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era through to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His screen persona appealed strongly to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major film genres. His ability to project his own personality onto the characters he played contributed to his natural and authentic appearance on screen. Throughout his career, he sustained a screen persona that represented the ideal American hero.
Cooper began his career as a film extra and stunt rider, but soon landed acting roles. After establishing himself as a Western hero in his early silent films, he appeared as the Virginian and became a movie star in 1929 with his first sound picture, The Virginian. In the early 1930s, he expanded his heroic image to include more cautious characters in adventure films and dramas such as A Farewell to Arms (1932) and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935). During the height of his career, Cooper portrayed a new type of hero—a champion of the common man—in films such as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), Sergeant York (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). He later portrayed more mature characters at odds with the world in films such as The Fountainhead (1949) and High Noon (1952). In his final films, he played non-violent characters searching for redemption in films such as Friendly Persuasion (1956) and Man of the West (1958).
Early life
Frank James Cooper was born in Helena, Montana, on May 7, 1901, the younger of two sons of English parents Alice (née Brazier; 1873–1967) and Charles Henry Cooper (1865–1946). His brother, Arthur, was six years his senior. Cooper's father came from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, and became a prominent lawyer, rancher, and Montana Supreme Court justice. His mother hailed from Gillingham, Kent, and married Charles in Montana. In 1906, Charles purchased the Seven-Bar-Nine cattle ranch, about north of Helena near Craig, Montana. Cooper and Arthur spent their summers at the ranch and learned to ride horses, hunt, and fish. Cooper attended Central Grade School in Helena.
Alice wanted her sons to have an English education, so she took them back to England in 1909 to enroll them in Dunstable Grammar School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. While there, Cooper and his brother lived with their father's cousins, William and Emily Barton, at their home in Houghton Regis. Cooper studied Latin, French, and English history at Dunstable until 1912. While he adapted to English school discipline and learned the requisite social graces, he never adjusted to the rigid class structure and formal Eton collars he was required to wear. He received his confirmation in the Church of England at the Church of All Saints in Houghton Regis on December 3, 1911. His mother accompanied her sons back to the U.S. in August 1912, and Cooper resumed his education at Johnson Grammar School in Helena.
When Cooper was 15, he injured his hip in a car accident. On his doctor's recommendation, he returned to the Seven-Bar-Nine ranch to recuperate by horseback riding. The misguided therapy left him with his characteristic stiff, off-balanced walk and slightly angled horse-riding style. He left Helena High School after two years in 1918, and returned to the family ranch to work full-time as a cowboy. In 1919, his father arranged for him to attend Gallatin County High School in Bozeman, Montana, where English teacher Ida Davis encouraged him to focus on academics and participate in debating and dramatics. Cooper later called Davis "the woman partly responsible for [him] giving up cowboy-ing and going to college".
Cooper was still attending high school in 1920 when he took three art courses at Montana Agricultural College in Bozeman. His interest in art was inspired years earlier by the Western paintings of Charles Marion Russell and Frederic Remington. Cooper especially admired and studied Russell's Lewis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross' Hole (1910), which still hangs in the state capitol building in Helena. In 1922, to continue his art education, he enrolled in Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. He did well academically in most of his courses, but was not accepted into the school's drama club. His drawings and watercolor paintings were exhibited throughout the dormitory, and he was named art editor for the college yearbook. During the summers of 1922 and 1923, Cooper worked at Yellowstone National Park as a tour guide driving the yellow open-top buses. Despite a promising first 18 months at Grinnell, he left college suddenly in February 1924, spent a month in Chicago looking for work as an artist, and then returned to Helena, where he sold editorial cartoons to the local Independent newspaper.
In autumn 1924, Cooper's father left the Montana Supreme Court bench and moved with his wife to Los Angeles to administer the estates of two relatives, and Cooper joined his parents there in November at his father's request. After briefly working a series of unpromising jobs, he met two friends from Montana who were working as film extras and stunt riders in low-budget Western films for the small movie studios on Poverty Row. They introduced him to another Montana cowboy, rodeo champion Jay "Slim" Talbot, who took him to see a casting director. Wanting money for a professional art course, Cooper worked as a film extra for $5 a day, and as a stunt rider for $10. Cooper and Talbot became close friends and hunting companions, and Talbot later worked as Cooper's stuntman and stand-in for over three decades.
Career
Silent films, 1925–1928
In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, but also the already emergent major studios, Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt workwhich sometimes injured horses and riders"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name.
Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week.
Cooper's first important film role was a supporting part in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) starring Ronald Colman and Vilma Bánky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal—finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings (both 1927), the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada—both films directed by John Waters.
Paramount paired Cooper with Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss (both 1928)—advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride (also both 1928). Around the same time, Cooper made Lilac Time (1928) with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928.
Hollywood stardom, 1929–1935
Cooper became a major movie star in 1929 with the release of his first talking picture, The Virginian (1929), which was directed by Victor Fleming and co-starred Mary Brian and Walter Huston. Based on the popular novel by Owen Wister, The Virginian was one of the first sound films to define the Western code of honor and helped establish many of the conventions of the Western movie genre that persist to the present day. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, the romantic image of the tall, handsome, and shy cowboy hero who embodied male freedom, courage, and honor was created in large part by Cooper in the film. Unlike some silent film actors who had trouble adapting to the new sound medium, Cooper transitioned naturally, with his "deep and clear" and "pleasantly drawling" voice, which was perfectly suited for the characters he portrayed on screen, also according to Meyers. Looking to capitalize on Cooper's growing popularity, Paramount cast him in several Westerns and wartime dramas, including Only the Brave, The Texan, Seven Days' Leave, A Man from Wyoming, and The Spoilers (all released in 1930). Norman Rockwell depicted Cooper in his role as The Texan for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on May 24, 1930.
One of the more important performances in Cooper's early career was his portrayal of a sullen legionnaire in Josef von Sternberg's film Morocco (also 1930) with Marlene Dietrich in her introduction to American audiences. During production, von Sternberg focused his energies on Dietrich and treated Cooper dismissively. Tensions came to a head after von Sternberg yelled directions at Cooper in German. The actor approached the director, picked him up by the collar, and said, "If you expect to work in this country you'd better get on to the language we use here." Despite the tensions on the set, Cooper produced "one of his best performances", according to Thornton Delehanty of the New York Evening Post.
After returning to the Western genre in Zane Grey's Fighting Caravans (1931) with French actress Lili Damita, Cooper appeared in the Dashiell Hammett crime film City Streets (also 1931), co-starring Sylvia Sidney and Paul Lukas, playing a westerner who gets involved with big-city gangsters in order to save the woman he loves. Cooper concluded the year with appearances in two unsuccessful films: I Take This Woman (also 1931) with Carole Lombard, and His Woman with Claudette Colbert. The demands and pressures of making ten films in two years left Cooper exhausted and in poor health, suffering from anemia and jaundice. He had lost during that period, and felt lonely, isolated, and depressed by his sudden fame and wealth. In May 1931, Cooper left Hollywood and sailed to Algiers and then Italy, where he lived for the next year.
During his time abroad, Cooper stayed with the Countess Dorothy di Frasso at the Villa Madama in Rome, where she taught him about good food and vintage wines, how to read Italian and French menus, and how to socialize among Europe's nobility and upper classes. After guiding him through the great art museums and galleries of Italy, she accompanied him on a ten-week big-game hunting safari on the slopes of Mount Kenya in East Africa, where he was credited with over sixty kills, including two lions, a rhinoceros, and various antelopes. His safari experience in Africa had a profound influence on Cooper and intensified his love of the wilderness. After returning to Europe, he and the countess set off on a Mediterranean cruise of the Italian and French Rivieras. Rested and rejuvenated by his year-long exile, a healthy Cooper returned to Hollywood in April 1932 and negotiated a new contract with Paramount for two films per year, a salary of $4,000 a week, and director and script approval.
In 1932, after completing Devil and the Deep with Tallulah Bankhead to fulfill his old contract, Cooper appeared in A Farewell to Arms, the first film adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel. Co-starring Helen Hayes, a leading New York theatre star and Academy Award winner, and Adolphe Menjou, the film presented Cooper with one of his most ambitious and challenging dramatic roles, playing an American ambulance driver wounded in Italy who falls in love with an English nurse during World War I. Critics praised his highly intense and emotional performance, and the film became one of the year's most commercially successful pictures. In 1933, after making Today We Live with Joan Crawford and One Sunday Afternoon with Fay Wray, Cooper appeared in the Ernst Lubitsch comedy film Design for Living, based on the successful Noël Coward play. Co-starring Miriam Hopkins and Fredric March, the film was a box office success, ranking as one of the top ten highest-grossing films of 1933. All three of the lead actors—March, Cooper, and Hopkins—received attention from this film as they were all at the peak of their careers. Cooper's performance — playing an American artist in Europe competing with his playwright friend for the affections of a beautiful woman — was singled out for its versatility and revealed his genuine ability to do light comedy. Cooper changed his name legally to "Gary Cooper" in August 1933.
In 1934, Cooper was loaned out to MGM for the Civil War drama film Operator 13 with Marion Davies, about a beautiful Union spy who falls in love with a Confederate soldier. Despite Richard Boleslawski's imaginative direction and George J. Folsey's lavish cinematography, the film did poorly at the box office.
Back at Paramount, Cooper appeared in his first of seven films by director Henry Hathaway, Now and Forever, with Carole Lombard and Shirley Temple. In the film, he plays a confidence man who tries to sell his daughter to the relatives who raised her, but is eventually won over by the adorable girl. Impressed by Temple's intelligence and charm, Cooper developed a close rapport with her, both on and off screen. The film was a box-office success.
The following year, Cooper was loaned out to Samuel Goldwyn Productions to appear in King Vidor's romance film The Wedding Night with Anna Sten, who was being groomed as "another Garbo". In the film, Cooper plays an alcoholic novelist who retreats to his family's New England farm where he meets and falls in love with a beautiful Polish neighbor. Cooper delivered a performance of surprising range and depth, according to biographer Larry Swindell. Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, the film was not popular with American audiences, who may have been offended by the film's depiction of an extramarital affair and its tragic ending.
That same year, Cooper appeared in two Henry Hathaway films: the melodrama Peter Ibbetson with Ann Harding, about a man caught up in a dream world created by his love for a childhood sweetheart, and the adventure film The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, about a daring British officer and his men who defend their stronghold at Bengal against rebellious local tribes. While the former, championed by the surrealists became more successful in Europe than in the United States, the latter was nominated for seven Academy Awards and became one of Cooper's most popular and successful adventure films. Hathaway had the highest respect for Cooper's acting ability, calling him "the best actor of all of them".
American folk hero, 1936–1943
From Mr. Deeds to The Real Glory, 1936–1939
Cooper's career took an important turn in 1936. After making Frank Borzage's romantic comedy film Desire with Marlene Dietrich at Paramount—in which he delivered a performance considered by some contemporary critics as one of his finest—Cooper returned to Poverty Row for the first time since his early silent film days to make Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town with Jean Arthur for Columbia Pictures. In the film, Cooper plays the character of Longfellow Deeds, a quiet, innocent writer of greeting cards who inherits a fortune, leaves behind his idyllic life in Vermont, and travels to New York where he faces a world of corruption and deceit. Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin were able to use Cooper's well-established screen persona as the "quintessential American hero"—a symbol of honesty, courage, and goodness—to create a new type of "folk hero" for the common man. Commenting on Cooper's impact on the character and the film, Capra observed:
Both Desire and Mr. Deeds opened in April 1936 to critical praise and were major box-office successes. In his review in The New York Times, Frank Nugent wrote that Cooper was "proving himself one of the best light comedians in Hollywood". For his performance in Mr. Deeds, Cooper received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Cooper appeared in two other Paramount films in 1936. In Lewis Milestone's adventure film The General Died at Dawn with Madeleine Carroll, he plays an American soldier of fortune in China who helps the peasants defend themselves against the oppression of a cruel warlord. Written by playwright Clifford Odets, the film was a critical and commercial success.
In Cecil B. DeMille's sprawling frontier epic The Plainsman—his first of four films with the director—Cooper portrays Wild Bill Hickok in a highly fictionalized version of the opening of the American western frontier. The film was an even greater box-office hit than its predecessor, due in large part to Jean Arthur's definitive depiction of Calamity Jane and Cooper's inspired portrayal of Hickock as an enigmatic figure of "deepening mythic substance". That year, Cooper appeared for the first time on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities, where he would remain for the next twenty-three years.
In late 1936, Paramount was preparing a new contract for Cooper that would raise his salary to $8,000 a week when Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn for six films over six years with a minimum guarantee of $150,000 per picture. Paramount brought suit against Goldwyn and Cooper, and the court ruled that Cooper's new Goldwyn contract afforded the actor sufficient time to also honor his Paramount agreement. Cooper continued to make films with both studios, and by 1939 the United States Treasury reported that Cooper was the country's highest wage earner, at $482,819 (equivalent to $ million in ).
In contrast to his output the previous year, Cooper appeared in only one picture in 1937, Henry Hathaway's adventure film Souls at Sea. A critical and box-office failure, Cooper referred to it as his "almost picture", saying, "It was almost exciting, and almost interesting. And I was almost good." In 1938, he appeared in Archie Mayo's biographical film The Adventures of Marco Polo. Plagued by production problems and a weak screenplay, the film became Goldwyn's biggest failure to that date, losing $700,000. During this period, Cooper turned down several important roles, including the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. Cooper was producer David O. Selznick's first choice for the part. He made several overtures to the actor, but Cooper had doubts about the project, and did not feel suited to the role. Cooper later admitted, "It was one of the best roles ever offered in Hollywood ... But I said no. I didn't see myself as quite that dashing, and later, when I saw Clark Gable play the role to perfection, I knew I was right."
Back at Paramount, Cooper returned to a more comfortable genre in Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938) with Claudette Colbert. In the film, Cooper plays a wealthy American businessman in France who falls in love with an impoverished aristocrat's daughter and persuades her to become his eighth wife. Despite the clever screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, and solid performances by Cooper and Colbert, American audiences had trouble accepting Cooper in the role of a shallow philanderer. It succeeded only at the European box office market.
In the fall of 1938, Cooper appeared in H. C. Potter's romantic comedy The Cowboy and the Lady with Merle Oberon, about a sweet-natured rodeo cowboy who falls in love with the wealthy daughter of a presidential hopeful, believing her to be a poor, hard-working lady's maid. The efforts of three directors and several eminent screenwriters could not salvage what could have been a fine vehicle for Cooper. While more successful than its predecessor, the film was Cooper's fourth consecutive box-office failure in the American market.
In the next two years, Cooper was more discerning about the roles he accepted and made four successful large-scale adventure and cowboy films. In William A. Wellman's adventure film Beau Geste (1939), he plays one of three daring English brothers who join the French Foreign Legion in the Sahara to fight local tribes. Filmed in the same Mojave Desert locations as the original 1926 version with Ronald Colman, Beau Geste provided Cooper with magnificent sets, exotic settings, high-spirited action, and a role tailored to his personality and screen persona. This was the last film in Cooper's contract with Paramount.
In Henry Hathaway's The Real Glory (1939), he plays a military doctor who accompanies a small group of American Army officers to the Philippines to help the Christian Filipinos defend themselves against Muslim radicals. Many film critics praised Cooper's performance, including author and film critic Graham Greene, who recognized that he "never acted better".
From The Westerner to For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940–1943
Cooper returned to the Western genre in William Wyler's The Westerner (1940) with Walter Brennan and Doris Davenport, about a drifting cowboy who defends homesteaders against Roy Bean, a corrupt judge known as the "law west of the Pecos". Screenwriter Niven Busch relied on Cooper's extensive knowledge of Western history while working on the script. The film received positive reviews and did well at the box-office, with reviewers praising the performances of the two lead actors. That same year, Cooper appeared in his first all-Technicolor feature, Cecil B. DeMille's adventure film North West Mounted Police (1940). In the film, Cooper plays a Texas Ranger who pursues an outlaw into western Canada where he joins forces with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who are after the same man, a leader of the North-West Rebellion. While not as popular with critics as its predecessor, the film was another box-office success—the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1940.
The early 1940s were Cooper's prime years as an actor. In a relatively short period, he appeared in five critically successful and popular films that produced some of his finest performances. When Frank Capra offered him the lead role in Meet John Doe before Robert Riskin even developed the script, Cooper accepted his friend's offer, saying, "It's okay, Frank, I don't need a script." In the film, Cooper plays Long John Willoughby, a down-and-out bush-league pitcher hired by a newspaper to pretend to be a man who promises to commit suicide on Christmas Eve to protest all the hypocrisy and corruption in the country. Considered by some critics to be Capra's best film at the time, Meet John Doe was received as a "national event" with Cooper appearing on the front cover of Time magazine on March 3, 1941. In his review in the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes called Cooper's performance a "splendid and utterly persuasive portrayal" and praised his "utterly realistic acting which comes through with such authority". Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote, "Gary Cooper, of course, is 'John Doe' to the life and in the whole—shy, bewildered, non-aggressive, but a veritable tiger when aroused."
That same year, Cooper made two films with director and good friend Howard Hawks. In the biographical film Sergeant York, Cooper portrays war hero Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. The film chronicles York's early backwoods days in Tennessee, his religious conversion and subsequent piety, his stand as a conscientious objector, and finally his heroic actions at the Battle of the Argonne Forest, which earned him the Medal of Honor. Initially, Cooper was nervous and uncertain about playing a living hero, so he traveled to Tennessee to visit York at his home, and the two quiet men established an immediate rapport and discovered they had much in common. Inspired by York's encouragement, Cooper delivered a performance that Howard Barnes of the New York Herald Tribune called "one of extraordinary conviction and versatility", and that Archer Winston of the New York Post called "one of his best". After the film's release, Cooper was awarded the Distinguished Citizenship Medal by the Veterans of Foreign Wars for his "powerful contribution to the promotion of patriotism and loyalty". York admired Cooper's performance and helped promote the film for Warner Bros. Sergeant York became the top-grossing film of the year and was nominated for eleven Academy Awards. Accepting his first Academy Award for Best Actor from his friend James Stewart, Cooper said, "It was Sergeant Alvin York who won this award. Shucks, I've been in the business sixteen years and sometimes dreamed I might get one of these. That's all I can say ... Funny when I was dreaming I always made a better speech."
Cooper concluded the year back at Goldwyn with Howard Hawks to make the romantic comedy Ball of Fire with Barbara Stanwyck. In the film, Cooper plays a shy linguistics professor who leads a team of seven scholars who are writing an encyclopedia. While researching slang, he meets Stanwyck's flirtatious burlesque stripper Sugarpuss O'Shea who blows the dust off their staid life of books. The screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder provided Cooper the opportunity to exercise the full range of his light comedy skills. In his review for the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote that Cooper handled the role with "great skill and comic emphasis" and that his performance was "utterly delightful". Though small in scale, Ball of Fire was one of the top-grossing films of the year—Cooper's fourth consecutive picture to make the top twenty.
Cooper's only film appearance in 1942 was also his last under his Goldwyn contract. In Sam Wood's biographical film The Pride of the Yankees, Cooper portrays baseball star Lou Gehrig who established a record with the New York Yankees for playing in 2,130 consecutive games. Cooper was reluctant to play the seven-time All-Star, who only died the previous year from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — now commonly called "Lou Gehrig's disease". Beyond the challenges of effectively portraying such a popular and nationally recognized figure, Cooper knew very little about baseball and was not left-handed like Gehrig.
After Gehrig's widow visited the actor and expressed her desire that he portray her husband, Cooper accepted the role that covered a twenty-year span of Gehrig's life—his early love of baseball, his rise to greatness, his loving marriage, and his struggle with illness, culminating in his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939 before 62,000 fans. Cooper quickly learned the physical movements of a baseball player and developed a fluid, believable swing. The handedness issue was solved by reversing the print for certain batting scenes. The film was one of the year's top ten pictures and received eleven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's third).
Soon after the publication of Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, Paramount paid $150,000 for the film rights with the express intent of casting Cooper in the lead role of Robert Jordan, an American explosives expert who fights alongside the Republican loyalists during the Spanish Civil War. The original director, Cecil B. DeMille, was replaced by Sam Wood who brought in Dudley Nichols for the screenplay. After the start of principal photography in the Sierra Nevada in late 1942, Ingrid Bergman was brought in to replace ballerina Vera Zorina as the female lead—a change supported by Cooper and Hemingway. The love scenes between Bergman and Cooper were "rapturous" and passionate. Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune wrote that both actors performed with "the true stature and authority of stars". While the film distorted the novel's original political themes and meaning, For Whom the Bell Tolls was a critical and commercial success and received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's fourth).
World War II related activities
Due to his age and health, Cooper did not serve in the military during World War II, but like many of his colleagues, he got involved in the war effort by entertaining the troops. In June 1943, he visited military hospitals in San Diego, and often appeared at the Hollywood Canteen serving food to the servicemen. In late 1943, Cooper undertook a tour of the South West Pacific with actresses Una Merkel and Phyllis Brooks, and accordionist Andy Arcari.
Traveling on a B-24A Liberator bomber, the group toured the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Queensland, Brisbane—where General Douglas MacArthur told Cooper he was watching Sergeant York in a Manila theater when Japanese bombs began falling—New Guinea, Jayapura, and throughout the Solomon Islands.
The group often shared the same sparse living conditions and K-rations as the troops. Cooper met with the servicemen and women, visited military hospitals, introduced his attractive colleagues, and participated in occasional skits. The shows concluded with Cooper's moving recitation of Lou Gehrig's farewell speech. When he returned to the United States, he visited military hospitals throughout the country. Cooper later called his time with the troops the "greatest emotional experience" of his life.
Mature roles, 1944–1952
In 1944, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's wartime adventure film The Story of Dr. Wassell with Laraine Day — his third movie with the director. In the film, Cooper plays American doctor and missionary Corydon M. Wassell, who leads a group of wounded sailors through the jungles of Java to safety. Despite receiving poor reviews, Dr. Wassell was one of the top-grossing films of the year. With his Goldwyn and Paramount contracts now concluded, Cooper decided to remain independent and formed his own production company, International Pictures, with Leo Spitz, William Goetz, and Nunnally Johnson. The fledgling studio's first offering was Sam Wood's romantic comedy Casanova Brown with Teresa Wright, about a man who learns his soon-to-be ex-wife is pregnant with his child, just as he is about to marry another woman. The film received poor reviews, with the New York Daily News calling it "delightful nonsense", and Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, criticizing Cooper's "somewhat obvious and ridiculous clowning". The film was barely profitable.
In 1945, Cooper starred in and produced Stuart Heisler's Western comedy Along Came Jones with Loretta Young for International. In this lighthearted parody of his past heroic image, Cooper plays comically inept cowboy Melody Jones who is mistaken for a ruthless killer. Audiences embraced Cooper's character, and the film was one of the top box-office pictures of the year—a testament to Cooper's still vital audience appeal. It was also International's biggest financial success during its brief history before being sold off to Universal Studios in 1946.
Cooper's career during the post-war years drifted in new directions as American society was changing. While he still played conventional heroic roles, his films now relied less on his heroic screen persona and more on novel stories and exotic settings. In November 1945, Cooper appeared in Sam Wood's nineteenth-century period drama Saratoga Trunk with Ingrid Bergman, about a Texas cowboy and his relationship with a beautiful fortune-hunter. Filmed in early 1943, the movie's release was delayed for two years due to the increased demand for war movies. Despite poor reviews, Saratoga Trunk did well at the box office and became one of the top money-makers of the year for Warner Bros. Cooper's only film in 1946 was Fritz Lang's romantic thriller Cloak and Dagger, about a mild-mannered physics professor recruited by the OSS during the last years of World War II to investigate the German atomic bomb program. Playing a part loosely based on physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, Cooper was uneasy with the role and unable to convey the "inner sense" of the character. The film received poor reviews and was a box-office failure. In 1947, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's epic adventure film Unconquered with Paulette Goddard, about a Virginia militiaman who defends settlers against an unscrupulous gun trader and hostile Indians on the Western frontier during the eighteenth century. The film received mixed reviews, but even long-time DeMille critic James Agee acknowledged the picture had "some authentic flavor of the period". This last of four films made with DeMille was Cooper's most lucrative, earning the actor over $300,000 (equal to $ today) in salary and percentage of profits. Unconquered would be his last unqualified box-office success for the next five years.
In 1948, after making Leo McCarey's romantic comedy Good Sam, Cooper sold his company to Universal Studios and signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. that gave him script and director approval and a guaranteed $295,000 (equal to $ today) per picture. His first film under the new contract was King Vidor's drama The Fountainhead (1949) with Patricia Neal and Raymond Massey. In the film, Cooper plays an idealistic and uncompromising architect who struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism in the face of societal pressures to conform to popular standards. Based on the novel by Ayn Rand who also wrote the screenplay, the film reflects her philosophy and attacks the concepts of collectivism while promoting the virtues of individualism. For most critics, Cooper was hopelessly miscast in the role of Howard Roark. In his review for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther concluded he was "Mr. Deeds out of his element". Cooper returned to his element in Delmer Daves' war drama Task Force (1949), about a retiring rear admiral who reminisces about his long career as a naval aviator and his role in the development of aircraft carriers. Cooper's performance and the Technicolor newsreel footage supplied by the United States Navy made the film one of Cooper's most popular during this period. In the next two years, Cooper made four poorly received films: Michael Curtiz' period drama Bright Leaf (1950), Stuart Heisler's Western melodrama Dallas (1950), Henry Hathaway's wartime comedy You're in the Navy Now (1951), and Raoul Walsh's Western action film Distant Drums (1951).
Cooper's most important film during the post-war years was Fred Zinnemann's Western drama High Noon (1952) with Grace Kelly and Katy Jurado for United Artists. In the film, Cooper plays retiring sheriff Will Kane who is preparing to leave town on his honeymoon when he learns that an outlaw he helped put away and his three henchmen are returning to seek their revenge. Unable to gain the support of the frightened townspeople, and abandoned by his young bride, Kane nevertheless stays to face the outlaws alone. During the filming, Cooper was in poor health and in considerable pain from stomach ulcers. His ravaged face and discomfort in some scenes "photographed as self-doubt", according to biographer Hector Arce, and contributed to the effectiveness of his performance. Considered one of the first "adult" Westerns for its theme of moral courage, High Noon received enthusiastic reviews for its artistry, with Time magazine placing it in the ranks of Stagecoach and The Gunfighter. Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote that Cooper was "at the top of his form", and John McCarten, in The New Yorker, wrote that Cooper was never more effective. The film earned $3.75 million in the United States and $18 million worldwide. Following the example of his friend James Stewart, Cooper accepted a lower salary in exchange for a percent of the profits, and ended up making $600,000. Cooper's understated performance was widely praised, and earned him his second Academy Award for Best Actor.
Later films, 1953–1961
After appearing in André de Toth's Civil War drama Springfield Rifle (1952)—a standard Warner Bros. film that was overshadowed by the success of its predecessor—Cooper made four films outside the United States. In Mark Robson's drama Return to Paradise (1953), Cooper plays an American wanderer who liberates the inhabitants of a Polynesian island from the puritanical rule of a misguided pastor. Cooper endured spartan living conditions, long hours, and ill health during the three-month location shoot on the island of Upolu in Western Samoa. Despite its beautiful cinematography, the film received poor reviews. Cooper's next three films were shot in Mexico. In Hugo Fregonese's action adventure film Blowing Wild (1953) with Barbara Stanwyck, he plays a wildcatter in Mexico who gets involved with an oil company executive and his unscrupulous wife with whom he once had an affair.
In 1954, Cooper appeared in Henry Hathaway's Western drama Garden of Evil, with Susan Hayward, about three soldiers of fortune in Mexico hired to rescue a woman's husband. That same year, he appeared in Robert Aldrich's Western adventure Vera Cruz with Burt Lancaster. In the film, Cooper plays an American adventurer hired by Emperor Maximilian I to escort a countess to Vera Cruz during the Mexican Rebellion of 1866. All of these films received poor reviews but did well at the box-office. For his work in Vera Cruz, Cooper earned $1.4 million in salary and percent of the gross.
During this period, Cooper struggled with health problems. As well as his ongoing treatment for ulcers, he suffered a severe shoulder injury during the filming of Blowing Wild when he was hit by metal fragments from a dynamited oil well. During the filming of Vera Cruz, he reinjured his hip falling from a horse, and was burned when Lancaster fired his rifle too close and the wadding from the blank shell pierced his clothing.
In 1955, he appeared in Otto Preminger's biographical war drama The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, about the World War I general who tried to convince government officials of the importance of air power, and was court-martialed after blaming the War Department for a series of air disasters. Some critics felt that Cooper was miscast, and that his dull, tight-lipped performance did not reflect Mitchell's dynamic and caustic personality. In 1956, Cooper was more effective playing a gentle Indiana Quaker in William Wyler's Civil War drama Friendly Persuasion with Dorothy McGuire. Like Sergeant York and High Noon, the film addresses the conflict between religious pacifism and civic duty. For his performance, Cooper received his second Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actor. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, was awarded the Palme d'Or at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival, and went on to earn $8 million worldwide.
In 1956, Cooper traveled to France to make Billy Wilder's romantic comedy Love in the Afternoon with Audrey Hepburn and Maurice Chevalier. In the film, Cooper plays a middle-aged American playboy in Paris who pursues and eventually falls in love with a much younger woman. Despite receiving some positive reviews—including from Bosley Crowther who praised the film's "charming performances"—most reviewers concluded that Cooper was simply too old for the part. While audiences may not have welcomed seeing Cooper's heroic screen image tarnished by his playing an aging roué trying to seduce an innocent young girl, the film was still a box-office success. The following year, Cooper appeared in Philip Dunne's romantic drama Ten North Frederick. In the film, which was based on the novel by John O'Hara, Cooper plays an attorney whose life is ruined by a double-crossing politician and his own secret affair with his daughter's young roommate. While Cooper brought "conviction and controlled anguish" to his performance, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, it was not enough to save what Bosley Crowther called a "hapless film".
Despite his ongoing health problems and several operations for ulcers and hernias, Cooper continued to work in action films. In 1958, he appeared in Anthony Mann's Western drama Man of the West (1958) with Julie London and Lee J. Cobb, about a reformed outlaw and killer who is forced to confront his violent past when the train he is riding in is held up by his former gang members. The film has been called Cooper's "most pathological Western", with its themes of impotent rage, sexual humiliation, and sadism. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, Cooper, who struggled with moral conflicts in his personal life, "understood the anguish of a character striving to retain his integrity ... [and] brought authentic feeling to the role of a tempted and tormented, yet essentially decent man". Mostly ignored by critics at the time, the film is now well-regarded by film scholars and is considered Cooper's last great film.
After his Warner Bros. contract ended, Cooper formed his own production company, Baroda Productions, and made three unusual films in 1959 about redemption. In Delmer Daves' Western drama The Hanging Tree, Cooper plays a frontier doctor who saves a criminal from a lynch mob, and later tries to exploit his sordid past. Cooper delivered a "powerful and persuasive" performance of an emotionally scarred man whose need to dominate others is transformed by the love and sacrifice of a woman. In Robert Rossen's historical adventure They Came to Cordura with Rita Hayworth, he plays an army officer who is found guilty of cowardice and assigned the degrading task of recommending soldiers for the Medal of Honor during the Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916.
While Cooper received positive reviews, Variety and Films in Review felt he was too old for the part. In Michael Anderson's action drama The Wreck of the Mary Deare with Charlton Heston, Cooper plays a disgraced merchant marine officer who decides to stay aboard his sinking cargo ship in order to prove the vessel was deliberately scuttled and to redeem his good name. Like its two predecessors, the film was physically demanding. Cooper, who was a trained scuba diver, did most of his own underwater scenes. Biographer Jeffrey Meyers observed that in all three roles, Cooper effectively conveyed the sense of lost honor and desire for redemption—what Joseph Conrad in Lord Jim called the "struggles of an individual trying to save from the fire his idea of what his moral identity should be".
Personal life
Marriage and family
Cooper was formally introduced to his future wife, 20-year-old New York debutante Veronica Balfe, on Easter Sunday 1933 at a party given by her uncle, art director Cedric Gibbons. Called "Rocky" by her family and friends, she grew up on Park Avenue and attended finishing schools. Her stepfather was Wall Street tycoon Paul Shields. Cooper and Rocky were quietly married at her parents' Park Avenue residence on December 15, 1933. According to his friends, the marriage had a positive impact on Cooper, who turned away from past indiscretions and took control of his life. Athletic and a lover of the outdoors, Rocky shared many of Cooper's interests, including riding, skiing, and skeet-shooting. She organized their social life, and her wealth and social connections provided Cooper access to New York high society. Cooper and his wife owned homes in the Los Angeles area in Encino (1933–36), Brentwood (1936–53), and Holmby Hills (1954–61), and owned a vacation home in Aspen, Colorado (1949–53).
Gary and Veronica Cooper's daughter, Maria Veronica Cooper, was born on September 15, 1937. By all accounts, he was a patient and affectionate father, teaching Maria to ride a bicycle, play tennis, ski, and ride horses. Sharing many of her parents' interests, she accompanied them on their travels and was often photographed with them. Like her father, she developed a love for art and drawing. As a family they vacationed together in Sun Valley, Idaho, spent time at Rocky's parents' country house in Southampton, New York, and took frequent trips to Europe. Cooper and Rocky were legally separated on May 16, 1951, when Cooper moved out of their home. For over two years, they maintained a fragile and uneasy family life with their daughter. Cooper moved back into their home in November 1953, and their formal reconciliation occurred in February 1954.
Romantic relationships
Prior to his marriage, Cooper had a series of romantic relationships with leading actresses, beginning in 1927 with Clara Bow, who advanced his career by helping him get one of his first leading roles in Children of Divorce. Bow was also responsible for getting Cooper a role in Wings, which generated an enormous amount of fan mail for the young actor. In 1928, he had a relationship with another experienced actress, Evelyn Brent, whom he met while filming Beau Sabreur. In 1929, while filming The Wolf Song, Cooper began an intense affair with Lupe Vélez, which was the most important romance of his early life. During their two years together, Cooper also had brief affairs with Marlene Dietrich while filming Morocco in 1930 and with Carole Lombard while making I Take This Woman in 1931. During his year abroad in 1931–32, Cooper had an affair with the married Countess Dorothy di Frasso, while staying at her Villa Madama near Rome.
After he was married in December 1933, Cooper remained faithful to his wife until the summer of 1942, when he began an affair with Ingrid Bergman during the production of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Their relationship lasted through the completion of filming Saratoga Trunk in June 1943. In 1948, after finishing work on The Fountainhead, Cooper began an affair with actress Patricia Neal, his co-star. At first they kept their affair discreet, but eventually it became an open secret in Hollywood, and Cooper's wife confronted him with the rumors, which he admitted were true. He also confessed that he was in love with Neal, and continued to see her. Cooper and his wife were legally separated in May 1951, but he did not seek a divorce. Neal later claimed that Cooper hit her after she went on a date with Kirk Douglas, and that he arranged for her to have an abortion when she became pregnant with Cooper's child. Neal ended their relationship in late December 1951. During his three-year separation from his wife, Cooper was rumored to have had affairs with Grace Kelly, Lorraine Chanel, and Gisèle Pascal.
Cooper biographers have explored his friendship in the late twenties with the actor Anderson Lawler, with whom Cooper shared a house on and off for a year, while at the same time seeing Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent and Lupe Vélez. Lupe Vélez once told Hedda Hopper of Vélez' affair with Cooper; whenever he would come home after seeing Lawler, she would sniff for Lawler's cologne. Vélez' biographer Michelle Vogel has reported that Vélez consented to Cooper's sexual behavior with Lawler, but only as long as she, too, could participate. In later life, he became involved in a relationship with the costume designer Irene, and was, according to Irene, "the only man she ever loved". A year after his death in 1961, Irene committed suicide by jumping from the 11th floor of the Knickerbocker Hotel, after telling Doris Day of her grief over Cooper's death.
Friendships, interests, and character
Cooper's twenty-year friendship with Ernest Hemingway began at Sun Valley in October 1940. The previous year, Hemingway drew upon Cooper's image when he created the character of Robert Jordan for the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The two shared a passion for the outdoors, and for years they hunted duck and pheasant, and skied together in Sun Valley. Both men admired the work of Rudyard Kipling—Cooper kept a copy of the poem "If—" in his dressing room—and retained as adults Kipling's sense of boyish adventure.
As well as admiring Cooper's hunting skills and knowledge of the outdoors, Hemingway believed his character matched his screen persona, once telling a friend, "If you made up a character like Coop, nobody would believe it. He's just too good to be true." They saw each other often, and their friendship remained strong through the years.
Cooper's social life generally centered on sports, outdoor activities, and dinner parties with his family and friends from the film industry, including directors Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, William Wellman, and Fred Zinnemann, and actors Joel McCrea, James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, and Robert Taylor. As well as hunting, Cooper enjoyed riding, fishing, skiing, and later in life, scuba diving. He never abandoned his early love for art and drawing, and over the years, he and his wife acquired a private collection of modern paintings, including works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Cooper owned several works by Pablo Picasso, whom he met in 1956. Cooper also had a lifelong passion for automobiles, with a collection that included a 1930 Duesenberg.
Cooper was naturally reserved and introspective, and loved the solitude of outdoor activities. Not unlike his screen persona, his communication style frequently consisted of long silences with an occasional "yup" and "shucks". He once said, "If others have more interesting things to say than I have, I keep quiet." According to his friends, Cooper could also be an articulate, well-informed conversationalist on topics ranging from horses, guns, and Western history to film production, sports cars, and modern art. He was modest and unpretentious, frequently downplaying his acting abilities and career accomplishments. His friends and colleagues described him as charming, well-mannered, and thoughtful, with a lively boyish sense of humor. Cooper maintained a sense of propriety throughout his career and never misused his movie star status—never sought special treatment or refused to work with a director or leading lady. His close friend Joel McCrea recalled, "Coop never fought, he never got mad, he never told anybody off that I know of; everybody that worked with him liked him."
Political views
Like his father, Cooper was a conservative Republican; he voted for Calvin Coolidge in 1924, Herbert Hoover in 1928 and 1932, and campaigned for Wendell Willkie in 1940. When Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for an unprecedented fourth presidential term in 1944, Cooper campaigned for Thomas E. Dewey and criticized Roosevelt for being dishonest and adopting "foreign" ideas. In a radio address that he paid for himself just prior to the election, Cooper said, "I disagree with the New Deal belief that the America all of us love is old and worn-out and finished—and has to borrow foreign notions that don't even seem to work any too well where they come from ... Our country is a young country that just has to make up its mind to be itself again." He also attended a Republican rally at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that drew 93,000 Dewey supporters.
Cooper was one of the founding members of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a conservative organization dedicated, according to its statement of principles, to preserving the "American way of life" and opposing communism and fascism. The organization — whose membership included Walter Brennan, Laraine Day, Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Hedda Hopper, Ronald Reagan, Barbara Stanwyck, and John Wayne — advised the United States Congress to investigate communist influence in the motion picture industry. On October 23, 1947, Cooper was subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and was asked if he had observed any "communistic influence" in Hollywood.
Cooper recounted statements he'd heard suggesting that the Constitution was out of date and that Congress was an unnecessary institution—comments that Cooper said he found to be "very un-American" and testified that he had rejected several scripts because he thought they were "tinged with communist ideas". Unlike some other witnesses, Cooper did not name any individuals, nor did he name any scripts, during his testimony.
In 1951, while making High Noon, Cooper became friends with the film's screenwriter, Carl Foreman, who had been a member of the Communist Party. When Foreman was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Cooper put his career on the line to defend Foreman. When John Wayne and others threatened Cooper with blacklisting himself and the loss of his passport if he did not walk off the film, Cooper gave a statement to the press in support of Foreman, calling him "the finest kind of American". When producer Stanley Kramer removed Foreman's name as screenwriter, Cooper and director Fred Zinnemann threatened to walk off the film if Foreman's name was not restored. Foreman later said that, of all his friends and allies and colleagues in Hollywood, "Cooper was the only big one who tried to help. The only one." Cooper even offered to testify in Foreman's behalf before the committee, but character witnesses were not allowed. Foreman always sent future scripts to Cooper for first refusal, including The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Key and The Guns of Navarone. Cooper had to turn them down because of his age.
Religion
Cooper was baptized in the Anglican Church in December 1911 in Britain, and was raised in the Episcopal Church in the United States. While he was not an observant Christian for most of his adult life, many of his friends believed he had a deeply spiritual side.
On June 26, 1953, Cooper accompanied his wife and daughter, who were devout Catholics, to Rome, where they had an audience with Pope Pius XII. Cooper and his wife were still separated at the time, but the papal visit marked the beginning of their gradual reconciliation. In the coming years, Cooper contemplated his mortality and his personal behavior, and started discussing Catholicism with his family. He began attending church with them regularly, and met with their parish priest, who offered Cooper spiritual guidance. After several months of study, Cooper was baptized as a Roman Catholic on April 9, 1959, before a small group of family and friends at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.
Final years and death
On April 14, 1960, Cooper underwent surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had metastasized to his colon. He fell ill again on May 31 and underwent further surgery at Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles in early June to remove a malignant tumor from his large intestine. After recuperating over the summer, Cooper took his family on vacation to the south of France before traveling to the UK in the fall to star in The Naked Edge. In December 1960, he worked on the NBC television documentary The Real West, which was part of the company's Project 20 series.
On December 27, his wife learned from their family doctor that Cooper's cancer had spread to his lungs and bones and was inoperable. His family decided not to tell him immediately.
On January 9, 1961, Cooper attended a dinner that was given in his honor and hosted by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin at the Friars Club. The dinner was attended by many of his industry friends and concluded with a brief speech by Cooper who said, "The only achievement I'm proud of is the friends I've made in this community."
In mid-January, Cooper took his family to Sun Valley for their last vacation together. Cooper and Hemingway hiked through the snow together for the last time. On February 27, after returning to Los Angeles, Cooper learned that he was dying. He later told his family, "We'll pray for a miracle; but if not, and that's God's will, that's all right too." On April 17, Cooper watched the Academy Awards ceremony on television and saw his good friend James Stewart, who had presented Cooper with his first Oscar years earlier, accept on Cooper's behalf an honorary award for lifetime achievement—his third Oscar. Holding back tears, Stewart said, "Coop, I'll get this to you right away. And Coop, I want you to know this, that with this goes all the warm friendship and the affection and the admiration and the deep, the deep respect of all of us. We're very, very proud of you, Coop. All of us are tremendously proud." The following day, newspapers around the world announced the news that Cooper was dying. In the coming days he received numerous messages of appreciation and encouragement, including telegrams from Pope John XXIII and Queen Elizabeth II, and a telephone call from President John F. Kennedy.
In his last public statement on May 4, Cooper said, "I know that what is happening is God's will. I am not afraid of the future." He received the last rites on May 12. Cooper died quietly the following day, Saturday, May 13, 1961, at 12:47 P.M.
A requiem mass was held on May 18 at the Church of the Good Shepherd, attended by many of Cooper's friends, including James Stewart, Jack Benny, Henry Hathaway, Joel McCrea, Audrey Hepburn, Jack L. Warner, John Ford, John Wayne, Edward G. Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Fred Astaire, Randolph Scott, Walter Pidgeon, Bob Hope and Marlene Dietrich. Cooper was buried in the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. In May 1974, after his family relocated to New York, Cooper's remains were exhumed and reburied in Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton. His grave is marked by a three-ton boulder from a Montauk quarry.
Acting style and reputation
Cooper's acting style consisted of three essential characteristics: his ability to project elements of his own personality onto the characters he portrayed, to appear natural and authentic in his roles, and to underplay and deliver restrained performances calibrated for the camera and the screen. Acting teacher Lee Strasberg once observed: "The simplest examples of Stanislavsky's ideas are actors such as Gary Cooper, John Wayne, and Spencer Tracy. They try not to act but to be themselves, to respond or react. They refuse to say or do anything they feel not to be consonant with their own characters." Film director François Truffaut ranked Cooper among "the greatest actors" because of his ability to deliver great performances "without direction". This ability to project elements of his own personality onto his characters produced a continuity across his performances to the extent that critics and audiences were convinced that he was simply "playing himself".
Cooper's ability to project his personality onto his characters played an important part in his appearing natural and authentic on screen. Actor John Barrymore said of Cooper, "This fellow is the world's greatest actor. He does without effort what the rest of us spend our lives trying to learn—namely, to be natural." Charles Laughton, who played opposite Cooper in Devil and the Deep agreed, "In truth, that boy hasn't the least idea how well he acts ... He gets at it from the inside, from his own clear way of looking at life." William Wyler, who directed Cooper in two films, called him a "superb actor, a master of movie acting".
In his review of Cooper's performance in The Real Glory, Graham Greene wrote, "Sometimes his lean photogenic face seems to leave everything to the lens, but there is no question here of his not acting. Watch him inoculate the girl against cholera—the casual jab of the needle, and the dressing slapped on while he talks, as though a thousand arms had taught him where to stab and he doesn't have to think anymore."
Cooper's style of underplaying before the camera surprised many of his directors and fellow actors. Even in his earliest feature films, he recognized the camera's ability to pick up slight gestures and facial movements. Commenting on Cooper's performance in Sergeant York, director Howard Hawks observed, "He worked very hard and yet he didn't seem to be working. He was a strange actor because you'd look at him during a scene and you'd think ... this isn't going to be any good. But when you saw the rushes in the projection room the next day you could read in his face all the things he'd been thinking." Sam Wood, who directed Cooper in four films, had similar observations about Cooper's performance in Pride of the Yankees, noting, "What I thought was underplaying turned out to be just the right approach. On the screen he's perfect, yet on the set you'd swear it's the worst job of acting in the history of motion pictures."
Fellow actors admired his abilities as an actor. Commenting on her two films playing opposite Cooper, actress Ingrid Bergman concluded, "The personality of this man was so enormous, so overpowering—and that expression in his eyes and his face, it was so delicate and so underplayed. You just didn't notice it until you saw it on the screen. I thought he was marvelous; the most underplaying and the most natural actor I ever worked with."
Tom Hanks declared, "In only one scene in the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, we see the future of screen acting in the form of Gary Cooper. He is quiet and natural, somehow different from the other cast members. He does something mysterious with his eyes and shoulders that is much more like 'being' than 'acting'."
Daniel Day-Lewis said, "I don't particularly like westerns as a genre, but I do love certain westerns. 'High Noon' means a lot to me – I love the purity and the honesty, I love Gary Cooper in that film, the idea of the last man standing."
Chris Pratt stated, "I started watching Westerns when I was shooting in London about four or five years ago. I really fell in love with Gary Cooper, and his stuff. That sucked me into the Westerns. Before, I never got engrossed in the story. I'd just dip in, and there were guys in horses in black and white. High Noon's later Gary Cooper, I liked that. But I liked 'The Westerner'. That's my favorite one. I have that poster hung up in my house because I really like that one."
To Al Pacino, "Gary Cooper was a phenomenon—his ability to take some thing and elevate it, give it such dignity. One of the great presences."
Mylène Demongeot first got with Gary Cooper for the opening of the first escalator to be installed in a cinema, at the Rex Theatre in Paris, on June 7, 1957. She declared in a 2015 filmed interview: "Gary Cooper ... il est sublime ! Aaahhh (Mylène pushing a cry of love not to say ecstasy) il est sublime ... Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Là je dois dire que ça fait partie des stars, y'a Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, ces grands Américains que j'ai rencontrés comme ça, c'est vraiment des mecs incroyables. Y'en a plus des comme ça ! Euh non. (Gary Cooper was sublime, there I have to say, now he, was part of the stars, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, those great americans who I've met really were unbelievable guys, there aren't any like them anymore)."
Career assessment and legacy
Cooper's career spanned thirty-six years, from 1925 to 1961. During that time, he appeared in eighty-four feature films in a leading role. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His natural and authentic acting style appealed powerfully to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major movie genres, including Westerns, war films, adventure films, drama films, crime films, romance films, comedy films, and romantic comedy films. He appeared on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities for twenty-three consecutive years, from 1936 to 1958. According to Quigley's annual poll, Cooper was one of the top money-making stars for eighteen years, appearing in the top ten in 1936–37, 1941–49, and 1951–57. He topped the list in 1953. In Quigley's list of all-time money-making stars, Cooper is listed fourth, after John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Tom Cruise. At the time of his death, it was estimated that his films grossed well over $200 million (equivalent to $ billion in ).
In over half of his feature films, Cooper portrayed Westerners, soldiers, pilots, sailors, and explorers—all men of action. In the rest he played a wide range of characters, included doctors, professors, artists, architects, clerks, and baseball players. Cooper's heroic screen image changed with each period of his career. In his early films, he played the young naive hero sure of his moral position and trusting in the triumph of simple virtues (The Virginian). After becoming a major star, his Western screen persona was replaced by a more cautious hero in adventure films and dramas (A Farewell to Arms). During the height of his career, from 1936 to 1943, he played a new type of hero—a champion of the common man willing to sacrifice himself for others (Mr. Deeds, Meet John Doe, and For Whom the Bell Tolls).
In the post-war years, Cooper attempted broader variations on his screen image, which now reflected a hero increasingly at odds with the world who must face adversity alone (The Fountainhead and High Noon). In his final films, Cooper's hero rejects the violence of the past, and seeks to reclaim lost honor and find redemption (Friendly Persuasion and Man of the West). The screen persona he developed and sustained throughout his career represented the ideal American hero—a tall, handsome, and sincere man of steadfast integrity who emphasized action over intellect, and combined the heroic qualities of the romantic lover, the adventurer, and the common man.
On February 6, 1960, Cooper was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6243 Hollywood Boulevard for his contribution to the film industry. He was awarded a star on the sidewalk outside the Ellen Theater in Bozeman, Montana.
On May 6, 1961, he was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters in recognition of his significant contribution to the arts. On July 30, 1961, he was posthumously awarded the David di Donatello Special Award in Italy for his career achievements.
In 1966, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. In 2015, he was inducted into the Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Hall of Fame. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper eleventh on its list of the 25 male stars of classic Hollywood. Three of his characters—Will Kane, Lou Gehrig, and Sergeant York—made AFI's list of the one hundred greatest heroes and villains, all of them as heroes. His Lou Gehrig line, "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.", is ranked by AFI as the thirty-eighth greatest movie quote of all time.
More than a half century after his death, Cooper's enduring legacy, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, is his image of the ideal American hero preserved in his film performances. Charlton Heston once observed, "He projected the kind of man Americans would like to be, probably more than any actor that's ever lived."
In the TV series Justified, based on works and characters created by Elmore Leonard, Gary Cooper is used throughout the six seasons as the man whom U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant, aspires to be. When his colleague asks Marshall Givens how he thinks his dangerous plan to bring down a villain can possibly work, he replies: "Why not? Worked for Gary Cooper."
Gary Cooper is referenced several times in the critically acclaimed television series The Sopranos, with protagonist Tony Soprano asking "What ever happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type." while complaining about his problems to his therapist.
In the 1930s hit song "Puttin' On the Ritz", Cooper is referenced in the line "dress up like a million dollar trooper/Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper, Super duper!" More than two decades after Cooper's death a new version of the song was released in 1983 by Taco; the original lyrics were kept, including the references to Cooper.
In J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Cooper is "spotted" by Holden Caulfield to distract a woman he is dancing with.
Awards and nominations
Filmography
The following is a list of feature films in which Cooper appeared in a leading role.
The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)
Children of Divorce (1927)
Arizona Bound (1927)
Wings (1927)
Nevada (1927)
It (1927)
The Last Outlaw (1927)
Beau Sabreur (1928)
The Legion of the Condemned (1928)
Doomsday (1928)
Half a Bride (1928)
Lilac Time (1928)
The First Kiss (1928)
The Shopworn Angel (1928)
Wolf Song (1929)
Betrayal (1929)
The Virginian (1929)
Only the Brave (1930)
The Texan (1930)
Seven Days' Leave (1930)
A Man from Wyoming (1930)
The Spoilers (1930)
Morocco (1930)
Fighting Caravans (1931)
City Streets (1931)
I Take This Woman (1931)
His Woman (1931)
Devil and the Deep (1932)
If I Had a Million (1932)
A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Today We Live (1933)
One Sunday Afternoon (1933)
Design for Living (1933)
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
Operator 13 (1934)
Now and Forever (1934)
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
The Wedding Night (1935)
Peter Ibbetson (1935)
Desire (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
The Plainsman (1936)
Souls at Sea (1937)
The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
Beau Geste (1939)
The Real Glory (1939)
The Westerner (1940)
North West Mounted Police (1940)
Meet John Doe (1941)
Sergeant York (1941)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
Casanova Brown (1944)
Along Came Jones (1945)
Saratoga Trunk (1945)
Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Unconquered (1947)
Good Sam (1948)
The Fountainhead (1949)
Task Force (1949)
Bright Leaf (1950)
Dallas (1950)
You're in the Navy Now (1951)
It's a Big Country (1951)
Distant Drums (1951)
High Noon (1952)
Springfield Rifle (1952)
Return to Paradise (1953)
Blowing Wild (1953)
Garden of Evil (1954)
Vera Cruz (1954)
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Ten North Frederick (1958)
Man of the West (1958)
The Hanging Tree (1959)
They Came to Cordura (1959)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
The Naked Edge (1961)
Radio appearances
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Adrien Le Bihan, Gary Cooper, le prince des acteurs, LettMotif, 2021, 358p.()
External links
1901 births
1961 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Academy Honorary Award recipients
American expatriates in England
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
American male television actors
American people of English descent
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
California Republicans
Catholics from Montana
Conservatism in the United States
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from prostate cancer
Grinnell College people
Male Western (genre) film actors
Male actors from Montana
Paramount Pictures contract players
People educated at Dunstable Grammar School
People from Brentwood, Los Angeles
People from Dunstable
People from Helena, Montana
People from Holmby Hills, Los Angeles | true | [
"Hinemoa was a silent film made in New Zealand by Gaston Méliès in 1913.\n\nHinemoa is possibly the first film to have been made in New Zealand, although it is doubtful whether the film was ever screened in the country.\n\nPlot\nNo copy of Hinemoa survives, but the film would have told the story of the legend of Hinemoa and Tutanekai.\n\nBackground\nIn 1912, the Méliès brothers' company Star Film was in some financial strife, as a result of which Gaston Méliès travelled to the South Pacific in search of fashionably exotic locales, people and stories.\n\nHinemoa was one of five two-reel films screened in New York City in 1913; probably including three other 1913 films he shot in New Zealand, Loved by a Maori Chieftess, How Chief Te Ponga Won His Bride and The River Wanganui. Méliès sent his film to the United States for post-production treatment, so it is doubtful if any were shown in New Zealand. Several other films shot by Méliès on the expedition failed to survive the tropical humidity.\n\nSee also\n Hinemoa – New Zealand produced and released film by George Tarr a year later.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n Hinemoa (1913) at SilentEra\n\nNew Zealand films\n1913 in New Zealand\nFrench films\nFrench silent short films\n1913 films\nLost French films\nFrench black-and-white films\nFilms directed by Gaston Méliès\nFilms produced by Gaston Méliès\n1913 drama films\nFilms set in New Zealand\nNew Zealand silent films\nFrench drama films\n1913 lost films\nLost drama films\nFilms about Māori people",
"Safdar Jung is a 1930 action costume silent film directed by A. R. Kardar. The film was the third to be produced by Kardar's United Players Pictures (Playart Phototone), following Husn Ka Daku (1929) and Sarfarosh (1930).\n\nKardar introduced the actress Mumtaz Begum as the lead heroine in the film. The cast included Gulzar, Mumtaz, Hiralal. The director of photography was K. V. Machve.\n\nFor actor Gul Hamid, Safdar Jung was the first of seven silent films he worked in. A police officer in the British Police by profession, he was chosen by Kardar as a leading man due to Hamid's \"over-all persona\".\n\nLike the rest of the films produced earlier, Safdar Jung was also released at The Deepak cinema in Bhati Gate area of Lahore.\n\nCast\n Gul Hamid\n Mumtaz Begum\n Gulzar\n Hiralal\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1930 films\nIndian films\nSilent films\nIndian silent films\nIndian black-and-white films\nFilms directed by A. R. Kardar\nIndian action films\n1930s action films"
]
|
[
"Gary Cooper",
"Silent films, 1925-28",
"Was there a Silent film released in 1925?",
"The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky,",
"Was he in any other films?",
"a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (",
"Did he collaborate with any other producers?",
"On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week.",
"WHat did they produce together?",
"The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)",
"Was there any other silent films he produced?",
"films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926)."
]
| C_6ade1075ca2849c5aee8a7091d6b357c_1 | Were there any critical reviews of the films? | 7 | Were there any critical reviews of Gary Cooper's films? | Gary Cooper | In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, including Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt work--which sometimes injured horses and riders--"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name. Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week. Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal--finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings, the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada--both films directed by John Waters. In 1928, Paramount paired Cooper with a youthful Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss--advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride. That year, Cooper also made Lilac Time with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928. CANNOTANSWER | The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. | Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent, and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, as well as receiving an Academy Honorary Award for his career achievements in 1961. He was one of the top 10 film personalities for 23 consecutive years, and one of the top money-making stars for 18 years. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper at No. 11 on its list of the 25 greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Cooper's career spanned 36 years, from 1925 to 1961, and included leading roles in 84 feature films. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era through to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His screen persona appealed strongly to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major film genres. His ability to project his own personality onto the characters he played contributed to his natural and authentic appearance on screen. Throughout his career, he sustained a screen persona that represented the ideal American hero.
Cooper began his career as a film extra and stunt rider, but soon landed acting roles. After establishing himself as a Western hero in his early silent films, he appeared as the Virginian and became a movie star in 1929 with his first sound picture, The Virginian. In the early 1930s, he expanded his heroic image to include more cautious characters in adventure films and dramas such as A Farewell to Arms (1932) and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935). During the height of his career, Cooper portrayed a new type of hero—a champion of the common man—in films such as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), Sergeant York (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). He later portrayed more mature characters at odds with the world in films such as The Fountainhead (1949) and High Noon (1952). In his final films, he played non-violent characters searching for redemption in films such as Friendly Persuasion (1956) and Man of the West (1958).
Early life
Frank James Cooper was born in Helena, Montana, on May 7, 1901, the younger of two sons of English parents Alice (née Brazier; 1873–1967) and Charles Henry Cooper (1865–1946). His brother, Arthur, was six years his senior. Cooper's father came from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, and became a prominent lawyer, rancher, and Montana Supreme Court justice. His mother hailed from Gillingham, Kent, and married Charles in Montana. In 1906, Charles purchased the Seven-Bar-Nine cattle ranch, about north of Helena near Craig, Montana. Cooper and Arthur spent their summers at the ranch and learned to ride horses, hunt, and fish. Cooper attended Central Grade School in Helena.
Alice wanted her sons to have an English education, so she took them back to England in 1909 to enroll them in Dunstable Grammar School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. While there, Cooper and his brother lived with their father's cousins, William and Emily Barton, at their home in Houghton Regis. Cooper studied Latin, French, and English history at Dunstable until 1912. While he adapted to English school discipline and learned the requisite social graces, he never adjusted to the rigid class structure and formal Eton collars he was required to wear. He received his confirmation in the Church of England at the Church of All Saints in Houghton Regis on December 3, 1911. His mother accompanied her sons back to the U.S. in August 1912, and Cooper resumed his education at Johnson Grammar School in Helena.
When Cooper was 15, he injured his hip in a car accident. On his doctor's recommendation, he returned to the Seven-Bar-Nine ranch to recuperate by horseback riding. The misguided therapy left him with his characteristic stiff, off-balanced walk and slightly angled horse-riding style. He left Helena High School after two years in 1918, and returned to the family ranch to work full-time as a cowboy. In 1919, his father arranged for him to attend Gallatin County High School in Bozeman, Montana, where English teacher Ida Davis encouraged him to focus on academics and participate in debating and dramatics. Cooper later called Davis "the woman partly responsible for [him] giving up cowboy-ing and going to college".
Cooper was still attending high school in 1920 when he took three art courses at Montana Agricultural College in Bozeman. His interest in art was inspired years earlier by the Western paintings of Charles Marion Russell and Frederic Remington. Cooper especially admired and studied Russell's Lewis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross' Hole (1910), which still hangs in the state capitol building in Helena. In 1922, to continue his art education, he enrolled in Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. He did well academically in most of his courses, but was not accepted into the school's drama club. His drawings and watercolor paintings were exhibited throughout the dormitory, and he was named art editor for the college yearbook. During the summers of 1922 and 1923, Cooper worked at Yellowstone National Park as a tour guide driving the yellow open-top buses. Despite a promising first 18 months at Grinnell, he left college suddenly in February 1924, spent a month in Chicago looking for work as an artist, and then returned to Helena, where he sold editorial cartoons to the local Independent newspaper.
In autumn 1924, Cooper's father left the Montana Supreme Court bench and moved with his wife to Los Angeles to administer the estates of two relatives, and Cooper joined his parents there in November at his father's request. After briefly working a series of unpromising jobs, he met two friends from Montana who were working as film extras and stunt riders in low-budget Western films for the small movie studios on Poverty Row. They introduced him to another Montana cowboy, rodeo champion Jay "Slim" Talbot, who took him to see a casting director. Wanting money for a professional art course, Cooper worked as a film extra for $5 a day, and as a stunt rider for $10. Cooper and Talbot became close friends and hunting companions, and Talbot later worked as Cooper's stuntman and stand-in for over three decades.
Career
Silent films, 1925–1928
In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, but also the already emergent major studios, Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt workwhich sometimes injured horses and riders"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name.
Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week.
Cooper's first important film role was a supporting part in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) starring Ronald Colman and Vilma Bánky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal—finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings (both 1927), the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada—both films directed by John Waters.
Paramount paired Cooper with Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss (both 1928)—advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride (also both 1928). Around the same time, Cooper made Lilac Time (1928) with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928.
Hollywood stardom, 1929–1935
Cooper became a major movie star in 1929 with the release of his first talking picture, The Virginian (1929), which was directed by Victor Fleming and co-starred Mary Brian and Walter Huston. Based on the popular novel by Owen Wister, The Virginian was one of the first sound films to define the Western code of honor and helped establish many of the conventions of the Western movie genre that persist to the present day. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, the romantic image of the tall, handsome, and shy cowboy hero who embodied male freedom, courage, and honor was created in large part by Cooper in the film. Unlike some silent film actors who had trouble adapting to the new sound medium, Cooper transitioned naturally, with his "deep and clear" and "pleasantly drawling" voice, which was perfectly suited for the characters he portrayed on screen, also according to Meyers. Looking to capitalize on Cooper's growing popularity, Paramount cast him in several Westerns and wartime dramas, including Only the Brave, The Texan, Seven Days' Leave, A Man from Wyoming, and The Spoilers (all released in 1930). Norman Rockwell depicted Cooper in his role as The Texan for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on May 24, 1930.
One of the more important performances in Cooper's early career was his portrayal of a sullen legionnaire in Josef von Sternberg's film Morocco (also 1930) with Marlene Dietrich in her introduction to American audiences. During production, von Sternberg focused his energies on Dietrich and treated Cooper dismissively. Tensions came to a head after von Sternberg yelled directions at Cooper in German. The actor approached the director, picked him up by the collar, and said, "If you expect to work in this country you'd better get on to the language we use here." Despite the tensions on the set, Cooper produced "one of his best performances", according to Thornton Delehanty of the New York Evening Post.
After returning to the Western genre in Zane Grey's Fighting Caravans (1931) with French actress Lili Damita, Cooper appeared in the Dashiell Hammett crime film City Streets (also 1931), co-starring Sylvia Sidney and Paul Lukas, playing a westerner who gets involved with big-city gangsters in order to save the woman he loves. Cooper concluded the year with appearances in two unsuccessful films: I Take This Woman (also 1931) with Carole Lombard, and His Woman with Claudette Colbert. The demands and pressures of making ten films in two years left Cooper exhausted and in poor health, suffering from anemia and jaundice. He had lost during that period, and felt lonely, isolated, and depressed by his sudden fame and wealth. In May 1931, Cooper left Hollywood and sailed to Algiers and then Italy, where he lived for the next year.
During his time abroad, Cooper stayed with the Countess Dorothy di Frasso at the Villa Madama in Rome, where she taught him about good food and vintage wines, how to read Italian and French menus, and how to socialize among Europe's nobility and upper classes. After guiding him through the great art museums and galleries of Italy, she accompanied him on a ten-week big-game hunting safari on the slopes of Mount Kenya in East Africa, where he was credited with over sixty kills, including two lions, a rhinoceros, and various antelopes. His safari experience in Africa had a profound influence on Cooper and intensified his love of the wilderness. After returning to Europe, he and the countess set off on a Mediterranean cruise of the Italian and French Rivieras. Rested and rejuvenated by his year-long exile, a healthy Cooper returned to Hollywood in April 1932 and negotiated a new contract with Paramount for two films per year, a salary of $4,000 a week, and director and script approval.
In 1932, after completing Devil and the Deep with Tallulah Bankhead to fulfill his old contract, Cooper appeared in A Farewell to Arms, the first film adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel. Co-starring Helen Hayes, a leading New York theatre star and Academy Award winner, and Adolphe Menjou, the film presented Cooper with one of his most ambitious and challenging dramatic roles, playing an American ambulance driver wounded in Italy who falls in love with an English nurse during World War I. Critics praised his highly intense and emotional performance, and the film became one of the year's most commercially successful pictures. In 1933, after making Today We Live with Joan Crawford and One Sunday Afternoon with Fay Wray, Cooper appeared in the Ernst Lubitsch comedy film Design for Living, based on the successful Noël Coward play. Co-starring Miriam Hopkins and Fredric March, the film was a box office success, ranking as one of the top ten highest-grossing films of 1933. All three of the lead actors—March, Cooper, and Hopkins—received attention from this film as they were all at the peak of their careers. Cooper's performance — playing an American artist in Europe competing with his playwright friend for the affections of a beautiful woman — was singled out for its versatility and revealed his genuine ability to do light comedy. Cooper changed his name legally to "Gary Cooper" in August 1933.
In 1934, Cooper was loaned out to MGM for the Civil War drama film Operator 13 with Marion Davies, about a beautiful Union spy who falls in love with a Confederate soldier. Despite Richard Boleslawski's imaginative direction and George J. Folsey's lavish cinematography, the film did poorly at the box office.
Back at Paramount, Cooper appeared in his first of seven films by director Henry Hathaway, Now and Forever, with Carole Lombard and Shirley Temple. In the film, he plays a confidence man who tries to sell his daughter to the relatives who raised her, but is eventually won over by the adorable girl. Impressed by Temple's intelligence and charm, Cooper developed a close rapport with her, both on and off screen. The film was a box-office success.
The following year, Cooper was loaned out to Samuel Goldwyn Productions to appear in King Vidor's romance film The Wedding Night with Anna Sten, who was being groomed as "another Garbo". In the film, Cooper plays an alcoholic novelist who retreats to his family's New England farm where he meets and falls in love with a beautiful Polish neighbor. Cooper delivered a performance of surprising range and depth, according to biographer Larry Swindell. Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, the film was not popular with American audiences, who may have been offended by the film's depiction of an extramarital affair and its tragic ending.
That same year, Cooper appeared in two Henry Hathaway films: the melodrama Peter Ibbetson with Ann Harding, about a man caught up in a dream world created by his love for a childhood sweetheart, and the adventure film The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, about a daring British officer and his men who defend their stronghold at Bengal against rebellious local tribes. While the former, championed by the surrealists became more successful in Europe than in the United States, the latter was nominated for seven Academy Awards and became one of Cooper's most popular and successful adventure films. Hathaway had the highest respect for Cooper's acting ability, calling him "the best actor of all of them".
American folk hero, 1936–1943
From Mr. Deeds to The Real Glory, 1936–1939
Cooper's career took an important turn in 1936. After making Frank Borzage's romantic comedy film Desire with Marlene Dietrich at Paramount—in which he delivered a performance considered by some contemporary critics as one of his finest—Cooper returned to Poverty Row for the first time since his early silent film days to make Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town with Jean Arthur for Columbia Pictures. In the film, Cooper plays the character of Longfellow Deeds, a quiet, innocent writer of greeting cards who inherits a fortune, leaves behind his idyllic life in Vermont, and travels to New York where he faces a world of corruption and deceit. Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin were able to use Cooper's well-established screen persona as the "quintessential American hero"—a symbol of honesty, courage, and goodness—to create a new type of "folk hero" for the common man. Commenting on Cooper's impact on the character and the film, Capra observed:
Both Desire and Mr. Deeds opened in April 1936 to critical praise and were major box-office successes. In his review in The New York Times, Frank Nugent wrote that Cooper was "proving himself one of the best light comedians in Hollywood". For his performance in Mr. Deeds, Cooper received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Cooper appeared in two other Paramount films in 1936. In Lewis Milestone's adventure film The General Died at Dawn with Madeleine Carroll, he plays an American soldier of fortune in China who helps the peasants defend themselves against the oppression of a cruel warlord. Written by playwright Clifford Odets, the film was a critical and commercial success.
In Cecil B. DeMille's sprawling frontier epic The Plainsman—his first of four films with the director—Cooper portrays Wild Bill Hickok in a highly fictionalized version of the opening of the American western frontier. The film was an even greater box-office hit than its predecessor, due in large part to Jean Arthur's definitive depiction of Calamity Jane and Cooper's inspired portrayal of Hickock as an enigmatic figure of "deepening mythic substance". That year, Cooper appeared for the first time on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities, where he would remain for the next twenty-three years.
In late 1936, Paramount was preparing a new contract for Cooper that would raise his salary to $8,000 a week when Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn for six films over six years with a minimum guarantee of $150,000 per picture. Paramount brought suit against Goldwyn and Cooper, and the court ruled that Cooper's new Goldwyn contract afforded the actor sufficient time to also honor his Paramount agreement. Cooper continued to make films with both studios, and by 1939 the United States Treasury reported that Cooper was the country's highest wage earner, at $482,819 (equivalent to $ million in ).
In contrast to his output the previous year, Cooper appeared in only one picture in 1937, Henry Hathaway's adventure film Souls at Sea. A critical and box-office failure, Cooper referred to it as his "almost picture", saying, "It was almost exciting, and almost interesting. And I was almost good." In 1938, he appeared in Archie Mayo's biographical film The Adventures of Marco Polo. Plagued by production problems and a weak screenplay, the film became Goldwyn's biggest failure to that date, losing $700,000. During this period, Cooper turned down several important roles, including the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. Cooper was producer David O. Selznick's first choice for the part. He made several overtures to the actor, but Cooper had doubts about the project, and did not feel suited to the role. Cooper later admitted, "It was one of the best roles ever offered in Hollywood ... But I said no. I didn't see myself as quite that dashing, and later, when I saw Clark Gable play the role to perfection, I knew I was right."
Back at Paramount, Cooper returned to a more comfortable genre in Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938) with Claudette Colbert. In the film, Cooper plays a wealthy American businessman in France who falls in love with an impoverished aristocrat's daughter and persuades her to become his eighth wife. Despite the clever screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, and solid performances by Cooper and Colbert, American audiences had trouble accepting Cooper in the role of a shallow philanderer. It succeeded only at the European box office market.
In the fall of 1938, Cooper appeared in H. C. Potter's romantic comedy The Cowboy and the Lady with Merle Oberon, about a sweet-natured rodeo cowboy who falls in love with the wealthy daughter of a presidential hopeful, believing her to be a poor, hard-working lady's maid. The efforts of three directors and several eminent screenwriters could not salvage what could have been a fine vehicle for Cooper. While more successful than its predecessor, the film was Cooper's fourth consecutive box-office failure in the American market.
In the next two years, Cooper was more discerning about the roles he accepted and made four successful large-scale adventure and cowboy films. In William A. Wellman's adventure film Beau Geste (1939), he plays one of three daring English brothers who join the French Foreign Legion in the Sahara to fight local tribes. Filmed in the same Mojave Desert locations as the original 1926 version with Ronald Colman, Beau Geste provided Cooper with magnificent sets, exotic settings, high-spirited action, and a role tailored to his personality and screen persona. This was the last film in Cooper's contract with Paramount.
In Henry Hathaway's The Real Glory (1939), he plays a military doctor who accompanies a small group of American Army officers to the Philippines to help the Christian Filipinos defend themselves against Muslim radicals. Many film critics praised Cooper's performance, including author and film critic Graham Greene, who recognized that he "never acted better".
From The Westerner to For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940–1943
Cooper returned to the Western genre in William Wyler's The Westerner (1940) with Walter Brennan and Doris Davenport, about a drifting cowboy who defends homesteaders against Roy Bean, a corrupt judge known as the "law west of the Pecos". Screenwriter Niven Busch relied on Cooper's extensive knowledge of Western history while working on the script. The film received positive reviews and did well at the box-office, with reviewers praising the performances of the two lead actors. That same year, Cooper appeared in his first all-Technicolor feature, Cecil B. DeMille's adventure film North West Mounted Police (1940). In the film, Cooper plays a Texas Ranger who pursues an outlaw into western Canada where he joins forces with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who are after the same man, a leader of the North-West Rebellion. While not as popular with critics as its predecessor, the film was another box-office success—the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1940.
The early 1940s were Cooper's prime years as an actor. In a relatively short period, he appeared in five critically successful and popular films that produced some of his finest performances. When Frank Capra offered him the lead role in Meet John Doe before Robert Riskin even developed the script, Cooper accepted his friend's offer, saying, "It's okay, Frank, I don't need a script." In the film, Cooper plays Long John Willoughby, a down-and-out bush-league pitcher hired by a newspaper to pretend to be a man who promises to commit suicide on Christmas Eve to protest all the hypocrisy and corruption in the country. Considered by some critics to be Capra's best film at the time, Meet John Doe was received as a "national event" with Cooper appearing on the front cover of Time magazine on March 3, 1941. In his review in the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes called Cooper's performance a "splendid and utterly persuasive portrayal" and praised his "utterly realistic acting which comes through with such authority". Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote, "Gary Cooper, of course, is 'John Doe' to the life and in the whole—shy, bewildered, non-aggressive, but a veritable tiger when aroused."
That same year, Cooper made two films with director and good friend Howard Hawks. In the biographical film Sergeant York, Cooper portrays war hero Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. The film chronicles York's early backwoods days in Tennessee, his religious conversion and subsequent piety, his stand as a conscientious objector, and finally his heroic actions at the Battle of the Argonne Forest, which earned him the Medal of Honor. Initially, Cooper was nervous and uncertain about playing a living hero, so he traveled to Tennessee to visit York at his home, and the two quiet men established an immediate rapport and discovered they had much in common. Inspired by York's encouragement, Cooper delivered a performance that Howard Barnes of the New York Herald Tribune called "one of extraordinary conviction and versatility", and that Archer Winston of the New York Post called "one of his best". After the film's release, Cooper was awarded the Distinguished Citizenship Medal by the Veterans of Foreign Wars for his "powerful contribution to the promotion of patriotism and loyalty". York admired Cooper's performance and helped promote the film for Warner Bros. Sergeant York became the top-grossing film of the year and was nominated for eleven Academy Awards. Accepting his first Academy Award for Best Actor from his friend James Stewart, Cooper said, "It was Sergeant Alvin York who won this award. Shucks, I've been in the business sixteen years and sometimes dreamed I might get one of these. That's all I can say ... Funny when I was dreaming I always made a better speech."
Cooper concluded the year back at Goldwyn with Howard Hawks to make the romantic comedy Ball of Fire with Barbara Stanwyck. In the film, Cooper plays a shy linguistics professor who leads a team of seven scholars who are writing an encyclopedia. While researching slang, he meets Stanwyck's flirtatious burlesque stripper Sugarpuss O'Shea who blows the dust off their staid life of books. The screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder provided Cooper the opportunity to exercise the full range of his light comedy skills. In his review for the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote that Cooper handled the role with "great skill and comic emphasis" and that his performance was "utterly delightful". Though small in scale, Ball of Fire was one of the top-grossing films of the year—Cooper's fourth consecutive picture to make the top twenty.
Cooper's only film appearance in 1942 was also his last under his Goldwyn contract. In Sam Wood's biographical film The Pride of the Yankees, Cooper portrays baseball star Lou Gehrig who established a record with the New York Yankees for playing in 2,130 consecutive games. Cooper was reluctant to play the seven-time All-Star, who only died the previous year from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — now commonly called "Lou Gehrig's disease". Beyond the challenges of effectively portraying such a popular and nationally recognized figure, Cooper knew very little about baseball and was not left-handed like Gehrig.
After Gehrig's widow visited the actor and expressed her desire that he portray her husband, Cooper accepted the role that covered a twenty-year span of Gehrig's life—his early love of baseball, his rise to greatness, his loving marriage, and his struggle with illness, culminating in his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939 before 62,000 fans. Cooper quickly learned the physical movements of a baseball player and developed a fluid, believable swing. The handedness issue was solved by reversing the print for certain batting scenes. The film was one of the year's top ten pictures and received eleven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's third).
Soon after the publication of Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, Paramount paid $150,000 for the film rights with the express intent of casting Cooper in the lead role of Robert Jordan, an American explosives expert who fights alongside the Republican loyalists during the Spanish Civil War. The original director, Cecil B. DeMille, was replaced by Sam Wood who brought in Dudley Nichols for the screenplay. After the start of principal photography in the Sierra Nevada in late 1942, Ingrid Bergman was brought in to replace ballerina Vera Zorina as the female lead—a change supported by Cooper and Hemingway. The love scenes between Bergman and Cooper were "rapturous" and passionate. Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune wrote that both actors performed with "the true stature and authority of stars". While the film distorted the novel's original political themes and meaning, For Whom the Bell Tolls was a critical and commercial success and received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's fourth).
World War II related activities
Due to his age and health, Cooper did not serve in the military during World War II, but like many of his colleagues, he got involved in the war effort by entertaining the troops. In June 1943, he visited military hospitals in San Diego, and often appeared at the Hollywood Canteen serving food to the servicemen. In late 1943, Cooper undertook a tour of the South West Pacific with actresses Una Merkel and Phyllis Brooks, and accordionist Andy Arcari.
Traveling on a B-24A Liberator bomber, the group toured the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Queensland, Brisbane—where General Douglas MacArthur told Cooper he was watching Sergeant York in a Manila theater when Japanese bombs began falling—New Guinea, Jayapura, and throughout the Solomon Islands.
The group often shared the same sparse living conditions and K-rations as the troops. Cooper met with the servicemen and women, visited military hospitals, introduced his attractive colleagues, and participated in occasional skits. The shows concluded with Cooper's moving recitation of Lou Gehrig's farewell speech. When he returned to the United States, he visited military hospitals throughout the country. Cooper later called his time with the troops the "greatest emotional experience" of his life.
Mature roles, 1944–1952
In 1944, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's wartime adventure film The Story of Dr. Wassell with Laraine Day — his third movie with the director. In the film, Cooper plays American doctor and missionary Corydon M. Wassell, who leads a group of wounded sailors through the jungles of Java to safety. Despite receiving poor reviews, Dr. Wassell was one of the top-grossing films of the year. With his Goldwyn and Paramount contracts now concluded, Cooper decided to remain independent and formed his own production company, International Pictures, with Leo Spitz, William Goetz, and Nunnally Johnson. The fledgling studio's first offering was Sam Wood's romantic comedy Casanova Brown with Teresa Wright, about a man who learns his soon-to-be ex-wife is pregnant with his child, just as he is about to marry another woman. The film received poor reviews, with the New York Daily News calling it "delightful nonsense", and Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, criticizing Cooper's "somewhat obvious and ridiculous clowning". The film was barely profitable.
In 1945, Cooper starred in and produced Stuart Heisler's Western comedy Along Came Jones with Loretta Young for International. In this lighthearted parody of his past heroic image, Cooper plays comically inept cowboy Melody Jones who is mistaken for a ruthless killer. Audiences embraced Cooper's character, and the film was one of the top box-office pictures of the year—a testament to Cooper's still vital audience appeal. It was also International's biggest financial success during its brief history before being sold off to Universal Studios in 1946.
Cooper's career during the post-war years drifted in new directions as American society was changing. While he still played conventional heroic roles, his films now relied less on his heroic screen persona and more on novel stories and exotic settings. In November 1945, Cooper appeared in Sam Wood's nineteenth-century period drama Saratoga Trunk with Ingrid Bergman, about a Texas cowboy and his relationship with a beautiful fortune-hunter. Filmed in early 1943, the movie's release was delayed for two years due to the increased demand for war movies. Despite poor reviews, Saratoga Trunk did well at the box office and became one of the top money-makers of the year for Warner Bros. Cooper's only film in 1946 was Fritz Lang's romantic thriller Cloak and Dagger, about a mild-mannered physics professor recruited by the OSS during the last years of World War II to investigate the German atomic bomb program. Playing a part loosely based on physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, Cooper was uneasy with the role and unable to convey the "inner sense" of the character. The film received poor reviews and was a box-office failure. In 1947, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's epic adventure film Unconquered with Paulette Goddard, about a Virginia militiaman who defends settlers against an unscrupulous gun trader and hostile Indians on the Western frontier during the eighteenth century. The film received mixed reviews, but even long-time DeMille critic James Agee acknowledged the picture had "some authentic flavor of the period". This last of four films made with DeMille was Cooper's most lucrative, earning the actor over $300,000 (equal to $ today) in salary and percentage of profits. Unconquered would be his last unqualified box-office success for the next five years.
In 1948, after making Leo McCarey's romantic comedy Good Sam, Cooper sold his company to Universal Studios and signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. that gave him script and director approval and a guaranteed $295,000 (equal to $ today) per picture. His first film under the new contract was King Vidor's drama The Fountainhead (1949) with Patricia Neal and Raymond Massey. In the film, Cooper plays an idealistic and uncompromising architect who struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism in the face of societal pressures to conform to popular standards. Based on the novel by Ayn Rand who also wrote the screenplay, the film reflects her philosophy and attacks the concepts of collectivism while promoting the virtues of individualism. For most critics, Cooper was hopelessly miscast in the role of Howard Roark. In his review for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther concluded he was "Mr. Deeds out of his element". Cooper returned to his element in Delmer Daves' war drama Task Force (1949), about a retiring rear admiral who reminisces about his long career as a naval aviator and his role in the development of aircraft carriers. Cooper's performance and the Technicolor newsreel footage supplied by the United States Navy made the film one of Cooper's most popular during this period. In the next two years, Cooper made four poorly received films: Michael Curtiz' period drama Bright Leaf (1950), Stuart Heisler's Western melodrama Dallas (1950), Henry Hathaway's wartime comedy You're in the Navy Now (1951), and Raoul Walsh's Western action film Distant Drums (1951).
Cooper's most important film during the post-war years was Fred Zinnemann's Western drama High Noon (1952) with Grace Kelly and Katy Jurado for United Artists. In the film, Cooper plays retiring sheriff Will Kane who is preparing to leave town on his honeymoon when he learns that an outlaw he helped put away and his three henchmen are returning to seek their revenge. Unable to gain the support of the frightened townspeople, and abandoned by his young bride, Kane nevertheless stays to face the outlaws alone. During the filming, Cooper was in poor health and in considerable pain from stomach ulcers. His ravaged face and discomfort in some scenes "photographed as self-doubt", according to biographer Hector Arce, and contributed to the effectiveness of his performance. Considered one of the first "adult" Westerns for its theme of moral courage, High Noon received enthusiastic reviews for its artistry, with Time magazine placing it in the ranks of Stagecoach and The Gunfighter. Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote that Cooper was "at the top of his form", and John McCarten, in The New Yorker, wrote that Cooper was never more effective. The film earned $3.75 million in the United States and $18 million worldwide. Following the example of his friend James Stewart, Cooper accepted a lower salary in exchange for a percent of the profits, and ended up making $600,000. Cooper's understated performance was widely praised, and earned him his second Academy Award for Best Actor.
Later films, 1953–1961
After appearing in André de Toth's Civil War drama Springfield Rifle (1952)—a standard Warner Bros. film that was overshadowed by the success of its predecessor—Cooper made four films outside the United States. In Mark Robson's drama Return to Paradise (1953), Cooper plays an American wanderer who liberates the inhabitants of a Polynesian island from the puritanical rule of a misguided pastor. Cooper endured spartan living conditions, long hours, and ill health during the three-month location shoot on the island of Upolu in Western Samoa. Despite its beautiful cinematography, the film received poor reviews. Cooper's next three films were shot in Mexico. In Hugo Fregonese's action adventure film Blowing Wild (1953) with Barbara Stanwyck, he plays a wildcatter in Mexico who gets involved with an oil company executive and his unscrupulous wife with whom he once had an affair.
In 1954, Cooper appeared in Henry Hathaway's Western drama Garden of Evil, with Susan Hayward, about three soldiers of fortune in Mexico hired to rescue a woman's husband. That same year, he appeared in Robert Aldrich's Western adventure Vera Cruz with Burt Lancaster. In the film, Cooper plays an American adventurer hired by Emperor Maximilian I to escort a countess to Vera Cruz during the Mexican Rebellion of 1866. All of these films received poor reviews but did well at the box-office. For his work in Vera Cruz, Cooper earned $1.4 million in salary and percent of the gross.
During this period, Cooper struggled with health problems. As well as his ongoing treatment for ulcers, he suffered a severe shoulder injury during the filming of Blowing Wild when he was hit by metal fragments from a dynamited oil well. During the filming of Vera Cruz, he reinjured his hip falling from a horse, and was burned when Lancaster fired his rifle too close and the wadding from the blank shell pierced his clothing.
In 1955, he appeared in Otto Preminger's biographical war drama The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, about the World War I general who tried to convince government officials of the importance of air power, and was court-martialed after blaming the War Department for a series of air disasters. Some critics felt that Cooper was miscast, and that his dull, tight-lipped performance did not reflect Mitchell's dynamic and caustic personality. In 1956, Cooper was more effective playing a gentle Indiana Quaker in William Wyler's Civil War drama Friendly Persuasion with Dorothy McGuire. Like Sergeant York and High Noon, the film addresses the conflict between religious pacifism and civic duty. For his performance, Cooper received his second Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actor. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, was awarded the Palme d'Or at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival, and went on to earn $8 million worldwide.
In 1956, Cooper traveled to France to make Billy Wilder's romantic comedy Love in the Afternoon with Audrey Hepburn and Maurice Chevalier. In the film, Cooper plays a middle-aged American playboy in Paris who pursues and eventually falls in love with a much younger woman. Despite receiving some positive reviews—including from Bosley Crowther who praised the film's "charming performances"—most reviewers concluded that Cooper was simply too old for the part. While audiences may not have welcomed seeing Cooper's heroic screen image tarnished by his playing an aging roué trying to seduce an innocent young girl, the film was still a box-office success. The following year, Cooper appeared in Philip Dunne's romantic drama Ten North Frederick. In the film, which was based on the novel by John O'Hara, Cooper plays an attorney whose life is ruined by a double-crossing politician and his own secret affair with his daughter's young roommate. While Cooper brought "conviction and controlled anguish" to his performance, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, it was not enough to save what Bosley Crowther called a "hapless film".
Despite his ongoing health problems and several operations for ulcers and hernias, Cooper continued to work in action films. In 1958, he appeared in Anthony Mann's Western drama Man of the West (1958) with Julie London and Lee J. Cobb, about a reformed outlaw and killer who is forced to confront his violent past when the train he is riding in is held up by his former gang members. The film has been called Cooper's "most pathological Western", with its themes of impotent rage, sexual humiliation, and sadism. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, Cooper, who struggled with moral conflicts in his personal life, "understood the anguish of a character striving to retain his integrity ... [and] brought authentic feeling to the role of a tempted and tormented, yet essentially decent man". Mostly ignored by critics at the time, the film is now well-regarded by film scholars and is considered Cooper's last great film.
After his Warner Bros. contract ended, Cooper formed his own production company, Baroda Productions, and made three unusual films in 1959 about redemption. In Delmer Daves' Western drama The Hanging Tree, Cooper plays a frontier doctor who saves a criminal from a lynch mob, and later tries to exploit his sordid past. Cooper delivered a "powerful and persuasive" performance of an emotionally scarred man whose need to dominate others is transformed by the love and sacrifice of a woman. In Robert Rossen's historical adventure They Came to Cordura with Rita Hayworth, he plays an army officer who is found guilty of cowardice and assigned the degrading task of recommending soldiers for the Medal of Honor during the Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916.
While Cooper received positive reviews, Variety and Films in Review felt he was too old for the part. In Michael Anderson's action drama The Wreck of the Mary Deare with Charlton Heston, Cooper plays a disgraced merchant marine officer who decides to stay aboard his sinking cargo ship in order to prove the vessel was deliberately scuttled and to redeem his good name. Like its two predecessors, the film was physically demanding. Cooper, who was a trained scuba diver, did most of his own underwater scenes. Biographer Jeffrey Meyers observed that in all three roles, Cooper effectively conveyed the sense of lost honor and desire for redemption—what Joseph Conrad in Lord Jim called the "struggles of an individual trying to save from the fire his idea of what his moral identity should be".
Personal life
Marriage and family
Cooper was formally introduced to his future wife, 20-year-old New York debutante Veronica Balfe, on Easter Sunday 1933 at a party given by her uncle, art director Cedric Gibbons. Called "Rocky" by her family and friends, she grew up on Park Avenue and attended finishing schools. Her stepfather was Wall Street tycoon Paul Shields. Cooper and Rocky were quietly married at her parents' Park Avenue residence on December 15, 1933. According to his friends, the marriage had a positive impact on Cooper, who turned away from past indiscretions and took control of his life. Athletic and a lover of the outdoors, Rocky shared many of Cooper's interests, including riding, skiing, and skeet-shooting. She organized their social life, and her wealth and social connections provided Cooper access to New York high society. Cooper and his wife owned homes in the Los Angeles area in Encino (1933–36), Brentwood (1936–53), and Holmby Hills (1954–61), and owned a vacation home in Aspen, Colorado (1949–53).
Gary and Veronica Cooper's daughter, Maria Veronica Cooper, was born on September 15, 1937. By all accounts, he was a patient and affectionate father, teaching Maria to ride a bicycle, play tennis, ski, and ride horses. Sharing many of her parents' interests, she accompanied them on their travels and was often photographed with them. Like her father, she developed a love for art and drawing. As a family they vacationed together in Sun Valley, Idaho, spent time at Rocky's parents' country house in Southampton, New York, and took frequent trips to Europe. Cooper and Rocky were legally separated on May 16, 1951, when Cooper moved out of their home. For over two years, they maintained a fragile and uneasy family life with their daughter. Cooper moved back into their home in November 1953, and their formal reconciliation occurred in February 1954.
Romantic relationships
Prior to his marriage, Cooper had a series of romantic relationships with leading actresses, beginning in 1927 with Clara Bow, who advanced his career by helping him get one of his first leading roles in Children of Divorce. Bow was also responsible for getting Cooper a role in Wings, which generated an enormous amount of fan mail for the young actor. In 1928, he had a relationship with another experienced actress, Evelyn Brent, whom he met while filming Beau Sabreur. In 1929, while filming The Wolf Song, Cooper began an intense affair with Lupe Vélez, which was the most important romance of his early life. During their two years together, Cooper also had brief affairs with Marlene Dietrich while filming Morocco in 1930 and with Carole Lombard while making I Take This Woman in 1931. During his year abroad in 1931–32, Cooper had an affair with the married Countess Dorothy di Frasso, while staying at her Villa Madama near Rome.
After he was married in December 1933, Cooper remained faithful to his wife until the summer of 1942, when he began an affair with Ingrid Bergman during the production of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Their relationship lasted through the completion of filming Saratoga Trunk in June 1943. In 1948, after finishing work on The Fountainhead, Cooper began an affair with actress Patricia Neal, his co-star. At first they kept their affair discreet, but eventually it became an open secret in Hollywood, and Cooper's wife confronted him with the rumors, which he admitted were true. He also confessed that he was in love with Neal, and continued to see her. Cooper and his wife were legally separated in May 1951, but he did not seek a divorce. Neal later claimed that Cooper hit her after she went on a date with Kirk Douglas, and that he arranged for her to have an abortion when she became pregnant with Cooper's child. Neal ended their relationship in late December 1951. During his three-year separation from his wife, Cooper was rumored to have had affairs with Grace Kelly, Lorraine Chanel, and Gisèle Pascal.
Cooper biographers have explored his friendship in the late twenties with the actor Anderson Lawler, with whom Cooper shared a house on and off for a year, while at the same time seeing Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent and Lupe Vélez. Lupe Vélez once told Hedda Hopper of Vélez' affair with Cooper; whenever he would come home after seeing Lawler, she would sniff for Lawler's cologne. Vélez' biographer Michelle Vogel has reported that Vélez consented to Cooper's sexual behavior with Lawler, but only as long as she, too, could participate. In later life, he became involved in a relationship with the costume designer Irene, and was, according to Irene, "the only man she ever loved". A year after his death in 1961, Irene committed suicide by jumping from the 11th floor of the Knickerbocker Hotel, after telling Doris Day of her grief over Cooper's death.
Friendships, interests, and character
Cooper's twenty-year friendship with Ernest Hemingway began at Sun Valley in October 1940. The previous year, Hemingway drew upon Cooper's image when he created the character of Robert Jordan for the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The two shared a passion for the outdoors, and for years they hunted duck and pheasant, and skied together in Sun Valley. Both men admired the work of Rudyard Kipling—Cooper kept a copy of the poem "If—" in his dressing room—and retained as adults Kipling's sense of boyish adventure.
As well as admiring Cooper's hunting skills and knowledge of the outdoors, Hemingway believed his character matched his screen persona, once telling a friend, "If you made up a character like Coop, nobody would believe it. He's just too good to be true." They saw each other often, and their friendship remained strong through the years.
Cooper's social life generally centered on sports, outdoor activities, and dinner parties with his family and friends from the film industry, including directors Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, William Wellman, and Fred Zinnemann, and actors Joel McCrea, James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, and Robert Taylor. As well as hunting, Cooper enjoyed riding, fishing, skiing, and later in life, scuba diving. He never abandoned his early love for art and drawing, and over the years, he and his wife acquired a private collection of modern paintings, including works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Cooper owned several works by Pablo Picasso, whom he met in 1956. Cooper also had a lifelong passion for automobiles, with a collection that included a 1930 Duesenberg.
Cooper was naturally reserved and introspective, and loved the solitude of outdoor activities. Not unlike his screen persona, his communication style frequently consisted of long silences with an occasional "yup" and "shucks". He once said, "If others have more interesting things to say than I have, I keep quiet." According to his friends, Cooper could also be an articulate, well-informed conversationalist on topics ranging from horses, guns, and Western history to film production, sports cars, and modern art. He was modest and unpretentious, frequently downplaying his acting abilities and career accomplishments. His friends and colleagues described him as charming, well-mannered, and thoughtful, with a lively boyish sense of humor. Cooper maintained a sense of propriety throughout his career and never misused his movie star status—never sought special treatment or refused to work with a director or leading lady. His close friend Joel McCrea recalled, "Coop never fought, he never got mad, he never told anybody off that I know of; everybody that worked with him liked him."
Political views
Like his father, Cooper was a conservative Republican; he voted for Calvin Coolidge in 1924, Herbert Hoover in 1928 and 1932, and campaigned for Wendell Willkie in 1940. When Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for an unprecedented fourth presidential term in 1944, Cooper campaigned for Thomas E. Dewey and criticized Roosevelt for being dishonest and adopting "foreign" ideas. In a radio address that he paid for himself just prior to the election, Cooper said, "I disagree with the New Deal belief that the America all of us love is old and worn-out and finished—and has to borrow foreign notions that don't even seem to work any too well where they come from ... Our country is a young country that just has to make up its mind to be itself again." He also attended a Republican rally at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that drew 93,000 Dewey supporters.
Cooper was one of the founding members of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a conservative organization dedicated, according to its statement of principles, to preserving the "American way of life" and opposing communism and fascism. The organization — whose membership included Walter Brennan, Laraine Day, Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Hedda Hopper, Ronald Reagan, Barbara Stanwyck, and John Wayne — advised the United States Congress to investigate communist influence in the motion picture industry. On October 23, 1947, Cooper was subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and was asked if he had observed any "communistic influence" in Hollywood.
Cooper recounted statements he'd heard suggesting that the Constitution was out of date and that Congress was an unnecessary institution—comments that Cooper said he found to be "very un-American" and testified that he had rejected several scripts because he thought they were "tinged with communist ideas". Unlike some other witnesses, Cooper did not name any individuals, nor did he name any scripts, during his testimony.
In 1951, while making High Noon, Cooper became friends with the film's screenwriter, Carl Foreman, who had been a member of the Communist Party. When Foreman was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Cooper put his career on the line to defend Foreman. When John Wayne and others threatened Cooper with blacklisting himself and the loss of his passport if he did not walk off the film, Cooper gave a statement to the press in support of Foreman, calling him "the finest kind of American". When producer Stanley Kramer removed Foreman's name as screenwriter, Cooper and director Fred Zinnemann threatened to walk off the film if Foreman's name was not restored. Foreman later said that, of all his friends and allies and colleagues in Hollywood, "Cooper was the only big one who tried to help. The only one." Cooper even offered to testify in Foreman's behalf before the committee, but character witnesses were not allowed. Foreman always sent future scripts to Cooper for first refusal, including The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Key and The Guns of Navarone. Cooper had to turn them down because of his age.
Religion
Cooper was baptized in the Anglican Church in December 1911 in Britain, and was raised in the Episcopal Church in the United States. While he was not an observant Christian for most of his adult life, many of his friends believed he had a deeply spiritual side.
On June 26, 1953, Cooper accompanied his wife and daughter, who were devout Catholics, to Rome, where they had an audience with Pope Pius XII. Cooper and his wife were still separated at the time, but the papal visit marked the beginning of their gradual reconciliation. In the coming years, Cooper contemplated his mortality and his personal behavior, and started discussing Catholicism with his family. He began attending church with them regularly, and met with their parish priest, who offered Cooper spiritual guidance. After several months of study, Cooper was baptized as a Roman Catholic on April 9, 1959, before a small group of family and friends at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.
Final years and death
On April 14, 1960, Cooper underwent surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had metastasized to his colon. He fell ill again on May 31 and underwent further surgery at Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles in early June to remove a malignant tumor from his large intestine. After recuperating over the summer, Cooper took his family on vacation to the south of France before traveling to the UK in the fall to star in The Naked Edge. In December 1960, he worked on the NBC television documentary The Real West, which was part of the company's Project 20 series.
On December 27, his wife learned from their family doctor that Cooper's cancer had spread to his lungs and bones and was inoperable. His family decided not to tell him immediately.
On January 9, 1961, Cooper attended a dinner that was given in his honor and hosted by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin at the Friars Club. The dinner was attended by many of his industry friends and concluded with a brief speech by Cooper who said, "The only achievement I'm proud of is the friends I've made in this community."
In mid-January, Cooper took his family to Sun Valley for their last vacation together. Cooper and Hemingway hiked through the snow together for the last time. On February 27, after returning to Los Angeles, Cooper learned that he was dying. He later told his family, "We'll pray for a miracle; but if not, and that's God's will, that's all right too." On April 17, Cooper watched the Academy Awards ceremony on television and saw his good friend James Stewart, who had presented Cooper with his first Oscar years earlier, accept on Cooper's behalf an honorary award for lifetime achievement—his third Oscar. Holding back tears, Stewart said, "Coop, I'll get this to you right away. And Coop, I want you to know this, that with this goes all the warm friendship and the affection and the admiration and the deep, the deep respect of all of us. We're very, very proud of you, Coop. All of us are tremendously proud." The following day, newspapers around the world announced the news that Cooper was dying. In the coming days he received numerous messages of appreciation and encouragement, including telegrams from Pope John XXIII and Queen Elizabeth II, and a telephone call from President John F. Kennedy.
In his last public statement on May 4, Cooper said, "I know that what is happening is God's will. I am not afraid of the future." He received the last rites on May 12. Cooper died quietly the following day, Saturday, May 13, 1961, at 12:47 P.M.
A requiem mass was held on May 18 at the Church of the Good Shepherd, attended by many of Cooper's friends, including James Stewart, Jack Benny, Henry Hathaway, Joel McCrea, Audrey Hepburn, Jack L. Warner, John Ford, John Wayne, Edward G. Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Fred Astaire, Randolph Scott, Walter Pidgeon, Bob Hope and Marlene Dietrich. Cooper was buried in the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. In May 1974, after his family relocated to New York, Cooper's remains were exhumed and reburied in Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton. His grave is marked by a three-ton boulder from a Montauk quarry.
Acting style and reputation
Cooper's acting style consisted of three essential characteristics: his ability to project elements of his own personality onto the characters he portrayed, to appear natural and authentic in his roles, and to underplay and deliver restrained performances calibrated for the camera and the screen. Acting teacher Lee Strasberg once observed: "The simplest examples of Stanislavsky's ideas are actors such as Gary Cooper, John Wayne, and Spencer Tracy. They try not to act but to be themselves, to respond or react. They refuse to say or do anything they feel not to be consonant with their own characters." Film director François Truffaut ranked Cooper among "the greatest actors" because of his ability to deliver great performances "without direction". This ability to project elements of his own personality onto his characters produced a continuity across his performances to the extent that critics and audiences were convinced that he was simply "playing himself".
Cooper's ability to project his personality onto his characters played an important part in his appearing natural and authentic on screen. Actor John Barrymore said of Cooper, "This fellow is the world's greatest actor. He does without effort what the rest of us spend our lives trying to learn—namely, to be natural." Charles Laughton, who played opposite Cooper in Devil and the Deep agreed, "In truth, that boy hasn't the least idea how well he acts ... He gets at it from the inside, from his own clear way of looking at life." William Wyler, who directed Cooper in two films, called him a "superb actor, a master of movie acting".
In his review of Cooper's performance in The Real Glory, Graham Greene wrote, "Sometimes his lean photogenic face seems to leave everything to the lens, but there is no question here of his not acting. Watch him inoculate the girl against cholera—the casual jab of the needle, and the dressing slapped on while he talks, as though a thousand arms had taught him where to stab and he doesn't have to think anymore."
Cooper's style of underplaying before the camera surprised many of his directors and fellow actors. Even in his earliest feature films, he recognized the camera's ability to pick up slight gestures and facial movements. Commenting on Cooper's performance in Sergeant York, director Howard Hawks observed, "He worked very hard and yet he didn't seem to be working. He was a strange actor because you'd look at him during a scene and you'd think ... this isn't going to be any good. But when you saw the rushes in the projection room the next day you could read in his face all the things he'd been thinking." Sam Wood, who directed Cooper in four films, had similar observations about Cooper's performance in Pride of the Yankees, noting, "What I thought was underplaying turned out to be just the right approach. On the screen he's perfect, yet on the set you'd swear it's the worst job of acting in the history of motion pictures."
Fellow actors admired his abilities as an actor. Commenting on her two films playing opposite Cooper, actress Ingrid Bergman concluded, "The personality of this man was so enormous, so overpowering—and that expression in his eyes and his face, it was so delicate and so underplayed. You just didn't notice it until you saw it on the screen. I thought he was marvelous; the most underplaying and the most natural actor I ever worked with."
Tom Hanks declared, "In only one scene in the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, we see the future of screen acting in the form of Gary Cooper. He is quiet and natural, somehow different from the other cast members. He does something mysterious with his eyes and shoulders that is much more like 'being' than 'acting'."
Daniel Day-Lewis said, "I don't particularly like westerns as a genre, but I do love certain westerns. 'High Noon' means a lot to me – I love the purity and the honesty, I love Gary Cooper in that film, the idea of the last man standing."
Chris Pratt stated, "I started watching Westerns when I was shooting in London about four or five years ago. I really fell in love with Gary Cooper, and his stuff. That sucked me into the Westerns. Before, I never got engrossed in the story. I'd just dip in, and there were guys in horses in black and white. High Noon's later Gary Cooper, I liked that. But I liked 'The Westerner'. That's my favorite one. I have that poster hung up in my house because I really like that one."
To Al Pacino, "Gary Cooper was a phenomenon—his ability to take some thing and elevate it, give it such dignity. One of the great presences."
Mylène Demongeot first got with Gary Cooper for the opening of the first escalator to be installed in a cinema, at the Rex Theatre in Paris, on June 7, 1957. She declared in a 2015 filmed interview: "Gary Cooper ... il est sublime ! Aaahhh (Mylène pushing a cry of love not to say ecstasy) il est sublime ... Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Là je dois dire que ça fait partie des stars, y'a Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, ces grands Américains que j'ai rencontrés comme ça, c'est vraiment des mecs incroyables. Y'en a plus des comme ça ! Euh non. (Gary Cooper was sublime, there I have to say, now he, was part of the stars, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, those great americans who I've met really were unbelievable guys, there aren't any like them anymore)."
Career assessment and legacy
Cooper's career spanned thirty-six years, from 1925 to 1961. During that time, he appeared in eighty-four feature films in a leading role. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His natural and authentic acting style appealed powerfully to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major movie genres, including Westerns, war films, adventure films, drama films, crime films, romance films, comedy films, and romantic comedy films. He appeared on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities for twenty-three consecutive years, from 1936 to 1958. According to Quigley's annual poll, Cooper was one of the top money-making stars for eighteen years, appearing in the top ten in 1936–37, 1941–49, and 1951–57. He topped the list in 1953. In Quigley's list of all-time money-making stars, Cooper is listed fourth, after John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Tom Cruise. At the time of his death, it was estimated that his films grossed well over $200 million (equivalent to $ billion in ).
In over half of his feature films, Cooper portrayed Westerners, soldiers, pilots, sailors, and explorers—all men of action. In the rest he played a wide range of characters, included doctors, professors, artists, architects, clerks, and baseball players. Cooper's heroic screen image changed with each period of his career. In his early films, he played the young naive hero sure of his moral position and trusting in the triumph of simple virtues (The Virginian). After becoming a major star, his Western screen persona was replaced by a more cautious hero in adventure films and dramas (A Farewell to Arms). During the height of his career, from 1936 to 1943, he played a new type of hero—a champion of the common man willing to sacrifice himself for others (Mr. Deeds, Meet John Doe, and For Whom the Bell Tolls).
In the post-war years, Cooper attempted broader variations on his screen image, which now reflected a hero increasingly at odds with the world who must face adversity alone (The Fountainhead and High Noon). In his final films, Cooper's hero rejects the violence of the past, and seeks to reclaim lost honor and find redemption (Friendly Persuasion and Man of the West). The screen persona he developed and sustained throughout his career represented the ideal American hero—a tall, handsome, and sincere man of steadfast integrity who emphasized action over intellect, and combined the heroic qualities of the romantic lover, the adventurer, and the common man.
On February 6, 1960, Cooper was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6243 Hollywood Boulevard for his contribution to the film industry. He was awarded a star on the sidewalk outside the Ellen Theater in Bozeman, Montana.
On May 6, 1961, he was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters in recognition of his significant contribution to the arts. On July 30, 1961, he was posthumously awarded the David di Donatello Special Award in Italy for his career achievements.
In 1966, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. In 2015, he was inducted into the Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Hall of Fame. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper eleventh on its list of the 25 male stars of classic Hollywood. Three of his characters—Will Kane, Lou Gehrig, and Sergeant York—made AFI's list of the one hundred greatest heroes and villains, all of them as heroes. His Lou Gehrig line, "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.", is ranked by AFI as the thirty-eighth greatest movie quote of all time.
More than a half century after his death, Cooper's enduring legacy, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, is his image of the ideal American hero preserved in his film performances. Charlton Heston once observed, "He projected the kind of man Americans would like to be, probably more than any actor that's ever lived."
In the TV series Justified, based on works and characters created by Elmore Leonard, Gary Cooper is used throughout the six seasons as the man whom U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant, aspires to be. When his colleague asks Marshall Givens how he thinks his dangerous plan to bring down a villain can possibly work, he replies: "Why not? Worked for Gary Cooper."
Gary Cooper is referenced several times in the critically acclaimed television series The Sopranos, with protagonist Tony Soprano asking "What ever happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type." while complaining about his problems to his therapist.
In the 1930s hit song "Puttin' On the Ritz", Cooper is referenced in the line "dress up like a million dollar trooper/Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper, Super duper!" More than two decades after Cooper's death a new version of the song was released in 1983 by Taco; the original lyrics were kept, including the references to Cooper.
In J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Cooper is "spotted" by Holden Caulfield to distract a woman he is dancing with.
Awards and nominations
Filmography
The following is a list of feature films in which Cooper appeared in a leading role.
The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)
Children of Divorce (1927)
Arizona Bound (1927)
Wings (1927)
Nevada (1927)
It (1927)
The Last Outlaw (1927)
Beau Sabreur (1928)
The Legion of the Condemned (1928)
Doomsday (1928)
Half a Bride (1928)
Lilac Time (1928)
The First Kiss (1928)
The Shopworn Angel (1928)
Wolf Song (1929)
Betrayal (1929)
The Virginian (1929)
Only the Brave (1930)
The Texan (1930)
Seven Days' Leave (1930)
A Man from Wyoming (1930)
The Spoilers (1930)
Morocco (1930)
Fighting Caravans (1931)
City Streets (1931)
I Take This Woman (1931)
His Woman (1931)
Devil and the Deep (1932)
If I Had a Million (1932)
A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Today We Live (1933)
One Sunday Afternoon (1933)
Design for Living (1933)
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
Operator 13 (1934)
Now and Forever (1934)
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
The Wedding Night (1935)
Peter Ibbetson (1935)
Desire (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
The Plainsman (1936)
Souls at Sea (1937)
The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
Beau Geste (1939)
The Real Glory (1939)
The Westerner (1940)
North West Mounted Police (1940)
Meet John Doe (1941)
Sergeant York (1941)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
Casanova Brown (1944)
Along Came Jones (1945)
Saratoga Trunk (1945)
Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Unconquered (1947)
Good Sam (1948)
The Fountainhead (1949)
Task Force (1949)
Bright Leaf (1950)
Dallas (1950)
You're in the Navy Now (1951)
It's a Big Country (1951)
Distant Drums (1951)
High Noon (1952)
Springfield Rifle (1952)
Return to Paradise (1953)
Blowing Wild (1953)
Garden of Evil (1954)
Vera Cruz (1954)
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Ten North Frederick (1958)
Man of the West (1958)
The Hanging Tree (1959)
They Came to Cordura (1959)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
The Naked Edge (1961)
Radio appearances
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Adrien Le Bihan, Gary Cooper, le prince des acteurs, LettMotif, 2021, 358p.()
External links
1901 births
1961 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Academy Honorary Award recipients
American expatriates in England
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
American male television actors
American people of English descent
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
California Republicans
Catholics from Montana
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Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism
Deaths from cancer in California
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Grinnell College people
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Male actors from Montana
Paramount Pictures contract players
People educated at Dunstable Grammar School
People from Brentwood, Los Angeles
People from Dunstable
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People from Holmby Hills, Los Angeles | true | [
"Stalags (, , also known in English as Stalags: Holocaust and Pornography in Israel) is a 2008 Israeli documentary film produced by Barak Heymann and directed by Ari Libsker. The film examines the history of Stalags, pornography books that featured sexy female Nazi officers sexually abusing male camp prisoners. The pocket books broke sales records and sold hundreds of thousands of copies in Israel in the 1960s during the trial of Adolf Eichmann. After the authors of the books were accused of distributing anti-Semitic pornography, the popularity of the books declined. The documentary opened in limited release on April 9, 2008.\n\nCritical reception\nThe documentary received mixed reviews from critics. As of May 5, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 50% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 12 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 53 out of 100, based on 5 reviews.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n \n\n2008 films\nIsraeli films\nIsraeli documentary films\nDocumentary films about pornography\nDocumentary films about the Holocaust\nHebrew-language films\n2008 documentary films\nIsraeli pornography",
"I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story is a 2014 American documentary film about Caroll Spinney, the original performer of Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. The film has received generally positive reviews. It has been shown at many film festivals, including the April 2014 Hot Docs Festival.\n\nReception\n\nCommercial performance \nThe film grossed $75,156 in box office receipts and $174,553 in DVD sales, bringing the total revenue up to $249,709.\n\nCritical reception \nThe film has received positive reviews. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 84% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, \"Every bit as good-natured as longtime fans might hope, I Am Big Bird: The Carroll Spinney Story offers heartwarming behind-the-scenes perspective on a cultural icon.\" On Metacritic, the film received a weighted average score of 71 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating \"generally favorable reviews\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n \n \n\n2014 films\nAmerican films\nAmerican independent films\nEnglish-language films\n2014 documentary films\nDocumentary films about entertainers\nDocumentary films about television people\nAmerican documentary films\nSesame Street"
]
|
[
"Gary Cooper",
"Silent films, 1925-28",
"Was there a Silent film released in 1925?",
"The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky,",
"Was he in any other films?",
"a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (",
"Did he collaborate with any other producers?",
"On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week.",
"WHat did they produce together?",
"The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)",
"Was there any other silent films he produced?",
"films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926).",
"Were there any critical reviews of the films?",
"The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a \"dynamic new personality\" and future star."
]
| C_6ade1075ca2849c5aee8a7091d6b357c_1 | Was there a film released in 1928? | 8 | Was there a Gary cooper film released in 1928? | Gary Cooper | In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, including Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt work--which sometimes injured horses and riders--"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name. Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week. Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal--finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings, the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada--both films directed by John Waters. In 1928, Paramount paired Cooper with a youthful Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss--advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride. That year, Cooper also made Lilac Time with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928. CANNOTANSWER | Cooper also made Lilac Time with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. | Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent, and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, as well as receiving an Academy Honorary Award for his career achievements in 1961. He was one of the top 10 film personalities for 23 consecutive years, and one of the top money-making stars for 18 years. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper at No. 11 on its list of the 25 greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Cooper's career spanned 36 years, from 1925 to 1961, and included leading roles in 84 feature films. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era through to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His screen persona appealed strongly to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major film genres. His ability to project his own personality onto the characters he played contributed to his natural and authentic appearance on screen. Throughout his career, he sustained a screen persona that represented the ideal American hero.
Cooper began his career as a film extra and stunt rider, but soon landed acting roles. After establishing himself as a Western hero in his early silent films, he appeared as the Virginian and became a movie star in 1929 with his first sound picture, The Virginian. In the early 1930s, he expanded his heroic image to include more cautious characters in adventure films and dramas such as A Farewell to Arms (1932) and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935). During the height of his career, Cooper portrayed a new type of hero—a champion of the common man—in films such as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), Sergeant York (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). He later portrayed more mature characters at odds with the world in films such as The Fountainhead (1949) and High Noon (1952). In his final films, he played non-violent characters searching for redemption in films such as Friendly Persuasion (1956) and Man of the West (1958).
Early life
Frank James Cooper was born in Helena, Montana, on May 7, 1901, the younger of two sons of English parents Alice (née Brazier; 1873–1967) and Charles Henry Cooper (1865–1946). His brother, Arthur, was six years his senior. Cooper's father came from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, and became a prominent lawyer, rancher, and Montana Supreme Court justice. His mother hailed from Gillingham, Kent, and married Charles in Montana. In 1906, Charles purchased the Seven-Bar-Nine cattle ranch, about north of Helena near Craig, Montana. Cooper and Arthur spent their summers at the ranch and learned to ride horses, hunt, and fish. Cooper attended Central Grade School in Helena.
Alice wanted her sons to have an English education, so she took them back to England in 1909 to enroll them in Dunstable Grammar School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. While there, Cooper and his brother lived with their father's cousins, William and Emily Barton, at their home in Houghton Regis. Cooper studied Latin, French, and English history at Dunstable until 1912. While he adapted to English school discipline and learned the requisite social graces, he never adjusted to the rigid class structure and formal Eton collars he was required to wear. He received his confirmation in the Church of England at the Church of All Saints in Houghton Regis on December 3, 1911. His mother accompanied her sons back to the U.S. in August 1912, and Cooper resumed his education at Johnson Grammar School in Helena.
When Cooper was 15, he injured his hip in a car accident. On his doctor's recommendation, he returned to the Seven-Bar-Nine ranch to recuperate by horseback riding. The misguided therapy left him with his characteristic stiff, off-balanced walk and slightly angled horse-riding style. He left Helena High School after two years in 1918, and returned to the family ranch to work full-time as a cowboy. In 1919, his father arranged for him to attend Gallatin County High School in Bozeman, Montana, where English teacher Ida Davis encouraged him to focus on academics and participate in debating and dramatics. Cooper later called Davis "the woman partly responsible for [him] giving up cowboy-ing and going to college".
Cooper was still attending high school in 1920 when he took three art courses at Montana Agricultural College in Bozeman. His interest in art was inspired years earlier by the Western paintings of Charles Marion Russell and Frederic Remington. Cooper especially admired and studied Russell's Lewis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross' Hole (1910), which still hangs in the state capitol building in Helena. In 1922, to continue his art education, he enrolled in Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. He did well academically in most of his courses, but was not accepted into the school's drama club. His drawings and watercolor paintings were exhibited throughout the dormitory, and he was named art editor for the college yearbook. During the summers of 1922 and 1923, Cooper worked at Yellowstone National Park as a tour guide driving the yellow open-top buses. Despite a promising first 18 months at Grinnell, he left college suddenly in February 1924, spent a month in Chicago looking for work as an artist, and then returned to Helena, where he sold editorial cartoons to the local Independent newspaper.
In autumn 1924, Cooper's father left the Montana Supreme Court bench and moved with his wife to Los Angeles to administer the estates of two relatives, and Cooper joined his parents there in November at his father's request. After briefly working a series of unpromising jobs, he met two friends from Montana who were working as film extras and stunt riders in low-budget Western films for the small movie studios on Poverty Row. They introduced him to another Montana cowboy, rodeo champion Jay "Slim" Talbot, who took him to see a casting director. Wanting money for a professional art course, Cooper worked as a film extra for $5 a day, and as a stunt rider for $10. Cooper and Talbot became close friends and hunting companions, and Talbot later worked as Cooper's stuntman and stand-in for over three decades.
Career
Silent films, 1925–1928
In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, but also the already emergent major studios, Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt workwhich sometimes injured horses and riders"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name.
Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week.
Cooper's first important film role was a supporting part in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) starring Ronald Colman and Vilma Bánky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal—finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings (both 1927), the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada—both films directed by John Waters.
Paramount paired Cooper with Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss (both 1928)—advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride (also both 1928). Around the same time, Cooper made Lilac Time (1928) with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928.
Hollywood stardom, 1929–1935
Cooper became a major movie star in 1929 with the release of his first talking picture, The Virginian (1929), which was directed by Victor Fleming and co-starred Mary Brian and Walter Huston. Based on the popular novel by Owen Wister, The Virginian was one of the first sound films to define the Western code of honor and helped establish many of the conventions of the Western movie genre that persist to the present day. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, the romantic image of the tall, handsome, and shy cowboy hero who embodied male freedom, courage, and honor was created in large part by Cooper in the film. Unlike some silent film actors who had trouble adapting to the new sound medium, Cooper transitioned naturally, with his "deep and clear" and "pleasantly drawling" voice, which was perfectly suited for the characters he portrayed on screen, also according to Meyers. Looking to capitalize on Cooper's growing popularity, Paramount cast him in several Westerns and wartime dramas, including Only the Brave, The Texan, Seven Days' Leave, A Man from Wyoming, and The Spoilers (all released in 1930). Norman Rockwell depicted Cooper in his role as The Texan for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on May 24, 1930.
One of the more important performances in Cooper's early career was his portrayal of a sullen legionnaire in Josef von Sternberg's film Morocco (also 1930) with Marlene Dietrich in her introduction to American audiences. During production, von Sternberg focused his energies on Dietrich and treated Cooper dismissively. Tensions came to a head after von Sternberg yelled directions at Cooper in German. The actor approached the director, picked him up by the collar, and said, "If you expect to work in this country you'd better get on to the language we use here." Despite the tensions on the set, Cooper produced "one of his best performances", according to Thornton Delehanty of the New York Evening Post.
After returning to the Western genre in Zane Grey's Fighting Caravans (1931) with French actress Lili Damita, Cooper appeared in the Dashiell Hammett crime film City Streets (also 1931), co-starring Sylvia Sidney and Paul Lukas, playing a westerner who gets involved with big-city gangsters in order to save the woman he loves. Cooper concluded the year with appearances in two unsuccessful films: I Take This Woman (also 1931) with Carole Lombard, and His Woman with Claudette Colbert. The demands and pressures of making ten films in two years left Cooper exhausted and in poor health, suffering from anemia and jaundice. He had lost during that period, and felt lonely, isolated, and depressed by his sudden fame and wealth. In May 1931, Cooper left Hollywood and sailed to Algiers and then Italy, where he lived for the next year.
During his time abroad, Cooper stayed with the Countess Dorothy di Frasso at the Villa Madama in Rome, where she taught him about good food and vintage wines, how to read Italian and French menus, and how to socialize among Europe's nobility and upper classes. After guiding him through the great art museums and galleries of Italy, she accompanied him on a ten-week big-game hunting safari on the slopes of Mount Kenya in East Africa, where he was credited with over sixty kills, including two lions, a rhinoceros, and various antelopes. His safari experience in Africa had a profound influence on Cooper and intensified his love of the wilderness. After returning to Europe, he and the countess set off on a Mediterranean cruise of the Italian and French Rivieras. Rested and rejuvenated by his year-long exile, a healthy Cooper returned to Hollywood in April 1932 and negotiated a new contract with Paramount for two films per year, a salary of $4,000 a week, and director and script approval.
In 1932, after completing Devil and the Deep with Tallulah Bankhead to fulfill his old contract, Cooper appeared in A Farewell to Arms, the first film adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel. Co-starring Helen Hayes, a leading New York theatre star and Academy Award winner, and Adolphe Menjou, the film presented Cooper with one of his most ambitious and challenging dramatic roles, playing an American ambulance driver wounded in Italy who falls in love with an English nurse during World War I. Critics praised his highly intense and emotional performance, and the film became one of the year's most commercially successful pictures. In 1933, after making Today We Live with Joan Crawford and One Sunday Afternoon with Fay Wray, Cooper appeared in the Ernst Lubitsch comedy film Design for Living, based on the successful Noël Coward play. Co-starring Miriam Hopkins and Fredric March, the film was a box office success, ranking as one of the top ten highest-grossing films of 1933. All three of the lead actors—March, Cooper, and Hopkins—received attention from this film as they were all at the peak of their careers. Cooper's performance — playing an American artist in Europe competing with his playwright friend for the affections of a beautiful woman — was singled out for its versatility and revealed his genuine ability to do light comedy. Cooper changed his name legally to "Gary Cooper" in August 1933.
In 1934, Cooper was loaned out to MGM for the Civil War drama film Operator 13 with Marion Davies, about a beautiful Union spy who falls in love with a Confederate soldier. Despite Richard Boleslawski's imaginative direction and George J. Folsey's lavish cinematography, the film did poorly at the box office.
Back at Paramount, Cooper appeared in his first of seven films by director Henry Hathaway, Now and Forever, with Carole Lombard and Shirley Temple. In the film, he plays a confidence man who tries to sell his daughter to the relatives who raised her, but is eventually won over by the adorable girl. Impressed by Temple's intelligence and charm, Cooper developed a close rapport with her, both on and off screen. The film was a box-office success.
The following year, Cooper was loaned out to Samuel Goldwyn Productions to appear in King Vidor's romance film The Wedding Night with Anna Sten, who was being groomed as "another Garbo". In the film, Cooper plays an alcoholic novelist who retreats to his family's New England farm where he meets and falls in love with a beautiful Polish neighbor. Cooper delivered a performance of surprising range and depth, according to biographer Larry Swindell. Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, the film was not popular with American audiences, who may have been offended by the film's depiction of an extramarital affair and its tragic ending.
That same year, Cooper appeared in two Henry Hathaway films: the melodrama Peter Ibbetson with Ann Harding, about a man caught up in a dream world created by his love for a childhood sweetheart, and the adventure film The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, about a daring British officer and his men who defend their stronghold at Bengal against rebellious local tribes. While the former, championed by the surrealists became more successful in Europe than in the United States, the latter was nominated for seven Academy Awards and became one of Cooper's most popular and successful adventure films. Hathaway had the highest respect for Cooper's acting ability, calling him "the best actor of all of them".
American folk hero, 1936–1943
From Mr. Deeds to The Real Glory, 1936–1939
Cooper's career took an important turn in 1936. After making Frank Borzage's romantic comedy film Desire with Marlene Dietrich at Paramount—in which he delivered a performance considered by some contemporary critics as one of his finest—Cooper returned to Poverty Row for the first time since his early silent film days to make Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town with Jean Arthur for Columbia Pictures. In the film, Cooper plays the character of Longfellow Deeds, a quiet, innocent writer of greeting cards who inherits a fortune, leaves behind his idyllic life in Vermont, and travels to New York where he faces a world of corruption and deceit. Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin were able to use Cooper's well-established screen persona as the "quintessential American hero"—a symbol of honesty, courage, and goodness—to create a new type of "folk hero" for the common man. Commenting on Cooper's impact on the character and the film, Capra observed:
Both Desire and Mr. Deeds opened in April 1936 to critical praise and were major box-office successes. In his review in The New York Times, Frank Nugent wrote that Cooper was "proving himself one of the best light comedians in Hollywood". For his performance in Mr. Deeds, Cooper received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Cooper appeared in two other Paramount films in 1936. In Lewis Milestone's adventure film The General Died at Dawn with Madeleine Carroll, he plays an American soldier of fortune in China who helps the peasants defend themselves against the oppression of a cruel warlord. Written by playwright Clifford Odets, the film was a critical and commercial success.
In Cecil B. DeMille's sprawling frontier epic The Plainsman—his first of four films with the director—Cooper portrays Wild Bill Hickok in a highly fictionalized version of the opening of the American western frontier. The film was an even greater box-office hit than its predecessor, due in large part to Jean Arthur's definitive depiction of Calamity Jane and Cooper's inspired portrayal of Hickock as an enigmatic figure of "deepening mythic substance". That year, Cooper appeared for the first time on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities, where he would remain for the next twenty-three years.
In late 1936, Paramount was preparing a new contract for Cooper that would raise his salary to $8,000 a week when Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn for six films over six years with a minimum guarantee of $150,000 per picture. Paramount brought suit against Goldwyn and Cooper, and the court ruled that Cooper's new Goldwyn contract afforded the actor sufficient time to also honor his Paramount agreement. Cooper continued to make films with both studios, and by 1939 the United States Treasury reported that Cooper was the country's highest wage earner, at $482,819 (equivalent to $ million in ).
In contrast to his output the previous year, Cooper appeared in only one picture in 1937, Henry Hathaway's adventure film Souls at Sea. A critical and box-office failure, Cooper referred to it as his "almost picture", saying, "It was almost exciting, and almost interesting. And I was almost good." In 1938, he appeared in Archie Mayo's biographical film The Adventures of Marco Polo. Plagued by production problems and a weak screenplay, the film became Goldwyn's biggest failure to that date, losing $700,000. During this period, Cooper turned down several important roles, including the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. Cooper was producer David O. Selznick's first choice for the part. He made several overtures to the actor, but Cooper had doubts about the project, and did not feel suited to the role. Cooper later admitted, "It was one of the best roles ever offered in Hollywood ... But I said no. I didn't see myself as quite that dashing, and later, when I saw Clark Gable play the role to perfection, I knew I was right."
Back at Paramount, Cooper returned to a more comfortable genre in Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938) with Claudette Colbert. In the film, Cooper plays a wealthy American businessman in France who falls in love with an impoverished aristocrat's daughter and persuades her to become his eighth wife. Despite the clever screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, and solid performances by Cooper and Colbert, American audiences had trouble accepting Cooper in the role of a shallow philanderer. It succeeded only at the European box office market.
In the fall of 1938, Cooper appeared in H. C. Potter's romantic comedy The Cowboy and the Lady with Merle Oberon, about a sweet-natured rodeo cowboy who falls in love with the wealthy daughter of a presidential hopeful, believing her to be a poor, hard-working lady's maid. The efforts of three directors and several eminent screenwriters could not salvage what could have been a fine vehicle for Cooper. While more successful than its predecessor, the film was Cooper's fourth consecutive box-office failure in the American market.
In the next two years, Cooper was more discerning about the roles he accepted and made four successful large-scale adventure and cowboy films. In William A. Wellman's adventure film Beau Geste (1939), he plays one of three daring English brothers who join the French Foreign Legion in the Sahara to fight local tribes. Filmed in the same Mojave Desert locations as the original 1926 version with Ronald Colman, Beau Geste provided Cooper with magnificent sets, exotic settings, high-spirited action, and a role tailored to his personality and screen persona. This was the last film in Cooper's contract with Paramount.
In Henry Hathaway's The Real Glory (1939), he plays a military doctor who accompanies a small group of American Army officers to the Philippines to help the Christian Filipinos defend themselves against Muslim radicals. Many film critics praised Cooper's performance, including author and film critic Graham Greene, who recognized that he "never acted better".
From The Westerner to For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940–1943
Cooper returned to the Western genre in William Wyler's The Westerner (1940) with Walter Brennan and Doris Davenport, about a drifting cowboy who defends homesteaders against Roy Bean, a corrupt judge known as the "law west of the Pecos". Screenwriter Niven Busch relied on Cooper's extensive knowledge of Western history while working on the script. The film received positive reviews and did well at the box-office, with reviewers praising the performances of the two lead actors. That same year, Cooper appeared in his first all-Technicolor feature, Cecil B. DeMille's adventure film North West Mounted Police (1940). In the film, Cooper plays a Texas Ranger who pursues an outlaw into western Canada where he joins forces with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who are after the same man, a leader of the North-West Rebellion. While not as popular with critics as its predecessor, the film was another box-office success—the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1940.
The early 1940s were Cooper's prime years as an actor. In a relatively short period, he appeared in five critically successful and popular films that produced some of his finest performances. When Frank Capra offered him the lead role in Meet John Doe before Robert Riskin even developed the script, Cooper accepted his friend's offer, saying, "It's okay, Frank, I don't need a script." In the film, Cooper plays Long John Willoughby, a down-and-out bush-league pitcher hired by a newspaper to pretend to be a man who promises to commit suicide on Christmas Eve to protest all the hypocrisy and corruption in the country. Considered by some critics to be Capra's best film at the time, Meet John Doe was received as a "national event" with Cooper appearing on the front cover of Time magazine on March 3, 1941. In his review in the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes called Cooper's performance a "splendid and utterly persuasive portrayal" and praised his "utterly realistic acting which comes through with such authority". Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote, "Gary Cooper, of course, is 'John Doe' to the life and in the whole—shy, bewildered, non-aggressive, but a veritable tiger when aroused."
That same year, Cooper made two films with director and good friend Howard Hawks. In the biographical film Sergeant York, Cooper portrays war hero Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. The film chronicles York's early backwoods days in Tennessee, his religious conversion and subsequent piety, his stand as a conscientious objector, and finally his heroic actions at the Battle of the Argonne Forest, which earned him the Medal of Honor. Initially, Cooper was nervous and uncertain about playing a living hero, so he traveled to Tennessee to visit York at his home, and the two quiet men established an immediate rapport and discovered they had much in common. Inspired by York's encouragement, Cooper delivered a performance that Howard Barnes of the New York Herald Tribune called "one of extraordinary conviction and versatility", and that Archer Winston of the New York Post called "one of his best". After the film's release, Cooper was awarded the Distinguished Citizenship Medal by the Veterans of Foreign Wars for his "powerful contribution to the promotion of patriotism and loyalty". York admired Cooper's performance and helped promote the film for Warner Bros. Sergeant York became the top-grossing film of the year and was nominated for eleven Academy Awards. Accepting his first Academy Award for Best Actor from his friend James Stewart, Cooper said, "It was Sergeant Alvin York who won this award. Shucks, I've been in the business sixteen years and sometimes dreamed I might get one of these. That's all I can say ... Funny when I was dreaming I always made a better speech."
Cooper concluded the year back at Goldwyn with Howard Hawks to make the romantic comedy Ball of Fire with Barbara Stanwyck. In the film, Cooper plays a shy linguistics professor who leads a team of seven scholars who are writing an encyclopedia. While researching slang, he meets Stanwyck's flirtatious burlesque stripper Sugarpuss O'Shea who blows the dust off their staid life of books. The screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder provided Cooper the opportunity to exercise the full range of his light comedy skills. In his review for the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes wrote that Cooper handled the role with "great skill and comic emphasis" and that his performance was "utterly delightful". Though small in scale, Ball of Fire was one of the top-grossing films of the year—Cooper's fourth consecutive picture to make the top twenty.
Cooper's only film appearance in 1942 was also his last under his Goldwyn contract. In Sam Wood's biographical film The Pride of the Yankees, Cooper portrays baseball star Lou Gehrig who established a record with the New York Yankees for playing in 2,130 consecutive games. Cooper was reluctant to play the seven-time All-Star, who only died the previous year from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — now commonly called "Lou Gehrig's disease". Beyond the challenges of effectively portraying such a popular and nationally recognized figure, Cooper knew very little about baseball and was not left-handed like Gehrig.
After Gehrig's widow visited the actor and expressed her desire that he portray her husband, Cooper accepted the role that covered a twenty-year span of Gehrig's life—his early love of baseball, his rise to greatness, his loving marriage, and his struggle with illness, culminating in his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939 before 62,000 fans. Cooper quickly learned the physical movements of a baseball player and developed a fluid, believable swing. The handedness issue was solved by reversing the print for certain batting scenes. The film was one of the year's top ten pictures and received eleven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's third).
Soon after the publication of Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, Paramount paid $150,000 for the film rights with the express intent of casting Cooper in the lead role of Robert Jordan, an American explosives expert who fights alongside the Republican loyalists during the Spanish Civil War. The original director, Cecil B. DeMille, was replaced by Sam Wood who brought in Dudley Nichols for the screenplay. After the start of principal photography in the Sierra Nevada in late 1942, Ingrid Bergman was brought in to replace ballerina Vera Zorina as the female lead—a change supported by Cooper and Hemingway. The love scenes between Bergman and Cooper were "rapturous" and passionate. Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune wrote that both actors performed with "the true stature and authority of stars". While the film distorted the novel's original political themes and meaning, For Whom the Bell Tolls was a critical and commercial success and received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Cooper's fourth).
World War II related activities
Due to his age and health, Cooper did not serve in the military during World War II, but like many of his colleagues, he got involved in the war effort by entertaining the troops. In June 1943, he visited military hospitals in San Diego, and often appeared at the Hollywood Canteen serving food to the servicemen. In late 1943, Cooper undertook a tour of the South West Pacific with actresses Una Merkel and Phyllis Brooks, and accordionist Andy Arcari.
Traveling on a B-24A Liberator bomber, the group toured the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Queensland, Brisbane—where General Douglas MacArthur told Cooper he was watching Sergeant York in a Manila theater when Japanese bombs began falling—New Guinea, Jayapura, and throughout the Solomon Islands.
The group often shared the same sparse living conditions and K-rations as the troops. Cooper met with the servicemen and women, visited military hospitals, introduced his attractive colleagues, and participated in occasional skits. The shows concluded with Cooper's moving recitation of Lou Gehrig's farewell speech. When he returned to the United States, he visited military hospitals throughout the country. Cooper later called his time with the troops the "greatest emotional experience" of his life.
Mature roles, 1944–1952
In 1944, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's wartime adventure film The Story of Dr. Wassell with Laraine Day — his third movie with the director. In the film, Cooper plays American doctor and missionary Corydon M. Wassell, who leads a group of wounded sailors through the jungles of Java to safety. Despite receiving poor reviews, Dr. Wassell was one of the top-grossing films of the year. With his Goldwyn and Paramount contracts now concluded, Cooper decided to remain independent and formed his own production company, International Pictures, with Leo Spitz, William Goetz, and Nunnally Johnson. The fledgling studio's first offering was Sam Wood's romantic comedy Casanova Brown with Teresa Wright, about a man who learns his soon-to-be ex-wife is pregnant with his child, just as he is about to marry another woman. The film received poor reviews, with the New York Daily News calling it "delightful nonsense", and Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, criticizing Cooper's "somewhat obvious and ridiculous clowning". The film was barely profitable.
In 1945, Cooper starred in and produced Stuart Heisler's Western comedy Along Came Jones with Loretta Young for International. In this lighthearted parody of his past heroic image, Cooper plays comically inept cowboy Melody Jones who is mistaken for a ruthless killer. Audiences embraced Cooper's character, and the film was one of the top box-office pictures of the year—a testament to Cooper's still vital audience appeal. It was also International's biggest financial success during its brief history before being sold off to Universal Studios in 1946.
Cooper's career during the post-war years drifted in new directions as American society was changing. While he still played conventional heroic roles, his films now relied less on his heroic screen persona and more on novel stories and exotic settings. In November 1945, Cooper appeared in Sam Wood's nineteenth-century period drama Saratoga Trunk with Ingrid Bergman, about a Texas cowboy and his relationship with a beautiful fortune-hunter. Filmed in early 1943, the movie's release was delayed for two years due to the increased demand for war movies. Despite poor reviews, Saratoga Trunk did well at the box office and became one of the top money-makers of the year for Warner Bros. Cooper's only film in 1946 was Fritz Lang's romantic thriller Cloak and Dagger, about a mild-mannered physics professor recruited by the OSS during the last years of World War II to investigate the German atomic bomb program. Playing a part loosely based on physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, Cooper was uneasy with the role and unable to convey the "inner sense" of the character. The film received poor reviews and was a box-office failure. In 1947, Cooper appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's epic adventure film Unconquered with Paulette Goddard, about a Virginia militiaman who defends settlers against an unscrupulous gun trader and hostile Indians on the Western frontier during the eighteenth century. The film received mixed reviews, but even long-time DeMille critic James Agee acknowledged the picture had "some authentic flavor of the period". This last of four films made with DeMille was Cooper's most lucrative, earning the actor over $300,000 (equal to $ today) in salary and percentage of profits. Unconquered would be his last unqualified box-office success for the next five years.
In 1948, after making Leo McCarey's romantic comedy Good Sam, Cooper sold his company to Universal Studios and signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. that gave him script and director approval and a guaranteed $295,000 (equal to $ today) per picture. His first film under the new contract was King Vidor's drama The Fountainhead (1949) with Patricia Neal and Raymond Massey. In the film, Cooper plays an idealistic and uncompromising architect who struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism in the face of societal pressures to conform to popular standards. Based on the novel by Ayn Rand who also wrote the screenplay, the film reflects her philosophy and attacks the concepts of collectivism while promoting the virtues of individualism. For most critics, Cooper was hopelessly miscast in the role of Howard Roark. In his review for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther concluded he was "Mr. Deeds out of his element". Cooper returned to his element in Delmer Daves' war drama Task Force (1949), about a retiring rear admiral who reminisces about his long career as a naval aviator and his role in the development of aircraft carriers. Cooper's performance and the Technicolor newsreel footage supplied by the United States Navy made the film one of Cooper's most popular during this period. In the next two years, Cooper made four poorly received films: Michael Curtiz' period drama Bright Leaf (1950), Stuart Heisler's Western melodrama Dallas (1950), Henry Hathaway's wartime comedy You're in the Navy Now (1951), and Raoul Walsh's Western action film Distant Drums (1951).
Cooper's most important film during the post-war years was Fred Zinnemann's Western drama High Noon (1952) with Grace Kelly and Katy Jurado for United Artists. In the film, Cooper plays retiring sheriff Will Kane who is preparing to leave town on his honeymoon when he learns that an outlaw he helped put away and his three henchmen are returning to seek their revenge. Unable to gain the support of the frightened townspeople, and abandoned by his young bride, Kane nevertheless stays to face the outlaws alone. During the filming, Cooper was in poor health and in considerable pain from stomach ulcers. His ravaged face and discomfort in some scenes "photographed as self-doubt", according to biographer Hector Arce, and contributed to the effectiveness of his performance. Considered one of the first "adult" Westerns for its theme of moral courage, High Noon received enthusiastic reviews for its artistry, with Time magazine placing it in the ranks of Stagecoach and The Gunfighter. Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, wrote that Cooper was "at the top of his form", and John McCarten, in The New Yorker, wrote that Cooper was never more effective. The film earned $3.75 million in the United States and $18 million worldwide. Following the example of his friend James Stewart, Cooper accepted a lower salary in exchange for a percent of the profits, and ended up making $600,000. Cooper's understated performance was widely praised, and earned him his second Academy Award for Best Actor.
Later films, 1953–1961
After appearing in André de Toth's Civil War drama Springfield Rifle (1952)—a standard Warner Bros. film that was overshadowed by the success of its predecessor—Cooper made four films outside the United States. In Mark Robson's drama Return to Paradise (1953), Cooper plays an American wanderer who liberates the inhabitants of a Polynesian island from the puritanical rule of a misguided pastor. Cooper endured spartan living conditions, long hours, and ill health during the three-month location shoot on the island of Upolu in Western Samoa. Despite its beautiful cinematography, the film received poor reviews. Cooper's next three films were shot in Mexico. In Hugo Fregonese's action adventure film Blowing Wild (1953) with Barbara Stanwyck, he plays a wildcatter in Mexico who gets involved with an oil company executive and his unscrupulous wife with whom he once had an affair.
In 1954, Cooper appeared in Henry Hathaway's Western drama Garden of Evil, with Susan Hayward, about three soldiers of fortune in Mexico hired to rescue a woman's husband. That same year, he appeared in Robert Aldrich's Western adventure Vera Cruz with Burt Lancaster. In the film, Cooper plays an American adventurer hired by Emperor Maximilian I to escort a countess to Vera Cruz during the Mexican Rebellion of 1866. All of these films received poor reviews but did well at the box-office. For his work in Vera Cruz, Cooper earned $1.4 million in salary and percent of the gross.
During this period, Cooper struggled with health problems. As well as his ongoing treatment for ulcers, he suffered a severe shoulder injury during the filming of Blowing Wild when he was hit by metal fragments from a dynamited oil well. During the filming of Vera Cruz, he reinjured his hip falling from a horse, and was burned when Lancaster fired his rifle too close and the wadding from the blank shell pierced his clothing.
In 1955, he appeared in Otto Preminger's biographical war drama The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, about the World War I general who tried to convince government officials of the importance of air power, and was court-martialed after blaming the War Department for a series of air disasters. Some critics felt that Cooper was miscast, and that his dull, tight-lipped performance did not reflect Mitchell's dynamic and caustic personality. In 1956, Cooper was more effective playing a gentle Indiana Quaker in William Wyler's Civil War drama Friendly Persuasion with Dorothy McGuire. Like Sergeant York and High Noon, the film addresses the conflict between religious pacifism and civic duty. For his performance, Cooper received his second Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actor. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, was awarded the Palme d'Or at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival, and went on to earn $8 million worldwide.
In 1956, Cooper traveled to France to make Billy Wilder's romantic comedy Love in the Afternoon with Audrey Hepburn and Maurice Chevalier. In the film, Cooper plays a middle-aged American playboy in Paris who pursues and eventually falls in love with a much younger woman. Despite receiving some positive reviews—including from Bosley Crowther who praised the film's "charming performances"—most reviewers concluded that Cooper was simply too old for the part. While audiences may not have welcomed seeing Cooper's heroic screen image tarnished by his playing an aging roué trying to seduce an innocent young girl, the film was still a box-office success. The following year, Cooper appeared in Philip Dunne's romantic drama Ten North Frederick. In the film, which was based on the novel by John O'Hara, Cooper plays an attorney whose life is ruined by a double-crossing politician and his own secret affair with his daughter's young roommate. While Cooper brought "conviction and controlled anguish" to his performance, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, it was not enough to save what Bosley Crowther called a "hapless film".
Despite his ongoing health problems and several operations for ulcers and hernias, Cooper continued to work in action films. In 1958, he appeared in Anthony Mann's Western drama Man of the West (1958) with Julie London and Lee J. Cobb, about a reformed outlaw and killer who is forced to confront his violent past when the train he is riding in is held up by his former gang members. The film has been called Cooper's "most pathological Western", with its themes of impotent rage, sexual humiliation, and sadism. According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, Cooper, who struggled with moral conflicts in his personal life, "understood the anguish of a character striving to retain his integrity ... [and] brought authentic feeling to the role of a tempted and tormented, yet essentially decent man". Mostly ignored by critics at the time, the film is now well-regarded by film scholars and is considered Cooper's last great film.
After his Warner Bros. contract ended, Cooper formed his own production company, Baroda Productions, and made three unusual films in 1959 about redemption. In Delmer Daves' Western drama The Hanging Tree, Cooper plays a frontier doctor who saves a criminal from a lynch mob, and later tries to exploit his sordid past. Cooper delivered a "powerful and persuasive" performance of an emotionally scarred man whose need to dominate others is transformed by the love and sacrifice of a woman. In Robert Rossen's historical adventure They Came to Cordura with Rita Hayworth, he plays an army officer who is found guilty of cowardice and assigned the degrading task of recommending soldiers for the Medal of Honor during the Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916.
While Cooper received positive reviews, Variety and Films in Review felt he was too old for the part. In Michael Anderson's action drama The Wreck of the Mary Deare with Charlton Heston, Cooper plays a disgraced merchant marine officer who decides to stay aboard his sinking cargo ship in order to prove the vessel was deliberately scuttled and to redeem his good name. Like its two predecessors, the film was physically demanding. Cooper, who was a trained scuba diver, did most of his own underwater scenes. Biographer Jeffrey Meyers observed that in all three roles, Cooper effectively conveyed the sense of lost honor and desire for redemption—what Joseph Conrad in Lord Jim called the "struggles of an individual trying to save from the fire his idea of what his moral identity should be".
Personal life
Marriage and family
Cooper was formally introduced to his future wife, 20-year-old New York debutante Veronica Balfe, on Easter Sunday 1933 at a party given by her uncle, art director Cedric Gibbons. Called "Rocky" by her family and friends, she grew up on Park Avenue and attended finishing schools. Her stepfather was Wall Street tycoon Paul Shields. Cooper and Rocky were quietly married at her parents' Park Avenue residence on December 15, 1933. According to his friends, the marriage had a positive impact on Cooper, who turned away from past indiscretions and took control of his life. Athletic and a lover of the outdoors, Rocky shared many of Cooper's interests, including riding, skiing, and skeet-shooting. She organized their social life, and her wealth and social connections provided Cooper access to New York high society. Cooper and his wife owned homes in the Los Angeles area in Encino (1933–36), Brentwood (1936–53), and Holmby Hills (1954–61), and owned a vacation home in Aspen, Colorado (1949–53).
Gary and Veronica Cooper's daughter, Maria Veronica Cooper, was born on September 15, 1937. By all accounts, he was a patient and affectionate father, teaching Maria to ride a bicycle, play tennis, ski, and ride horses. Sharing many of her parents' interests, she accompanied them on their travels and was often photographed with them. Like her father, she developed a love for art and drawing. As a family they vacationed together in Sun Valley, Idaho, spent time at Rocky's parents' country house in Southampton, New York, and took frequent trips to Europe. Cooper and Rocky were legally separated on May 16, 1951, when Cooper moved out of their home. For over two years, they maintained a fragile and uneasy family life with their daughter. Cooper moved back into their home in November 1953, and their formal reconciliation occurred in February 1954.
Romantic relationships
Prior to his marriage, Cooper had a series of romantic relationships with leading actresses, beginning in 1927 with Clara Bow, who advanced his career by helping him get one of his first leading roles in Children of Divorce. Bow was also responsible for getting Cooper a role in Wings, which generated an enormous amount of fan mail for the young actor. In 1928, he had a relationship with another experienced actress, Evelyn Brent, whom he met while filming Beau Sabreur. In 1929, while filming The Wolf Song, Cooper began an intense affair with Lupe Vélez, which was the most important romance of his early life. During their two years together, Cooper also had brief affairs with Marlene Dietrich while filming Morocco in 1930 and with Carole Lombard while making I Take This Woman in 1931. During his year abroad in 1931–32, Cooper had an affair with the married Countess Dorothy di Frasso, while staying at her Villa Madama near Rome.
After he was married in December 1933, Cooper remained faithful to his wife until the summer of 1942, when he began an affair with Ingrid Bergman during the production of For Whom the Bell Tolls. Their relationship lasted through the completion of filming Saratoga Trunk in June 1943. In 1948, after finishing work on The Fountainhead, Cooper began an affair with actress Patricia Neal, his co-star. At first they kept their affair discreet, but eventually it became an open secret in Hollywood, and Cooper's wife confronted him with the rumors, which he admitted were true. He also confessed that he was in love with Neal, and continued to see her. Cooper and his wife were legally separated in May 1951, but he did not seek a divorce. Neal later claimed that Cooper hit her after she went on a date with Kirk Douglas, and that he arranged for her to have an abortion when she became pregnant with Cooper's child. Neal ended their relationship in late December 1951. During his three-year separation from his wife, Cooper was rumored to have had affairs with Grace Kelly, Lorraine Chanel, and Gisèle Pascal.
Cooper biographers have explored his friendship in the late twenties with the actor Anderson Lawler, with whom Cooper shared a house on and off for a year, while at the same time seeing Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent and Lupe Vélez. Lupe Vélez once told Hedda Hopper of Vélez' affair with Cooper; whenever he would come home after seeing Lawler, she would sniff for Lawler's cologne. Vélez' biographer Michelle Vogel has reported that Vélez consented to Cooper's sexual behavior with Lawler, but only as long as she, too, could participate. In later life, he became involved in a relationship with the costume designer Irene, and was, according to Irene, "the only man she ever loved". A year after his death in 1961, Irene committed suicide by jumping from the 11th floor of the Knickerbocker Hotel, after telling Doris Day of her grief over Cooper's death.
Friendships, interests, and character
Cooper's twenty-year friendship with Ernest Hemingway began at Sun Valley in October 1940. The previous year, Hemingway drew upon Cooper's image when he created the character of Robert Jordan for the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The two shared a passion for the outdoors, and for years they hunted duck and pheasant, and skied together in Sun Valley. Both men admired the work of Rudyard Kipling—Cooper kept a copy of the poem "If—" in his dressing room—and retained as adults Kipling's sense of boyish adventure.
As well as admiring Cooper's hunting skills and knowledge of the outdoors, Hemingway believed his character matched his screen persona, once telling a friend, "If you made up a character like Coop, nobody would believe it. He's just too good to be true." They saw each other often, and their friendship remained strong through the years.
Cooper's social life generally centered on sports, outdoor activities, and dinner parties with his family and friends from the film industry, including directors Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, William Wellman, and Fred Zinnemann, and actors Joel McCrea, James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, and Robert Taylor. As well as hunting, Cooper enjoyed riding, fishing, skiing, and later in life, scuba diving. He never abandoned his early love for art and drawing, and over the years, he and his wife acquired a private collection of modern paintings, including works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Cooper owned several works by Pablo Picasso, whom he met in 1956. Cooper also had a lifelong passion for automobiles, with a collection that included a 1930 Duesenberg.
Cooper was naturally reserved and introspective, and loved the solitude of outdoor activities. Not unlike his screen persona, his communication style frequently consisted of long silences with an occasional "yup" and "shucks". He once said, "If others have more interesting things to say than I have, I keep quiet." According to his friends, Cooper could also be an articulate, well-informed conversationalist on topics ranging from horses, guns, and Western history to film production, sports cars, and modern art. He was modest and unpretentious, frequently downplaying his acting abilities and career accomplishments. His friends and colleagues described him as charming, well-mannered, and thoughtful, with a lively boyish sense of humor. Cooper maintained a sense of propriety throughout his career and never misused his movie star status—never sought special treatment or refused to work with a director or leading lady. His close friend Joel McCrea recalled, "Coop never fought, he never got mad, he never told anybody off that I know of; everybody that worked with him liked him."
Political views
Like his father, Cooper was a conservative Republican; he voted for Calvin Coolidge in 1924, Herbert Hoover in 1928 and 1932, and campaigned for Wendell Willkie in 1940. When Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for an unprecedented fourth presidential term in 1944, Cooper campaigned for Thomas E. Dewey and criticized Roosevelt for being dishonest and adopting "foreign" ideas. In a radio address that he paid for himself just prior to the election, Cooper said, "I disagree with the New Deal belief that the America all of us love is old and worn-out and finished—and has to borrow foreign notions that don't even seem to work any too well where they come from ... Our country is a young country that just has to make up its mind to be itself again." He also attended a Republican rally at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that drew 93,000 Dewey supporters.
Cooper was one of the founding members of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a conservative organization dedicated, according to its statement of principles, to preserving the "American way of life" and opposing communism and fascism. The organization — whose membership included Walter Brennan, Laraine Day, Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Hedda Hopper, Ronald Reagan, Barbara Stanwyck, and John Wayne — advised the United States Congress to investigate communist influence in the motion picture industry. On October 23, 1947, Cooper was subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and was asked if he had observed any "communistic influence" in Hollywood.
Cooper recounted statements he'd heard suggesting that the Constitution was out of date and that Congress was an unnecessary institution—comments that Cooper said he found to be "very un-American" and testified that he had rejected several scripts because he thought they were "tinged with communist ideas". Unlike some other witnesses, Cooper did not name any individuals, nor did he name any scripts, during his testimony.
In 1951, while making High Noon, Cooper became friends with the film's screenwriter, Carl Foreman, who had been a member of the Communist Party. When Foreman was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Cooper put his career on the line to defend Foreman. When John Wayne and others threatened Cooper with blacklisting himself and the loss of his passport if he did not walk off the film, Cooper gave a statement to the press in support of Foreman, calling him "the finest kind of American". When producer Stanley Kramer removed Foreman's name as screenwriter, Cooper and director Fred Zinnemann threatened to walk off the film if Foreman's name was not restored. Foreman later said that, of all his friends and allies and colleagues in Hollywood, "Cooper was the only big one who tried to help. The only one." Cooper even offered to testify in Foreman's behalf before the committee, but character witnesses were not allowed. Foreman always sent future scripts to Cooper for first refusal, including The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Key and The Guns of Navarone. Cooper had to turn them down because of his age.
Religion
Cooper was baptized in the Anglican Church in December 1911 in Britain, and was raised in the Episcopal Church in the United States. While he was not an observant Christian for most of his adult life, many of his friends believed he had a deeply spiritual side.
On June 26, 1953, Cooper accompanied his wife and daughter, who were devout Catholics, to Rome, where they had an audience with Pope Pius XII. Cooper and his wife were still separated at the time, but the papal visit marked the beginning of their gradual reconciliation. In the coming years, Cooper contemplated his mortality and his personal behavior, and started discussing Catholicism with his family. He began attending church with them regularly, and met with their parish priest, who offered Cooper spiritual guidance. After several months of study, Cooper was baptized as a Roman Catholic on April 9, 1959, before a small group of family and friends at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.
Final years and death
On April 14, 1960, Cooper underwent surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had metastasized to his colon. He fell ill again on May 31 and underwent further surgery at Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles in early June to remove a malignant tumor from his large intestine. After recuperating over the summer, Cooper took his family on vacation to the south of France before traveling to the UK in the fall to star in The Naked Edge. In December 1960, he worked on the NBC television documentary The Real West, which was part of the company's Project 20 series.
On December 27, his wife learned from their family doctor that Cooper's cancer had spread to his lungs and bones and was inoperable. His family decided not to tell him immediately.
On January 9, 1961, Cooper attended a dinner that was given in his honor and hosted by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin at the Friars Club. The dinner was attended by many of his industry friends and concluded with a brief speech by Cooper who said, "The only achievement I'm proud of is the friends I've made in this community."
In mid-January, Cooper took his family to Sun Valley for their last vacation together. Cooper and Hemingway hiked through the snow together for the last time. On February 27, after returning to Los Angeles, Cooper learned that he was dying. He later told his family, "We'll pray for a miracle; but if not, and that's God's will, that's all right too." On April 17, Cooper watched the Academy Awards ceremony on television and saw his good friend James Stewart, who had presented Cooper with his first Oscar years earlier, accept on Cooper's behalf an honorary award for lifetime achievement—his third Oscar. Holding back tears, Stewart said, "Coop, I'll get this to you right away. And Coop, I want you to know this, that with this goes all the warm friendship and the affection and the admiration and the deep, the deep respect of all of us. We're very, very proud of you, Coop. All of us are tremendously proud." The following day, newspapers around the world announced the news that Cooper was dying. In the coming days he received numerous messages of appreciation and encouragement, including telegrams from Pope John XXIII and Queen Elizabeth II, and a telephone call from President John F. Kennedy.
In his last public statement on May 4, Cooper said, "I know that what is happening is God's will. I am not afraid of the future." He received the last rites on May 12. Cooper died quietly the following day, Saturday, May 13, 1961, at 12:47 P.M.
A requiem mass was held on May 18 at the Church of the Good Shepherd, attended by many of Cooper's friends, including James Stewart, Jack Benny, Henry Hathaway, Joel McCrea, Audrey Hepburn, Jack L. Warner, John Ford, John Wayne, Edward G. Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Fred Astaire, Randolph Scott, Walter Pidgeon, Bob Hope and Marlene Dietrich. Cooper was buried in the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. In May 1974, after his family relocated to New York, Cooper's remains were exhumed and reburied in Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton. His grave is marked by a three-ton boulder from a Montauk quarry.
Acting style and reputation
Cooper's acting style consisted of three essential characteristics: his ability to project elements of his own personality onto the characters he portrayed, to appear natural and authentic in his roles, and to underplay and deliver restrained performances calibrated for the camera and the screen. Acting teacher Lee Strasberg once observed: "The simplest examples of Stanislavsky's ideas are actors such as Gary Cooper, John Wayne, and Spencer Tracy. They try not to act but to be themselves, to respond or react. They refuse to say or do anything they feel not to be consonant with their own characters." Film director François Truffaut ranked Cooper among "the greatest actors" because of his ability to deliver great performances "without direction". This ability to project elements of his own personality onto his characters produced a continuity across his performances to the extent that critics and audiences were convinced that he was simply "playing himself".
Cooper's ability to project his personality onto his characters played an important part in his appearing natural and authentic on screen. Actor John Barrymore said of Cooper, "This fellow is the world's greatest actor. He does without effort what the rest of us spend our lives trying to learn—namely, to be natural." Charles Laughton, who played opposite Cooper in Devil and the Deep agreed, "In truth, that boy hasn't the least idea how well he acts ... He gets at it from the inside, from his own clear way of looking at life." William Wyler, who directed Cooper in two films, called him a "superb actor, a master of movie acting".
In his review of Cooper's performance in The Real Glory, Graham Greene wrote, "Sometimes his lean photogenic face seems to leave everything to the lens, but there is no question here of his not acting. Watch him inoculate the girl against cholera—the casual jab of the needle, and the dressing slapped on while he talks, as though a thousand arms had taught him where to stab and he doesn't have to think anymore."
Cooper's style of underplaying before the camera surprised many of his directors and fellow actors. Even in his earliest feature films, he recognized the camera's ability to pick up slight gestures and facial movements. Commenting on Cooper's performance in Sergeant York, director Howard Hawks observed, "He worked very hard and yet he didn't seem to be working. He was a strange actor because you'd look at him during a scene and you'd think ... this isn't going to be any good. But when you saw the rushes in the projection room the next day you could read in his face all the things he'd been thinking." Sam Wood, who directed Cooper in four films, had similar observations about Cooper's performance in Pride of the Yankees, noting, "What I thought was underplaying turned out to be just the right approach. On the screen he's perfect, yet on the set you'd swear it's the worst job of acting in the history of motion pictures."
Fellow actors admired his abilities as an actor. Commenting on her two films playing opposite Cooper, actress Ingrid Bergman concluded, "The personality of this man was so enormous, so overpowering—and that expression in his eyes and his face, it was so delicate and so underplayed. You just didn't notice it until you saw it on the screen. I thought he was marvelous; the most underplaying and the most natural actor I ever worked with."
Tom Hanks declared, "In only one scene in the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, we see the future of screen acting in the form of Gary Cooper. He is quiet and natural, somehow different from the other cast members. He does something mysterious with his eyes and shoulders that is much more like 'being' than 'acting'."
Daniel Day-Lewis said, "I don't particularly like westerns as a genre, but I do love certain westerns. 'High Noon' means a lot to me – I love the purity and the honesty, I love Gary Cooper in that film, the idea of the last man standing."
Chris Pratt stated, "I started watching Westerns when I was shooting in London about four or five years ago. I really fell in love with Gary Cooper, and his stuff. That sucked me into the Westerns. Before, I never got engrossed in the story. I'd just dip in, and there were guys in horses in black and white. High Noon's later Gary Cooper, I liked that. But I liked 'The Westerner'. That's my favorite one. I have that poster hung up in my house because I really like that one."
To Al Pacino, "Gary Cooper was a phenomenon—his ability to take some thing and elevate it, give it such dignity. One of the great presences."
Mylène Demongeot first got with Gary Cooper for the opening of the first escalator to be installed in a cinema, at the Rex Theatre in Paris, on June 7, 1957. She declared in a 2015 filmed interview: "Gary Cooper ... il est sublime ! Aaahhh (Mylène pushing a cry of love not to say ecstasy) il est sublime ... Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Là je dois dire que ça fait partie des stars, y'a Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, ces grands Américains que j'ai rencontrés comme ça, c'est vraiment des mecs incroyables. Y'en a plus des comme ça ! Euh non. (Gary Cooper was sublime, there I have to say, now he, was part of the stars, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, those great americans who I've met really were unbelievable guys, there aren't any like them anymore)."
Career assessment and legacy
Cooper's career spanned thirty-six years, from 1925 to 1961. During that time, he appeared in eighty-four feature films in a leading role. He was a major movie star from the end of the silent film era to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood. His natural and authentic acting style appealed powerfully to both men and women, and his range of performances included roles in most major movie genres, including Westerns, war films, adventure films, drama films, crime films, romance films, comedy films, and romantic comedy films. He appeared on the Motion Picture Herald exhibitor's poll of top ten film personalities for twenty-three consecutive years, from 1936 to 1958. According to Quigley's annual poll, Cooper was one of the top money-making stars for eighteen years, appearing in the top ten in 1936–37, 1941–49, and 1951–57. He topped the list in 1953. In Quigley's list of all-time money-making stars, Cooper is listed fourth, after John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Tom Cruise. At the time of his death, it was estimated that his films grossed well over $200 million (equivalent to $ billion in ).
In over half of his feature films, Cooper portrayed Westerners, soldiers, pilots, sailors, and explorers—all men of action. In the rest he played a wide range of characters, included doctors, professors, artists, architects, clerks, and baseball players. Cooper's heroic screen image changed with each period of his career. In his early films, he played the young naive hero sure of his moral position and trusting in the triumph of simple virtues (The Virginian). After becoming a major star, his Western screen persona was replaced by a more cautious hero in adventure films and dramas (A Farewell to Arms). During the height of his career, from 1936 to 1943, he played a new type of hero—a champion of the common man willing to sacrifice himself for others (Mr. Deeds, Meet John Doe, and For Whom the Bell Tolls).
In the post-war years, Cooper attempted broader variations on his screen image, which now reflected a hero increasingly at odds with the world who must face adversity alone (The Fountainhead and High Noon). In his final films, Cooper's hero rejects the violence of the past, and seeks to reclaim lost honor and find redemption (Friendly Persuasion and Man of the West). The screen persona he developed and sustained throughout his career represented the ideal American hero—a tall, handsome, and sincere man of steadfast integrity who emphasized action over intellect, and combined the heroic qualities of the romantic lover, the adventurer, and the common man.
On February 6, 1960, Cooper was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6243 Hollywood Boulevard for his contribution to the film industry. He was awarded a star on the sidewalk outside the Ellen Theater in Bozeman, Montana.
On May 6, 1961, he was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters in recognition of his significant contribution to the arts. On July 30, 1961, he was posthumously awarded the David di Donatello Special Award in Italy for his career achievements.
In 1966, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. In 2015, he was inducted into the Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Hall of Fame. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper eleventh on its list of the 25 male stars of classic Hollywood. Three of his characters—Will Kane, Lou Gehrig, and Sergeant York—made AFI's list of the one hundred greatest heroes and villains, all of them as heroes. His Lou Gehrig line, "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.", is ranked by AFI as the thirty-eighth greatest movie quote of all time.
More than a half century after his death, Cooper's enduring legacy, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, is his image of the ideal American hero preserved in his film performances. Charlton Heston once observed, "He projected the kind of man Americans would like to be, probably more than any actor that's ever lived."
In the TV series Justified, based on works and characters created by Elmore Leonard, Gary Cooper is used throughout the six seasons as the man whom U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant, aspires to be. When his colleague asks Marshall Givens how he thinks his dangerous plan to bring down a villain can possibly work, he replies: "Why not? Worked for Gary Cooper."
Gary Cooper is referenced several times in the critically acclaimed television series The Sopranos, with protagonist Tony Soprano asking "What ever happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type." while complaining about his problems to his therapist.
In the 1930s hit song "Puttin' On the Ritz", Cooper is referenced in the line "dress up like a million dollar trooper/Tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper, Super duper!" More than two decades after Cooper's death a new version of the song was released in 1983 by Taco; the original lyrics were kept, including the references to Cooper.
In J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Cooper is "spotted" by Holden Caulfield to distract a woman he is dancing with.
Awards and nominations
Filmography
The following is a list of feature films in which Cooper appeared in a leading role.
The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)
Children of Divorce (1927)
Arizona Bound (1927)
Wings (1927)
Nevada (1927)
It (1927)
The Last Outlaw (1927)
Beau Sabreur (1928)
The Legion of the Condemned (1928)
Doomsday (1928)
Half a Bride (1928)
Lilac Time (1928)
The First Kiss (1928)
The Shopworn Angel (1928)
Wolf Song (1929)
Betrayal (1929)
The Virginian (1929)
Only the Brave (1930)
The Texan (1930)
Seven Days' Leave (1930)
A Man from Wyoming (1930)
The Spoilers (1930)
Morocco (1930)
Fighting Caravans (1931)
City Streets (1931)
I Take This Woman (1931)
His Woman (1931)
Devil and the Deep (1932)
If I Had a Million (1932)
A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Today We Live (1933)
One Sunday Afternoon (1933)
Design for Living (1933)
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
Operator 13 (1934)
Now and Forever (1934)
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
The Wedding Night (1935)
Peter Ibbetson (1935)
Desire (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
The Plainsman (1936)
Souls at Sea (1937)
The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
Beau Geste (1939)
The Real Glory (1939)
The Westerner (1940)
North West Mounted Police (1940)
Meet John Doe (1941)
Sergeant York (1941)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
Casanova Brown (1944)
Along Came Jones (1945)
Saratoga Trunk (1945)
Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Unconquered (1947)
Good Sam (1948)
The Fountainhead (1949)
Task Force (1949)
Bright Leaf (1950)
Dallas (1950)
You're in the Navy Now (1951)
It's a Big Country (1951)
Distant Drums (1951)
High Noon (1952)
Springfield Rifle (1952)
Return to Paradise (1953)
Blowing Wild (1953)
Garden of Evil (1954)
Vera Cruz (1954)
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Ten North Frederick (1958)
Man of the West (1958)
The Hanging Tree (1959)
They Came to Cordura (1959)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
The Naked Edge (1961)
Radio appearances
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Adrien Le Bihan, Gary Cooper, le prince des acteurs, LettMotif, 2021, 358p.()
External links
1901 births
1961 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Academy Honorary Award recipients
American expatriates in England
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
American male television actors
American people of English descent
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
California Republicans
Catholics from Montana
Conservatism in the United States
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from prostate cancer
Grinnell College people
Male Western (genre) film actors
Male actors from Montana
Paramount Pictures contract players
People educated at Dunstable Grammar School
People from Brentwood, Los Angeles
People from Dunstable
People from Helena, Montana
People from Holmby Hills, Los Angeles | false | [
"Manuel Zeceña Diéguez (1918-1991) was a Guatemalan film producer, director and writer. As a producer, his work commenced in 1954 with . In the early 1960s he produced , and . As a director he worked on which was released in 1968, in 1969, in 1973 and the ill-fated The Hughes Mystery which was released in 1979. The majority of his films were made in Mexico and he worked with prominent Mexican actors and filmmakers.\n\nCareer\n\n1950s–1960s\nAs a writer he wrote the script for the 1954 comedy film which was directed by René Cardona. He produced the film which was released in 1954. For the film starring Jorge Mistral, Teresa Velázquez and Martha Elena Cervantes, he was both writer and producer. It was released around 1962. He was asked to produce the film which was a joint Mexican/Guatemalan production, released in 1963. It was directed by Emilio Fernandez with cinematography by Raúl Martínez Solares, and starred Patricia Conde, Emilio Fernandez and Andrés Soler. In the late 1960s he worked on (English title Love in the Clouds) which was produced by Panamerican Films and distributed by Peliculas Nacionales. The film, which was released in 1968, featured Leonorilda Ochoa, Eric del Castillo and Norma Mora.\n\n1970s\nHe directed the 1970 film which starred Julio Alemán, Tere Velázquez and Amadee Chabot. His last film in the 1970s seems to be The Hughes Mystery which starred Jackson Bostwick, Broderick Crawford, José Ferrer, Hope Holiday, Guy Madison and Cameron Mitchell. The production company was S.A. Filmadora Panamericana. It was finished by 1979 and released that year. According to the book The Complete Films of Broderick Crawford by Ralph Schiller, there seems to be a mystery as to what happened to the film; it was never released in the United States and nobody seems to have seen it. There was an indication that it was sold in Australia. After that film Zeceña Diéguez appears to have stopped working.\n\nDeath\nZeceña Diéguez died in Guatemala on June 9, 1991, aged 73.\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n Letterboxd: Manuel Zeceña Diéguez\n\n1918 births\n1991 deaths\nGuatemalan film directors\nGuatemalan film producers\nGuatemalan male writers\nGuatemalan screenwriters\n20th-century screenwriters",
"Hina Tasleem (also written as Heena Rehmaan) is an Indian actress who acted in several films.\n\nBiography\nTasleem made her debut in Bollywood with I Proud to Be an Indian which was released in 2004. In 2005 her film Fun – Can Be Dangerous Sometimes was released. Her film Ladies Tailor was released in 2006. She also worked in Ghutan which was released in 2007.\n\nTasleem's film Meri Padosan was released in 2009. Her film Meri Life Mein Uski Wife was released in 2009 too. In 2010 her film Ajab Devra Ka Gazab Bhauji was released which was a Bhojpuri film. Her film Sheetalbhabi.com was released in 2011.\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nLiving people\nIndian film actresses\nActresses in Hindi cinema\nActresses in Bhojpuri cinema\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
]
|
[
"Lowell Thomas",
"Newscaster"
]
| C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_1 | Where did he begin his career | 1 | Where did Lowell Thomas begin his career? | Lowell Thomas | In 1930, he became a broadcaster with the CBS Radio network, delivering a nightly news and commentary program. After two years, he switched to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News. Prior to 1947, he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first-ever television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast (even though it was just a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast) beginning on February 21, 1940 over local station W2XBS (now WNBC) New York. It is not known whether all or some of the radio/TV simulcasts were carried by the two other television stations capable of being fed programs by W2XBS at the time, which were W2XB (now WRGB) Schenectady and W3XE (now KYW-TV) Philadelphia). In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored the first live telecast of a political convention, the 1940 Republican National Convention which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. Reportedly, Thomas wasn't even in Philadelphia, instead anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for him, and he favored radio. Indeed, it was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day (a record later surpassed by Paul Harvey). "No other journalist or world figure, with the possible exception of Winston Churchill, has remained in the public spotlight for so long," wrote Norman R. Bowen in Lowell Thomas: The Stranger Everyone Knows (1968). His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he would use in titling his two volumes of memoirs. CANNOTANSWER | broadcaster with the CBS Radio network, | Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards.
Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
Early life
Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper.
In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university.
Career
Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it.
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal.
Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land".
At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London.
Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death.
Cinerama
Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date.
Radio commentator and newscaster
Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons.
On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network.
After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast.
In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention.
In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio.
In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio.
His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs.
Personal life
Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure.
Legacy and honors
The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him.
Published works
Among Thomas's books are:
With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924
The First World Flight, 1925
Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925
Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927
European Skyways, 1927
The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927
Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928
Raiders of the Deep, 1928
The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929
Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929
The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929
The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930
Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930
India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930
Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore
Tall Stories, 1931
Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932
This Side of Hell, 1932
Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933
Born to Raise Hell, 1933
The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935
Fan Mail, 1935
A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936
Men of Danger, 1936
Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936
Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937
Hungry Waters, 1937
Wings Over Asia, 1937
Magic Dials, 1939
In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939
Soft Ball! So What?, 1940
How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940
Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940
Pageant of Adventure, 1940
Pageant of Life, 1941
Pageant of Romance, 1943
These Men Shall Never Die, 1943
Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951)
Back to Mandalay, 1951
Great True Adventures, 1955
The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955
Seven Wonders of the World, 1956
History As You Heard It 1957
The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957
The Vital Spark, 1959
Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961
More Great True Adventures, 1963
Book of the High Mountains, 1964 ()
Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 ()
Burma Jack, 1971 ()
Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 ()
Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 ()
So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 ()
Further reading
References
Notes
Sources
Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday
Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248
External links
With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive
Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District.
1892 births
1981 deaths
American broadcast news analysts
20th-century American businesspeople
American male journalists
American radio journalists
American travel writers
Peabody Award winners
People from Darke County, Ohio
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
University of Denver alumni
Princeton University alumni
Valparaiso University alumni
T. E. Lawrence
Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows | false | [
"Slade Cecconi (born June 24, 1999) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.\n\nAmateur career\nCecconi attended Trinity Preparatory School in Winter Park, Florida, where he played baseball. As a junior in 2017, he went 6–1 with a 0.70 ERA and seventy strikeouts over forty innings. That summer, he was selected to play in the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game at Wrigley Field. In 2018, his senior year, he batted .388 with six home runs. He was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 38th round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign, instead enrolling at the University of Miami where he played college baseball.\n\nIn 2019, Cecconi's freshman year at Miami, he appeared in 17 games (13 starts) in which he went 5–4 with a 4.16 ERA, striking out 89 batters over eighty innings. He was selected to play in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Wareham Gatemen but did not participate. As a sophomore in 2020, he started four games and posted a 2–1 record with a 3.80 ERA over innings before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\nProfessional career\nCecconi was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 33rd overall pick in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft. On July 10, 2020, Cecconi signed with the Diamondbacks for a $2.4 million bonus. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the pandemic. \n\nTo begin the 2021 season, Cecconi was assigned to the Hillsboro Hops of the High-A West. He was on the injured list with a wrist injury to begin the year, but began play in mid-May. On August 1, he was placed back on the injured list with an elbow injury, and, on August 5, was transferred to the 60-day injured list, effectively ending his season. Over 12 starts for the year, Cecconi went 4-2 with a 4.12 ERA, striking out 63 and walking twenty over 59 innings. He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Salt River Rafters after the season.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nMiami Hurricanes bio\n\n1999 births\nLiving people\nBaseball players from Florida\nBaseball pitchers\nMiami Hurricanes baseball players\nWareham Gatemen players\nHillsboro Hops players\nSalt River Rafters players",
"Ryan Cusick (born November 12, 1999) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Atlanta Braves organization. He played college baseball for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.\n\nAmateur career\nCusick began his high school career at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School in Sudbury, Massachusetts before transferring to Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Connecticut, for his senior year in 2018. He was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 40th round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign and instead enrolled at Wake Forest University where he played college baseball.\n\nIn 2019, Cusick's freshman season, he led the Wake Forest pitching staff in wins, going 7-3 with a 6.44 ERA over innings. That summer, he played in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Bourne Braves. He pitched innings in 2020 before the remainder of the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a junior in 2021, Cusick started 12 games and compiled a 3–5 record, a 4.24 ERA, and 108 strikeouts over seventy innings.\n\nProfessional career\nCusick was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the first round with the 24th overall selection in the 2021 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Braves for a $2.7 million signing bonus. To begin his professional career, he was assigned to the Augusta GreenJackets of the Low-A East. During his first year in the minor leagues, Cusick pitched innings, striking out 34 batters, walking four, and giving up five earned runs.\n\nProfessional career\nCusick was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the first round with the 24th overall selection in the 2021 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Braves for a $2.7 million signing bonus. To begin his professional career, he was assigned to the Augusta GreenJackets of the Low-A East. During his first year in the minor leagues, Cusick pitched innings, striking out 34 batters, walking four, and giving up five earned runs.\n\nPersonal Life\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nWake Forest Demon Deacons bio\n\n1999 births\nLiving people\nAugusta GreenJackets players\nBaseball pitchers\nBaseball players from Massachusetts\nBourne Braves players\nWake Forest Demon Deacons baseball players\nSportspeople from Middlesex County, Massachusetts\nPeople from Sudbury, Massachusetts"
]
|
[
"Lowell Thomas",
"Newscaster",
"Where did he begin his career",
"broadcaster with the CBS Radio network,"
]
| C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_1 | What year was this | 2 | What year did Lowell Thomas begin his career as a broadcaster with the CBS Radio network? | Lowell Thomas | In 1930, he became a broadcaster with the CBS Radio network, delivering a nightly news and commentary program. After two years, he switched to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News. Prior to 1947, he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first-ever television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast (even though it was just a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast) beginning on February 21, 1940 over local station W2XBS (now WNBC) New York. It is not known whether all or some of the radio/TV simulcasts were carried by the two other television stations capable of being fed programs by W2XBS at the time, which were W2XB (now WRGB) Schenectady and W3XE (now KYW-TV) Philadelphia). In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored the first live telecast of a political convention, the 1940 Republican National Convention which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. Reportedly, Thomas wasn't even in Philadelphia, instead anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for him, and he favored radio. Indeed, it was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day (a record later surpassed by Paul Harvey). "No other journalist or world figure, with the possible exception of Winston Churchill, has remained in the public spotlight for so long," wrote Norman R. Bowen in Lowell Thomas: The Stranger Everyone Knows (1968). His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he would use in titling his two volumes of memoirs. CANNOTANSWER | 1930, | Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards.
Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
Early life
Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper.
In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university.
Career
Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it.
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal.
Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land".
At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London.
Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death.
Cinerama
Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date.
Radio commentator and newscaster
Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons.
On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network.
After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast.
In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention.
In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio.
In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio.
His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs.
Personal life
Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure.
Legacy and honors
The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him.
Published works
Among Thomas's books are:
With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924
The First World Flight, 1925
Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925
Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927
European Skyways, 1927
The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927
Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928
Raiders of the Deep, 1928
The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929
Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929
The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929
The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930
Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930
India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930
Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore
Tall Stories, 1931
Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932
This Side of Hell, 1932
Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933
Born to Raise Hell, 1933
The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935
Fan Mail, 1935
A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936
Men of Danger, 1936
Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936
Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937
Hungry Waters, 1937
Wings Over Asia, 1937
Magic Dials, 1939
In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939
Soft Ball! So What?, 1940
How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940
Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940
Pageant of Adventure, 1940
Pageant of Life, 1941
Pageant of Romance, 1943
These Men Shall Never Die, 1943
Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951)
Back to Mandalay, 1951
Great True Adventures, 1955
The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955
Seven Wonders of the World, 1956
History As You Heard It 1957
The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957
The Vital Spark, 1959
Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961
More Great True Adventures, 1963
Book of the High Mountains, 1964 ()
Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 ()
Burma Jack, 1971 ()
Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 ()
Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 ()
So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 ()
Further reading
References
Notes
Sources
Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday
Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248
External links
With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive
Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District.
1892 births
1981 deaths
American broadcast news analysts
20th-century American businesspeople
American male journalists
American radio journalists
American travel writers
Peabody Award winners
People from Darke County, Ohio
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
University of Denver alumni
Princeton University alumni
Valparaiso University alumni
T. E. Lawrence
Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows | true | [
"\"This Is What It Feels Like\" is a song by Dutch DJ and record producer Armin van Buuren, featuring Canadian singer, songwriter and former soulDecision frontman Trevor Guthrie, released in the Netherlands by Armada Music on 29 April 2013 as the second single from van Buuren's fifth studio album, Intense (2013).\n\n\"This Is What It Feels Like\" peaked at number three on the Dutch Top 40. Outside the Netherlands, \"This Is What It Feels Like\" peaked within the top ten of the charts in ten countries, including Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Canada, Israel and the United Kingdom.\n\nThe song was written by Armin van Buuren, Benno de Goeij, Jenson Vaughan, Trevor Guthrie and John Ewbank. Van Buuren wrote the instrumental with de Goeij and Ewbank in 2012. Trevor Guthrie wrote the lyrics with Jenson Vaughan, and it was inspired by Guthrie's neighbour who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. \"This Is What It Feels Like\" was nominated for the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. The song was featured in the intro for a 2019 episode of America's Got Talent.\n\nMusic video\nA music video to accompany the release of \"This is What It Feels Like\" was first released onto YouTube on 17 March 2013. The video also features a guest appearance by Ron Jeremy. As of September 2017, it has received over 100 million views, making it the fifth most viewed video on Armada Music's YouTube channel.\n\nTrack listing\n Digital downloads\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" – 3:25\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (extended mix) – 5:16\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (W&W remix) – 6:16\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (David Guetta remix) – 5:28\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Antillas and Dankann remix) – 5:44\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Antillas and Dankann radio edit) – 3:34\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Giuseppe Ottaviani remix) – 6:38\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Giuseppe Ottaviani radio edit) – 3:55\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (John Ewbank classical remix) – 3:12\n UK CD single\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" – 3:25\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (extended mix) – 5:16\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (W&W remix) – 6:16\n \"Waiting for the Night\" – 3:03\n German CD single\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" – 3:25\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (David Guetta remix) – 5:28\n\n Maddix remix\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Maddix remix) – 3:50\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Maddix extended mix) – 4:50\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nJason Benoit version\n\n\"This Is What It Feels Like\" was covered by Canadian country music artist Jason Benoit and released through Sky Hit Records, under license to Sony Music Canada, as Benoit's debut single on 10 September 2013. His rendition reached number 46 on the Billboard Canada Country chart. It received positive reviews for Benoit's \"strong vocal performance\" was also included on the compilation album, Country Heat 2014.\n\nMusic video\nAn official lyric video was uploaded to Benoit's Vevo channel on 4 October 2013.\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n2013 singles\n2013 songs\nArmin van Buuren songs\nArmada Music singles\nJuno Award for Dance Recording of the Year recordings\nSongs written by Armin van Buuren\nSongs written by Benno de Goeij\nSongs written by Jenson Vaughan\nSongs written by Trevor Guthrie\nTrevor Guthrie songs",
"The What A Summer Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in January at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland. The race is open to fillies and mares four years old and up and is run at six furlongs on the dirt.\n\nAn ungraded stakes race, it offers a purse of $100,000. The race was restricted to Maryland-breds between 1978 and 1992. It was run for fillies and mares from age three and up from 1978 through 1985 and was run under handicap conditions during that same time. The race was restricted to two-year-olds from 1985 to 1992.\n\nThe race was named in honor of What A Summer, a gray mare by What Luck. She was an Eclipse Award winner and was named American Champion Sprint Horse in 1977. She was bred in Maryland by Milton Polinger. What A Summer was a foal in 1973 and won 18 of 31 starts in her career. She won the de facto second leg of the filly Triple Crown, the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, won the Fall Highweight Handicap twice (carrying 134 pounds each time), the Silver Spoon Handicap twice, the Maskette Handicap and four other stakes. In addition to her 18 wins, she placed nine times with earnings of $479,161. That record of 27 first or second finishes in 31 starts at 87% is among the best in history.\n\nWhat A Summer was trained by Bud Delp while racing for Polinger. She was bought by Diana Firestone following Polinger's death in 1976. Mrs. Firestone turned the mare over to trainer LeRoy Jolley. She was named Maryland-bred horse of the year in 1977 and twice was named champion older mare. What A Summer was retired in 1878 and as a broodmare produced several graded stakes winners.\n\nA venue of 1994 race was Gulfstream Park.\n\nRecords \n\nSpeed record: \n 6 furlongs – 1:09.20 – Xtra Heat (2003) \n 7 furlongs – 1:23.60 – Sea Siren (1983)\n\nMost wins by an horse:\n 2 – Silmaril (2006 & 2007)\n 2 – Sweet on Smokey (2016 & 2017)\n\nMost wins by an owner:\n 3 – Stephen E. Quick (1982, 2007 & 2008)\n\nMost wins by a jockey:\n 2 – five different jockeys share this record with 2 wins each\n\nMost wins by a trainer:\n 3 – Christopher W. Grove (2007, 2008 & 2010)\n\nWinners of the What A Summer Stakes since 1978\n\nSee also \n\n What A Summer Stakes top three finishers\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Laurel Park website\n\n1978 establishments in Maryland\nLaurel Park Racecourse\nHorse races in Maryland\nRecurring sporting events established in 1978"
]
|
[
"Lowell Thomas",
"Newscaster",
"Where did he begin his career",
"broadcaster with the CBS Radio network,",
"What year was this",
"1930,"
]
| C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_1 | What did he do for them | 3 | What did Lowell Thomas do for the CBS Radio Network? | Lowell Thomas | In 1930, he became a broadcaster with the CBS Radio network, delivering a nightly news and commentary program. After two years, he switched to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News. Prior to 1947, he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first-ever television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast (even though it was just a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast) beginning on February 21, 1940 over local station W2XBS (now WNBC) New York. It is not known whether all or some of the radio/TV simulcasts were carried by the two other television stations capable of being fed programs by W2XBS at the time, which were W2XB (now WRGB) Schenectady and W3XE (now KYW-TV) Philadelphia). In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored the first live telecast of a political convention, the 1940 Republican National Convention which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. Reportedly, Thomas wasn't even in Philadelphia, instead anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for him, and he favored radio. Indeed, it was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day (a record later surpassed by Paul Harvey). "No other journalist or world figure, with the possible exception of Winston Churchill, has remained in the public spotlight for so long," wrote Norman R. Bowen in Lowell Thomas: The Stranger Everyone Knows (1968). His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he would use in titling his two volumes of memoirs. CANNOTANSWER | delivering a nightly news and commentary program. | Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards.
Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
Early life
Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper.
In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university.
Career
Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it.
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal.
Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land".
At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London.
Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death.
Cinerama
Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date.
Radio commentator and newscaster
Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons.
On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network.
After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast.
In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention.
In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio.
In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio.
His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs.
Personal life
Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure.
Legacy and honors
The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him.
Published works
Among Thomas's books are:
With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924
The First World Flight, 1925
Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925
Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927
European Skyways, 1927
The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927
Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928
Raiders of the Deep, 1928
The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929
Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929
The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929
The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930
Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930
India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930
Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore
Tall Stories, 1931
Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932
This Side of Hell, 1932
Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933
Born to Raise Hell, 1933
The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935
Fan Mail, 1935
A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936
Men of Danger, 1936
Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936
Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937
Hungry Waters, 1937
Wings Over Asia, 1937
Magic Dials, 1939
In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939
Soft Ball! So What?, 1940
How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940
Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940
Pageant of Adventure, 1940
Pageant of Life, 1941
Pageant of Romance, 1943
These Men Shall Never Die, 1943
Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951)
Back to Mandalay, 1951
Great True Adventures, 1955
The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955
Seven Wonders of the World, 1956
History As You Heard It 1957
The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957
The Vital Spark, 1959
Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961
More Great True Adventures, 1963
Book of the High Mountains, 1964 ()
Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 ()
Burma Jack, 1971 ()
Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 ()
Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 ()
So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 ()
Further reading
References
Notes
Sources
Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday
Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248
External links
With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive
Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District.
1892 births
1981 deaths
American broadcast news analysts
20th-century American businesspeople
American male journalists
American radio journalists
American travel writers
Peabody Award winners
People from Darke County, Ohio
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
University of Denver alumni
Princeton University alumni
Valparaiso University alumni
T. E. Lawrence
Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows | false | [
"\n\nTrack listing\n Opening Overture\n \"I Get a Kick Out of You\" (Cole Porter)\n \"You Are the Sunshine of My Life\" (Stevie Wonder)\n \"You Will Be My Music\" (Joe Raposo)\n \"Don't Worry 'bout Me\" (Ted Koehler, Rube Bloom)\n \"If\" (David Gates)\n \"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown\" (Jim Croce)\n \"Ol' Man River\" (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II)\n Famous Monologue\n Saloon Trilogy: \"Last Night When We Were Young\"/\"Violets for Your Furs\"/\"Here's That Rainy Day\" (Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg)/(Matt Dennis, Tom Adair)/(Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke)\n \"I've Got You Under My Skin\" (Porter)\n \"My Kind of Town\" (Sammy Cahn, Van Heusen)\n \"Let Me Try Again\" (Paul Anka, Cahn, Michel Jourdan)\n \"The Lady Is a Tramp\" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)\n \"My Way\" (Anka, Claude Francois, Jacques Revaux, Gilles Thibaut)\n\nFrank Sinatra's Monologue About the Australian Press\nI do believe this is my interval, as we say... We've been having a marvelous time being chased around the country for three days. You know, I think it's worth mentioning because it's so idiotic, it's so ridiculous what's been happening. We came all the way to Australia because I chose to come here. I haven't been here for a long time and I wanted to come back for a few days. Wait now, wait. I'm not buttering anybody at all. I don't have to. I really don't have to. I like coming here. I like the people. I love your attitude. I like the booze and the beer and everything else that comes into the scene. I also like the way the country's growing and it's a swinging place.\n\nSo we come here and what happens? We gotta run all day long because of the parasites who chase us with automobiles. That's dangerous, too, on the road, you know. Might cause an accident. They won't quit. They wonder why I won't talk to them. I wouldn't drink their water, let alone talk to them. And if any of you folks in the press are in the audience, please quote me properly. Don't mix it up, do it exactly as I'm saying it, please. Write it down very clearly. One idiot called me up and he wanted to know what I had for breakfast. What the hell does he care what I had for breakfast? I was about to tell him what I did after breakfast. Oh, boy, they're murder! We have a name in the States for their counterparts: They're called parasites. Because they take and take and take and never give, absolutely, never give. I don't care what you think about any press in the world, I say they're bums and they'll always be bums, everyone of them. There are just a few exceptions to the rule. Some good editorial writers who don't go out in the street and chase people around. Critics don't bother me, because if I do badly, I know I'm bad before they even write it, and if I'm good, I know I'm good before they write it. It's true. I know best about myself. So, a critic is a critic. He doesn't anger me. It's the scandal man who bugs you, drives you crazy. It's the two-bit-type work that they do. They're pimps. They're just crazy, you know. And the broads who work in the press are the hookers of the press. Need I explain that to you? I might offer them a buck and a half... I'm not sure. I once gave a chick in Washington $2 and I overpaid her, I found out. She didn't even bathe. Imagine what that was like, ha, ha.\n\nNow, it's a good thing I'm not angry. Really. It's a good thing I'm not angry. I couldn't care less. The press of the world never made a person a star who was untalented, nor did they ever hurt any artist who was talented. So we, who have God-given talent, say, \"To hell with them.\" It doesn't make any difference, you know. And I want to say one more thing. From what I see what's happened since I was last here... what, 16 years ago? Twelve years ago. From what I've seen to happen with the type of news that they print in this town shocked me. And do you know what is devastating? It's old-fashioned. It was done in America and England twenty years ago. And they're catching up with it now, with the scandal sheet. They're rags, that's what they are. You use them to train your dog and your parrot. What else do I have to say? Oh, I guess that's it. That'll keep them talking to themselves for a while. I think most of them are a bunch of fags anyway. Never did a hard day's work in their life. I love when they say, \"What do you mean, you won't stand still when I take your picture?\" All of a sudden, they're God. We gotta do what they want us to do. It's incredible. A pox on them... Now, let's get down to some serious business here...\n\nSee also\nConcerts of Frank Sinatra\n\nFrank Sinatra",
"\"Do What's Good for Me\" is a song recorded by Dutch Eurodance band 2 Unlimited, released in October 1995 as the first single from their greatest hits compilation album, Hits Unlimited. Co-written by Anita Dels and Ray Slijngaard, it was a notable hit in Europe, reaching the Top 10 in Finland and Spain.\n\nCritical reception\nLarry Flick from Billboard wrote, \"The ongoing wave of pop-NRG dance acts enjoying radio prominence owes a massive debt to this ever-hot European duo for getting the party started. Sadly, the act has yet to achieve U.S. success à la such offspring as Real McCoy, but this jumpy li'l jam could easily change that. The bassline throbs infectiously, while the interplay of male rapping and female singing pops with palpable chemistry.\" Ross Jones from The Guardian deemed it \"a powerhouse anthem of self-discovery, robo-bass, and skipping beats\". A reviewer from Music Week rated the song three out of five, adding that \"Anita and Ray go for a harder-edged techno sound, resulting in a less radio-friendly track than many of their recent releases.\" James Hamilton from the magazine's RM Dance Update called it a \"synth stabbed squawker\".\n\nChart performance\n\"Do What's God for Me\" scored chart success in many European countries, peaking at number 3 in both Finland and Spain. It managed a respectable 17th place on the Canadian RPM singles chart, while also charting in the Top 20 in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK. In the latter, it peaked at number 16 in its first week at the UK Singles Chart, on October 15, 1995. Additionally, the single was a Top 30 hit in Austria and Scotland, and a Top 40 hit in Sweden. In Australia, it only reached number 87.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video for \"Do What's Good For Me\" was directed by director Nigel Simpkiss and released in the UK in October 1995. It features Anita and Ray performing the song in a computer, on a website. Simpkiss also directed the music videos for \"Let the Beat Control Your Body\", \"The Real Thing\", \"Here I Go\" and \"Nothing Like the Rain\". \"Do What's Good For Me\" was uploaded to YouTube in July 2014, and as of September 2020, the video has got more than 140,000 views.\n\nTrack listing\n\n Canadian CD maxi\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Edit) (3:55)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Extended) (6:05)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Alex Party Remix) (5:08)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (X-Out Remix) (5:25)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Aural Pleasure Mix) (9:00)\n \"Club Megamix\" (9:34)\n\n European and Japanese CD maxi\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Edit) (3:49)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Extended) (6:03)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Alex Party Remix) (5:06)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (X-Out Remix) (5:22)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Aural Pleasure Mix) (8:58)\n \"Club Megamix\" (9:34)\n\n UK CD single no.1\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Radio Edit) (3:11)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Extended) (6:03)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (X-Out Remix) (5:22)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Alex Party Remix) (5:06)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Aural Pleasure Mix) (8:58)\n\n UK CD single no.2\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Radio Edit) (3:11)\n \"2U Megamix\" (6:04)\n \"Club Megamix\" (9:34)\n\n US CD maxi\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Edit) (3:49)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Extended) (6:03)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Alex Party Remix) (5:06)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (X-Out Remix) (5:22)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Aural Pleasure Mix) (8:58)\n\n 7\" single\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Edit) (3:49)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Alex Party Remix) (3:50)\n\n Belgian 12\" maxi\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Alex Party Remix) (5:06)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (X-Out Remix) (5:22)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Aural Pleasure Mix) (8:58)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Extended) (6:03)\n\n Italian 12\" maxi\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Extended) (6:03)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Edit) (3:49)\n \"Club Megamix\" (9:34)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Alex Party Remix) (5:06)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (X-Out Remix) (5:22)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Aural Pleasure Mix) (8:58)\n\n US 12\" maxi\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Extended) (6:03)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Alex Party Remix) (5:06)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (X-Out Remix) (5:22)\n \"Do What's Good For Me\" (Aural Pleasure Mix) (8:58)\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nKids Like You and Me\n\nIn the Netherlands, a re-recorded version of this track entitled \"Kids Like You And Me\" was released in order to promote awareness of homeless youth. The music remained the same while new lyrics were composed incorporating the messages of homeless youth. It was not released in the United Kingdom.\n\nTrack listing\n CD single \n \"Kids Like You And Me\" (Radio Edit) (3:49)\n \"Kids Like You And Me\" (Instrumental) (3:49)\n\nReferences\n\n1995 singles\n2 Unlimited songs\n1995 songs\nSongs written by Jean-Paul De Coster\nSongs written by Phil Wilde\nSongs written by Ray Slijngaard\nSongs written by Anita Doth\nByte Records singles\nPete Waterman Entertainment singles\nMusic videos directed by Nigel Simpkiss"
]
|
[
"Lowell Thomas",
"Newscaster",
"Where did he begin his career",
"broadcaster with the CBS Radio network,",
"What year was this",
"1930,",
"What did he do for them",
"delivering a nightly news and commentary program."
]
| C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_1 | How long did this last | 4 | How long did Lowell Thomas's career at CBS Radio Network last? | Lowell Thomas | In 1930, he became a broadcaster with the CBS Radio network, delivering a nightly news and commentary program. After two years, he switched to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News. Prior to 1947, he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first-ever television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast (even though it was just a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast) beginning on February 21, 1940 over local station W2XBS (now WNBC) New York. It is not known whether all or some of the radio/TV simulcasts were carried by the two other television stations capable of being fed programs by W2XBS at the time, which were W2XB (now WRGB) Schenectady and W3XE (now KYW-TV) Philadelphia). In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored the first live telecast of a political convention, the 1940 Republican National Convention which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. Reportedly, Thomas wasn't even in Philadelphia, instead anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for him, and he favored radio. Indeed, it was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day (a record later surpassed by Paul Harvey). "No other journalist or world figure, with the possible exception of Winston Churchill, has remained in the public spotlight for so long," wrote Norman R. Bowen in Lowell Thomas: The Stranger Everyone Knows (1968). His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he would use in titling his two volumes of memoirs. CANNOTANSWER | After two years, | Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards.
Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
Early life
Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper.
In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university.
Career
Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it.
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal.
Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land".
At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London.
Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death.
Cinerama
Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date.
Radio commentator and newscaster
Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons.
On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network.
After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast.
In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention.
In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio.
In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio.
His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs.
Personal life
Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure.
Legacy and honors
The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him.
Published works
Among Thomas's books are:
With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924
The First World Flight, 1925
Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925
Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927
European Skyways, 1927
The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927
Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928
Raiders of the Deep, 1928
The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929
Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929
The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929
The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930
Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930
India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930
Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore
Tall Stories, 1931
Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932
This Side of Hell, 1932
Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933
Born to Raise Hell, 1933
The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935
Fan Mail, 1935
A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936
Men of Danger, 1936
Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936
Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937
Hungry Waters, 1937
Wings Over Asia, 1937
Magic Dials, 1939
In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939
Soft Ball! So What?, 1940
How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940
Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940
Pageant of Adventure, 1940
Pageant of Life, 1941
Pageant of Romance, 1943
These Men Shall Never Die, 1943
Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951)
Back to Mandalay, 1951
Great True Adventures, 1955
The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955
Seven Wonders of the World, 1956
History As You Heard It 1957
The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957
The Vital Spark, 1959
Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961
More Great True Adventures, 1963
Book of the High Mountains, 1964 ()
Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 ()
Burma Jack, 1971 ()
Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 ()
Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 ()
So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 ()
Further reading
References
Notes
Sources
Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday
Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248
External links
With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive
Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District.
1892 births
1981 deaths
American broadcast news analysts
20th-century American businesspeople
American male journalists
American radio journalists
American travel writers
Peabody Award winners
People from Darke County, Ohio
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
University of Denver alumni
Princeton University alumni
Valparaiso University alumni
T. E. Lawrence
Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows | true | [
"The Migraine Disability Assessment Test (MIDAS) is a test used by doctors to determine how severely migraines affect a patient's life. Patients are asked questions about the frequency and duration of their headaches, as well as how often these headaches limited their ability to participate in activities at work, at school, or at home.\n\nThe test was evaluated by the professional journal Neurology in 2001; it was found to be both reliable and valid.\n\nQuestions\nThe MIDAS contains the following questions:\n\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss work or school because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last 3 months was your productivity at work or school reduced by half or more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 1 where you missed work or school.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you not do household work because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last three months was your productivity in household work reduced by half of more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 3 where you did not do household work.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss family, social or leisure activities because of your headaches?\n\nThe patient's score consists of the total of these five questions. Additionally, there is a section for patients to share with their doctors:\n\nWhat your Physician will need to know about your headache:\n\nA. On how many days in the last 3 months did you have a headache?\n(If a headache lasted more than 1 day, count each day.)\t\n\nB. On a scale of 0 - 10, on average how painful were these headaches? \n(where 0 = no pain at all and 10 = pain as bad as it can be.)\n\nScoring\nOnce scored, the test gives the patient an idea of how debilitating his/her migraines are based on this scale:\n\n0 to 5, MIDAS Grade I, Little or no disability \n\n6 to 10, MIDAS Grade II, Mild disability\n\n11 to 20, MIDAS Grade III, Moderate disability\n\n21+, MIDAS Grade IV, Severe disability\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMigraine Treatment\n\nMigraine",
"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"
]
|
[
"Lowell Thomas",
"Newscaster",
"Where did he begin his career",
"broadcaster with the CBS Radio network,",
"What year was this",
"1930,",
"What did he do for them",
"delivering a nightly news and commentary program.",
"How long did this last",
"After two years,"
]
| C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_1 | What was his next job | 5 | What was Lowell Thomas's next job after working with the CBS Radio Network? | Lowell Thomas | In 1930, he became a broadcaster with the CBS Radio network, delivering a nightly news and commentary program. After two years, he switched to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News. Prior to 1947, he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first-ever television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast (even though it was just a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast) beginning on February 21, 1940 over local station W2XBS (now WNBC) New York. It is not known whether all or some of the radio/TV simulcasts were carried by the two other television stations capable of being fed programs by W2XBS at the time, which were W2XB (now WRGB) Schenectady and W3XE (now KYW-TV) Philadelphia). In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored the first live telecast of a political convention, the 1940 Republican National Convention which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. Reportedly, Thomas wasn't even in Philadelphia, instead anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for him, and he favored radio. Indeed, it was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day (a record later surpassed by Paul Harvey). "No other journalist or world figure, with the possible exception of Winston Churchill, has remained in the public spotlight for so long," wrote Norman R. Bowen in Lowell Thomas: The Stranger Everyone Knows (1968). His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he would use in titling his two volumes of memoirs. CANNOTANSWER | switched to the NBC Radio network | Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards.
Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
Early life
Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper.
In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university.
Career
Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it.
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal.
Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land".
At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London.
Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death.
Cinerama
Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date.
Radio commentator and newscaster
Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons.
On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network.
After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast.
In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention.
In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio.
In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio.
His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs.
Personal life
Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure.
Legacy and honors
The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him.
Published works
Among Thomas's books are:
With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924
The First World Flight, 1925
Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925
Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927
European Skyways, 1927
The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927
Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928
Raiders of the Deep, 1928
The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929
Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929
The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929
The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930
Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930
India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930
Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore
Tall Stories, 1931
Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932
This Side of Hell, 1932
Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933
Born to Raise Hell, 1933
The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935
Fan Mail, 1935
A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936
Men of Danger, 1936
Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936
Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937
Hungry Waters, 1937
Wings Over Asia, 1937
Magic Dials, 1939
In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939
Soft Ball! So What?, 1940
How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940
Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940
Pageant of Adventure, 1940
Pageant of Life, 1941
Pageant of Romance, 1943
These Men Shall Never Die, 1943
Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951)
Back to Mandalay, 1951
Great True Adventures, 1955
The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955
Seven Wonders of the World, 1956
History As You Heard It 1957
The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957
The Vital Spark, 1959
Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961
More Great True Adventures, 1963
Book of the High Mountains, 1964 ()
Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 ()
Burma Jack, 1971 ()
Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 ()
Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 ()
So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 ()
Further reading
References
Notes
Sources
Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday
Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248
External links
With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive
Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District.
1892 births
1981 deaths
American broadcast news analysts
20th-century American businesspeople
American male journalists
American radio journalists
American travel writers
Peabody Award winners
People from Darke County, Ohio
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
University of Denver alumni
Princeton University alumni
Valparaiso University alumni
T. E. Lawrence
Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows | false | [
"Bildad ( Bildaḏ), the Shuhite, was one of Job's three friends who visited the patriarch in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Job. He was a descendant of Shuah, son of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:1 - 25:2), whose family lived in the deserts of Arabia, or a resident of the district. In speaking with Job, his intent was consolation, but he became an accuser, asking Job what he has done to deserve God's wrath.\n\nSpeeches\nThe three speeches of Bildad are contained in Job 8, Job 18 and Job 25. In substance, they were largely an echo of what had been maintained by Eliphaz the Temanite, the first of Job's friends to speak, but charged with somewhat increased vehemence because he deemed Job's words so impious and wrathful. Bildad was the first to attribute Job's calamity to actual wickedness, albeit indirectly, by accusing his children (who were destroyed, Job 1:19) of sin to warrant their punishment (Job 8:4). His brief third speech, just five verses in length, marked the silencing of the friends.\n\nSee also \nEliphaz\nZophar\n Elihu\n Bildad is also the name of one of the owners of the Pequod in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nHebrew Bible people\nBook of Job",
"Mark Knoller is a former correspondent with CBS best known for his reporting on the White House. He has covered every American president since Gerald Ford, and started gathering statistics on the presidents' daily activities in 1996.\n\nEarly life \nKnoller is originally from Brooklyn, NY and graduated from New York University.\n\nCareer\nOn May 28, 2020, it was reported that CBS had laid off Knoller. He tweeted that day that he was still on the job and was waiting to see what he would do next. The layoff was greeted by a tremendous outpouring of support for Knoller from all sides of the political divide.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\nLiving people\nCBS News people\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
]
|
[
"Lowell Thomas",
"Newscaster",
"Where did he begin his career",
"broadcaster with the CBS Radio network,",
"What year was this",
"1930,",
"What did he do for them",
"delivering a nightly news and commentary program.",
"How long did this last",
"After two years,",
"What was his next job",
"switched to the NBC Radio network"
]
| C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_1 | how long did this last | 6 | How long did Lowell Thomas's career with the NBC Radio Network last? | Lowell Thomas | In 1930, he became a broadcaster with the CBS Radio network, delivering a nightly news and commentary program. After two years, he switched to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News. Prior to 1947, he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first-ever television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast (even though it was just a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast) beginning on February 21, 1940 over local station W2XBS (now WNBC) New York. It is not known whether all or some of the radio/TV simulcasts were carried by the two other television stations capable of being fed programs by W2XBS at the time, which were W2XB (now WRGB) Schenectady and W3XE (now KYW-TV) Philadelphia). In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored the first live telecast of a political convention, the 1940 Republican National Convention which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. Reportedly, Thomas wasn't even in Philadelphia, instead anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for him, and he favored radio. Indeed, it was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day (a record later surpassed by Paul Harvey). "No other journalist or world figure, with the possible exception of Winston Churchill, has remained in the public spotlight for so long," wrote Norman R. Bowen in Lowell Thomas: The Stranger Everyone Knows (1968). His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he would use in titling his two volumes of memoirs. CANNOTANSWER | 1947. | Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards.
Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
Early life
Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper.
In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university.
Career
Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it.
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal.
Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land".
At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London.
Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death.
Cinerama
Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date.
Radio commentator and newscaster
Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons.
On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network.
After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast.
In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention.
In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio.
In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio.
His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs.
Personal life
Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure.
Legacy and honors
The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him.
Published works
Among Thomas's books are:
With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924
The First World Flight, 1925
Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925
Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927
European Skyways, 1927
The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927
Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928
Raiders of the Deep, 1928
The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929
Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929
The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929
The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930
Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930
India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930
Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore
Tall Stories, 1931
Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932
This Side of Hell, 1932
Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933
Born to Raise Hell, 1933
The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935
Fan Mail, 1935
A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936
Men of Danger, 1936
Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936
Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937
Hungry Waters, 1937
Wings Over Asia, 1937
Magic Dials, 1939
In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939
Soft Ball! So What?, 1940
How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940
Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940
Pageant of Adventure, 1940
Pageant of Life, 1941
Pageant of Romance, 1943
These Men Shall Never Die, 1943
Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951)
Back to Mandalay, 1951
Great True Adventures, 1955
The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955
Seven Wonders of the World, 1956
History As You Heard It 1957
The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957
The Vital Spark, 1959
Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961
More Great True Adventures, 1963
Book of the High Mountains, 1964 ()
Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 ()
Burma Jack, 1971 ()
Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 ()
Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 ()
So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 ()
Further reading
References
Notes
Sources
Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday
Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248
External links
With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive
Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District.
1892 births
1981 deaths
American broadcast news analysts
20th-century American businesspeople
American male journalists
American radio journalists
American travel writers
Peabody Award winners
People from Darke County, Ohio
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
University of Denver alumni
Princeton University alumni
Valparaiso University alumni
T. E. Lawrence
Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows | true | [
"The Migraine Disability Assessment Test (MIDAS) is a test used by doctors to determine how severely migraines affect a patient's life. Patients are asked questions about the frequency and duration of their headaches, as well as how often these headaches limited their ability to participate in activities at work, at school, or at home.\n\nThe test was evaluated by the professional journal Neurology in 2001; it was found to be both reliable and valid.\n\nQuestions\nThe MIDAS contains the following questions:\n\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss work or school because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last 3 months was your productivity at work or school reduced by half or more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 1 where you missed work or school.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you not do household work because of your headaches?\n How many days in the last three months was your productivity in household work reduced by half of more because of your headaches? (Do not include days you counted in question 3 where you did not do household work.)\n On how many days in the last 3 months did you miss family, social or leisure activities because of your headaches?\n\nThe patient's score consists of the total of these five questions. Additionally, there is a section for patients to share with their doctors:\n\nWhat your Physician will need to know about your headache:\n\nA. On how many days in the last 3 months did you have a headache?\n(If a headache lasted more than 1 day, count each day.)\t\n\nB. On a scale of 0 - 10, on average how painful were these headaches? \n(where 0 = no pain at all and 10 = pain as bad as it can be.)\n\nScoring\nOnce scored, the test gives the patient an idea of how debilitating his/her migraines are based on this scale:\n\n0 to 5, MIDAS Grade I, Little or no disability \n\n6 to 10, MIDAS Grade II, Mild disability\n\n11 to 20, MIDAS Grade III, Moderate disability\n\n21+, MIDAS Grade IV, Severe disability\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMigraine Treatment\n\nMigraine",
"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"
]
|
[
"Lowell Thomas",
"Newscaster",
"Where did he begin his career",
"broadcaster with the CBS Radio network,",
"What year was this",
"1930,",
"What did he do for them",
"delivering a nightly news and commentary program.",
"How long did this last",
"After two years,",
"What was his next job",
"switched to the NBC Radio network",
"how long did this last",
"1947."
]
| C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_1 | Who did he work for | 7 | Who did Lowell Thomas work for? | Lowell Thomas | In 1930, he became a broadcaster with the CBS Radio network, delivering a nightly news and commentary program. After two years, he switched to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News. Prior to 1947, he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first-ever television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast (even though it was just a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast) beginning on February 21, 1940 over local station W2XBS (now WNBC) New York. It is not known whether all or some of the radio/TV simulcasts were carried by the two other television stations capable of being fed programs by W2XBS at the time, which were W2XB (now WRGB) Schenectady and W3XE (now KYW-TV) Philadelphia). In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored the first live telecast of a political convention, the 1940 Republican National Convention which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. Reportedly, Thomas wasn't even in Philadelphia, instead anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for him, and he favored radio. Indeed, it was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day (a record later surpassed by Paul Harvey). "No other journalist or world figure, with the possible exception of Winston Churchill, has remained in the public spotlight for so long," wrote Norman R. Bowen in Lowell Thomas: The Stranger Everyone Knows (1968). His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he would use in titling his two volumes of memoirs. CANNOTANSWER | CBS | Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards.
Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
Early life
Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper.
In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university.
Career
Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it.
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal.
Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land".
At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London.
Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death.
Cinerama
Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date.
Radio commentator and newscaster
Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons.
On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network.
After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast.
In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention.
In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio.
In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio.
His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs.
Personal life
Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure.
Legacy and honors
The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him.
Published works
Among Thomas's books are:
With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924
The First World Flight, 1925
Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925
Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927
European Skyways, 1927
The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927
Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928
Raiders of the Deep, 1928
The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929
Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929
The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929
The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930
Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930
India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930
Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore
Tall Stories, 1931
Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932
This Side of Hell, 1932
Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933
Born to Raise Hell, 1933
The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935
Fan Mail, 1935
A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936
Men of Danger, 1936
Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936
Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937
Hungry Waters, 1937
Wings Over Asia, 1937
Magic Dials, 1939
In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939
Soft Ball! So What?, 1940
How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940
Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940
Pageant of Adventure, 1940
Pageant of Life, 1941
Pageant of Romance, 1943
These Men Shall Never Die, 1943
Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951)
Back to Mandalay, 1951
Great True Adventures, 1955
The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955
Seven Wonders of the World, 1956
History As You Heard It 1957
The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957
The Vital Spark, 1959
Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961
More Great True Adventures, 1963
Book of the High Mountains, 1964 ()
Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 ()
Burma Jack, 1971 ()
Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 ()
Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 ()
So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 ()
Further reading
References
Notes
Sources
Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday
Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248
External links
With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive
Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District.
1892 births
1981 deaths
American broadcast news analysts
20th-century American businesspeople
American male journalists
American radio journalists
American travel writers
Peabody Award winners
People from Darke County, Ohio
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
University of Denver alumni
Princeton University alumni
Valparaiso University alumni
T. E. Lawrence
Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows | true | [
"Robert D. Gustafson (August 8, 1920 – November 28, 2001) was an American cartoonist whose work includes eight years on Tillie the Toiler and a 27-year run on the Beetle Bailey comic books.\n\nEarly life\nGustafson was born on August 8, 1920, in Brookline, Massachusetts. He served in the Army as a pilot and pitched semi-pro baseball in the Boston area. Gustafson attended Boston's School of the Museum of Fine Arts and did his first work for Bostonian magazine in the early 1940s.\n\nComic strips\nIn the post-World War II years he did his Sunday strip Specs for the New York Tribune Syndicate. Published for one full year (May 12, 1946 to May 25, 1947), it was a filler strip which did not always appear every week.\n\nIn the 1950s, he did gag cartoons for Ladies' Home Journal, Ridgefield Press, Good Housekeeping, The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's and Judge. He assisted on Russ Westover's Tillie the Toiler strip for King Features. After Westover departed, Gustafson's signature appeared on the strip beginning October 4, 1954 and ending March 7, 1959.\n\nIn the 1960s, he assisted as a writer on Joe Palooka for the McNaught Syndicate before joining Mort Walker's staff. From 1963 until the mid-1970s, he assisted on Walker's Beetle Bailey, Boner's Ark and Hi and Lois. Gustafson was mainly involved in the Beetle Bailey comic books published by Dell Publishing/Western (early 1960s), King Comics (mid-1960s) and Charlton Comics (early 1970s). He drew Robert Baldwin's Freddy for Dell Comics and his other work for Dell includes Mr. Magoo and Ponytail.\n\nEditorial cartoons\nIn later years, he did editorial cartoons for the Acorn group of Connecticut newspapers.\n\nAwards\nGustafson received the National Cartoonists Society Comic Book Award for 1962 and 1982 and their Humor Comic Book Award for 1971 and 1972. He retired to Old Greenwich, Connecticut and died there on November 28, 2001.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n Westover, Russ. Tillie the Toiler and the Masquerading Duchess (Whitman, 1943)\n\nExternal links\n Who's Who in Ridgefield\n NCS Awards\n Lambiek: Bob Gustafson\n Tillie the Toiler\n\n1920 births\n2001 deaths\nAmerican comic strip cartoonists\nAmerican editorial cartoonists\nAmerican people of Swedish descent\nPeople from Old Greenwich, Connecticut\nUnited States Army personnel",
"William Woolnoth (1780–1837) was an engraver. He was one of the engravers whose work was included in Cadell and Davies Britannia depicta. He did engravings of work by artists such as Thomas Mann Baynes, Robert Blemmell Schnebbelie, Frederick Wilton Litchfield Stockdale and Thomas Allom. He also did the engravings for Edward William Brayley's The ancient castles of England and Wales. He did the engravings for a book that he published in 1816 on the cathedral church of Canterbury (A graphical illustration of the metropolitan cathedral church of Canterbury; accompanied by a history and description of that venerable fabric) According to Oxford Reference he also did engraving work in Spain. He was also one of the engravers for The Architecture of M. Vitruvius Pollio in Ten Books (De architectura).\n\nHis engravings are part of the British Museum collection and National Archives. An engraving by Woolnoth is also included in the Gott Collection of William Gott, a wool merchant, and his son John Gott who was vicar of Leeds and Bishop of Truro.\n\nReferences\n\n1780 births\n1837 deaths\nEnglish engravers"
]
|
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"Where did he begin his career",
"broadcaster with the CBS Radio network,",
"What year was this",
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"What did he do for them",
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"How long did this last",
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"What was his next job",
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"how long did this last",
"1947.",
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"CBS"
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| C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_1 | Why is this diffrent | 8 | Why is Lowell Thomas's career different from today's practices? | Lowell Thomas | In 1930, he became a broadcaster with the CBS Radio network, delivering a nightly news and commentary program. After two years, he switched to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News. Prior to 1947, he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first-ever television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast (even though it was just a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast) beginning on February 21, 1940 over local station W2XBS (now WNBC) New York. It is not known whether all or some of the radio/TV simulcasts were carried by the two other television stations capable of being fed programs by W2XBS at the time, which were W2XB (now WRGB) Schenectady and W3XE (now KYW-TV) Philadelphia). In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored the first live telecast of a political convention, the 1940 Republican National Convention which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. Reportedly, Thomas wasn't even in Philadelphia, instead anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for him, and he favored radio. Indeed, it was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day (a record later surpassed by Paul Harvey). "No other journalist or world figure, with the possible exception of Winston Churchill, has remained in the public spotlight for so long," wrote Norman R. Bowen in Lowell Thomas: The Stranger Everyone Knows (1968). His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he would use in titling his two volumes of memoirs. CANNOTANSWER | In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News. | Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards.
Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
Early life
Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper.
In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university.
Career
Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it.
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal.
Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land".
At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London.
Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death.
Cinerama
Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date.
Radio commentator and newscaster
Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons.
On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network.
After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast.
In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention.
In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio.
In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio.
His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs.
Personal life
Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure.
Legacy and honors
The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him.
Published works
Among Thomas's books are:
With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924
The First World Flight, 1925
Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925
Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927
European Skyways, 1927
The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927
Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928
Raiders of the Deep, 1928
The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929
Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929
The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929
The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930
Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930
India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930
Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore
Tall Stories, 1931
Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932
This Side of Hell, 1932
Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933
Born to Raise Hell, 1933
The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935
Fan Mail, 1935
A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936
Men of Danger, 1936
Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936
Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937
Hungry Waters, 1937
Wings Over Asia, 1937
Magic Dials, 1939
In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939
Soft Ball! So What?, 1940
How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940
Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940
Pageant of Adventure, 1940
Pageant of Life, 1941
Pageant of Romance, 1943
These Men Shall Never Die, 1943
Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951)
Back to Mandalay, 1951
Great True Adventures, 1955
The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955
Seven Wonders of the World, 1956
History As You Heard It 1957
The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957
The Vital Spark, 1959
Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961
More Great True Adventures, 1963
Book of the High Mountains, 1964 ()
Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 ()
Burma Jack, 1971 ()
Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 ()
Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 ()
So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 ()
Further reading
References
Notes
Sources
Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday
Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248
External links
With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive
Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District.
1892 births
1981 deaths
American broadcast news analysts
20th-century American businesspeople
American male journalists
American radio journalists
American travel writers
Peabody Award winners
People from Darke County, Ohio
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
University of Denver alumni
Princeton University alumni
Valparaiso University alumni
T. E. Lawrence
Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows | 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)",
"\"Why I Am\" is a song by Dave Matthews Band from their album Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King\n\nWhy I Am and Why I Am Not may refer to:\n\nWhy I Am\nWhy I Am an Atheist, an essay by Indian revolutionary Bhagat Singh, published in 1930.\nWhy I Am Still a Christian is a book by Catholic theologian Hans Küng, published in 1987.\nWhy I Am a Christian, is a 2003 book by English author John Stott.\n Why I Am an Atheist is an essay by Indian revolutionary Bhagat Singh, published in 1930.\n\nWhy I Am Not\n Why I Am Not a Conservative, an essay by Austrian School economist Friedrich Hayek, published in 1960.\n Why I Am Not a Christian, by historian and philosopher Richard Carrier\n Why I Am Not a Communist, by Karel Čapek, a 1924 essay in Přítomnost magazine.\n Why I Am Not a Conservative is an essay by Austrian School economist Friedrich Hayek, published in 1960.\n Why I Am Not a Hindu, a 1996 book in a similar vein by Kancha Ilaiah, an activist opposed to the Indian caste system.\n Why I Am Not a Muslim, by Ibn Warraq, is a 1995 book also critical of the religion in which the author was brought up — in this case, Islam. The author mentions Why I Am Not a Christian towards the end of the first chapter, stating that many of its arguments also apply to Islam.\n Why I Am Not a Property Dualist, an essay by John Searle in which he criticises the philosophical position of property dualism.\n Why I Am Not a Scientist (2009) , by biological anthropologist Jonathan M. Marks\n\nSimilar titles\n How I Stopped Being a Jew, is a 2014 book by Israeli historian Shlomo Sand."
]
|
[
"Lowell Thomas",
"Newscaster",
"Where did he begin his career",
"broadcaster with the CBS Radio network,",
"What year was this",
"1930,",
"What did he do for them",
"delivering a nightly news and commentary program.",
"How long did this last",
"After two years,",
"What was his next job",
"switched to the NBC Radio network",
"how long did this last",
"1947.",
"Who did he work for",
"CBS",
"Why is this diffrent",
"In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News."
]
| C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_1 | Who was in charge | 9 | Who was in charge of Lowell Thomas? | Lowell Thomas | In 1930, he became a broadcaster with the CBS Radio network, delivering a nightly news and commentary program. After two years, he switched to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News. Prior to 1947, he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first-ever television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast (even though it was just a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast) beginning on February 21, 1940 over local station W2XBS (now WNBC) New York. It is not known whether all or some of the radio/TV simulcasts were carried by the two other television stations capable of being fed programs by W2XBS at the time, which were W2XB (now WRGB) Schenectady and W3XE (now KYW-TV) Philadelphia). In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored the first live telecast of a political convention, the 1940 Republican National Convention which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. Reportedly, Thomas wasn't even in Philadelphia, instead anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for him, and he favored radio. Indeed, it was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day (a record later surpassed by Paul Harvey). "No other journalist or world figure, with the possible exception of Winston Churchill, has remained in the public spotlight for so long," wrote Norman R. Bowen in Lowell Thomas: The Stranger Everyone Knows (1968). His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he would use in titling his two volumes of memoirs. CANNOTANSWER | he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. | Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards.
Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
Early life
Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper.
In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university.
Career
Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it.
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal.
Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land".
At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London.
Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death.
Cinerama
Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date.
Radio commentator and newscaster
Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons.
On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network.
After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast.
In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention.
In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio.
In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio.
His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs.
Personal life
Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure.
Legacy and honors
The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him.
Published works
Among Thomas's books are:
With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924
The First World Flight, 1925
Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925
Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927
European Skyways, 1927
The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927
Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928
Raiders of the Deep, 1928
The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929
Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929
The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929
The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930
Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930
India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930
Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore
Tall Stories, 1931
Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932
This Side of Hell, 1932
Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933
Born to Raise Hell, 1933
The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935
Fan Mail, 1935
A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936
Men of Danger, 1936
Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936
Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937
Hungry Waters, 1937
Wings Over Asia, 1937
Magic Dials, 1939
In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939
Soft Ball! So What?, 1940
How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940
Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940
Pageant of Adventure, 1940
Pageant of Life, 1941
Pageant of Romance, 1943
These Men Shall Never Die, 1943
Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951)
Back to Mandalay, 1951
Great True Adventures, 1955
The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955
Seven Wonders of the World, 1956
History As You Heard It 1957
The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957
The Vital Spark, 1959
Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961
More Great True Adventures, 1963
Book of the High Mountains, 1964 ()
Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 ()
Burma Jack, 1971 ()
Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 ()
Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 ()
So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 ()
Further reading
References
Notes
Sources
Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday
Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248
External links
With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive
Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District.
1892 births
1981 deaths
American broadcast news analysts
20th-century American businesspeople
American male journalists
American radio journalists
American travel writers
Peabody Award winners
People from Darke County, Ohio
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
University of Denver alumni
Princeton University alumni
Valparaiso University alumni
T. E. Lawrence
Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows | false | [
"James Grierson (1662–1732) was a Scottish minister of the Church of Scotland who served as Moderator of the General Assembly in 1719. He was the first \"second charge\" to become Moderator.\n\nLife\n\nHe was ordained as a minister of the Church of Scotland in Wemyss in September 1698. In 1709 he was \"called\" by the Presbytery of Edinburgh to be \"second charge\" of the highly influential and prestigious Trinity College Church. Although he is recorded as \"second charge\" it is unclear who (if any) was \"first charge\" when he arrived. In 1714 James Bannatine came as first charge, but in 1719 it was Grierson as second charge, not Bannatine as first charge, who was elected Moderator of the General Assembly. This peculiarity was partially redressed in 1739 when Bannatine in turn was elected Moderator.\n\nGrierson died of palsy, following a long period of illness, on 5 July 1732.\n\nFamily\n\nHe married the daughter of Rev Matthew Selkrig (1643-1729), minister of Crichton, Midlothian.\n\nReferences\nCitations\n\nSources\n\n1662 births\n1732 deaths\nScottish clergy\nModerators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland",
"The Commodore-in-Charge, Algiers was an administrative shore based appointment of the British Royal Navy established during World war II who was responsible for the berthing of all British convoys in Algeria and its sub-commands, facilities and staff from 1942 to 1946. The post holder was based at Allied Force Headquarters, Algiers. It was at first a sub-command of the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet then later the Commander-in-Chief, Levant.\n\nHistory\nThe post of Commodore-in-Charge, Algiers was established in December 1942. The office holder was shore based at Allied Forces Headquarters in Algiers. He was chiefly responsible for the berthing of convoys at all Algerian ports and bases and administering the RN establishments in Algeria including its naval base HMS Hannibal. its facilities, installations and staff. In addition he superintended the S.N.O. in Charge at the port of Bone. The S.N.O. Bone was responsible superintending the senior naval officers in charge at Bougie and Phillippeville naval bases. The post holder reported directly to the Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Fleet until February 1943 when that command was divided between operational and shore commands his reporting line transferred to the Commander-in-Chief, Levant. In January 1944 both commands were reunified under the single Mediterranean Fleet once more. The post holder was active from 1942 to 1944 when his post was abolished his sub-commands were gradually deactivated by 1946 when the shore establishment at Algiers HMS Hannibal was closed.\n\nCommodore-in-Charge, Algiers\n\nSub-commands\n\nNaval Officer-in-Charge, Bone\nThe Naval Officer-in-Charge, Bone was a administrative shore based appointment who was responsible superintending HMS Cannae including its facilities and staff from January to August 1943.\n\nNaval Officer-in-Charge, Bougie\nThe Naval Officer-in-Charge, Bougie was a shore based command appointment the post who was responsible superintending HMS Byrsa at Bougie, Algeria including its facilities and staff from January to December 1943 he then transferred to HMS Cannae from August to December 1943 to .\n\nNaval Officer-in-Charge, Phillippeville\nThe Naval Officer-in-Charge, Phillippeville was a administrative shore based command appointment of British Royal Navy who was initially responsible superintending HMS Elissa at Phillippeville, Algeria including its facilities and staff from January to August 1943 he then transferred to HMS Cannae from August to December 1943''.\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n Houterman, Jerome N..; Koppes, Jeroen (2004–2006). \"Royal Navy, Mediterranean Fleet 1939-1945\". www.unithistories.com. Houterman and Koppes.\n Imperial War Museums. London, England\n \"Naval Shore Establishments\". National Museum of the Royal Navy. Greenwich, London, England: National Maritime Museum.\n\nA\nMilitary units and formations established in 1942\nMilitary units and formations disestablished in 1946"
]
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"how long did this last",
"1947.",
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"he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco."
]
| C_ad45c3ed30d84f508f070326b4b509bc_1 | Why did they move | 10 | Why did Lowell Thomas move back to CBS? | Lowell Thomas | In 1930, he became a broadcaster with the CBS Radio network, delivering a nightly news and commentary program. After two years, he switched to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News. Prior to 1947, he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first-ever television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast (even though it was just a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast) beginning on February 21, 1940 over local station W2XBS (now WNBC) New York. It is not known whether all or some of the radio/TV simulcasts were carried by the two other television stations capable of being fed programs by W2XBS at the time, which were W2XB (now WRGB) Schenectady and W3XE (now KYW-TV) Philadelphia). In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored the first live telecast of a political convention, the 1940 Republican National Convention which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. Reportedly, Thomas wasn't even in Philadelphia, instead anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for him, and he favored radio. Indeed, it was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day (a record later surpassed by Paul Harvey). "No other journalist or world figure, with the possible exception of Winston Churchill, has remained in the public spotlight for so long," wrote Norman R. Bowen in Lowell Thomas: The Stranger Everyone Knows (1968). His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he would use in titling his two volumes of memoirs. CANNOTANSWER | returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast | Refers to the travel journalist. For the eponymous travel journalism awards program, see Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards.
Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system. In 1954, he led a group of New York City-based investors to buy majority control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
Early life
Thomas was born in Woodington, Darke County, Ohio, to Harry and Harriet (née Wagoner) Thomas. His father was a doctor, his mother a teacher. In 1900, the family moved to the mining town of Victor, Colorado. Thomas worked there as a gold miner, a cook, and a reporter on the newspaper.
In 1911, Thomas graduated from Victor High School where one of his teachers was Mabel Barbee Lee. and began work for the Chicago Journal, writing for it until 1914. Thomas also was on the faculty of Chicago-Kent College of Law (now part of Illinois Institute of Technology), where he taught oratory from 1912 to 1914. He then went to New Jersey where he studied for a master's at Princeton University (he received the degree in 1916) and again taught oratory at the university.
Career
Thomas was a relentless self-promoter, and he persuaded railroads to give him free passage in exchange for articles extolling rail travel. When he visited Alaska, he hit upon the idea of the travelogue, movies about faraway places. When the United States entered World War I, President Wilson sent him and others to "compile a history of the conflict", but the mission was not academic. The war was not popular in the United States, and Thomas was sent to find material that would encourage the American people to support it. He did not want to merely write about the war, he wanted to film it.
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas and cameraman Harry Chase first went to the Western Front, but the trenches had little to inspire the American public. They then went to Italy, where he heard of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine. Thomas traveled to Palestine as an accredited war correspondent with the permission of the British Foreign Office. In Jerusalem, he met T. E. Lawrence, a captain in the British Army stationed in Jerusalem. Lawrence was spending £200,000 a month encouraging the inhabitants of Palestine to rebel against the Turks. Thomas and Chase spent several weeks with him in the desert, although Lawrence had told them that it would be "several days". Lawrence agreed to provide Thomas with material on the condition that Thomas also photograph and interview Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal.
Thomas shot dramatic footage of Lawrence, then returned to America and began giving public lectures in 1919 on the war in Palestine, "supported by moving pictures of veiled women, Arabs in their picturesque robes, camels and dashing Bedouin cavalry." His lectures were very popular and audiences large, and he "took the nation by storm" in the words of one modern biographer. He agreed to take the lecture to Britain, but only "if asked by the King and given Drury Lane or Covent Garden" as a lecture venue. His conditions were met, and he opened a series at Covent Garden on August 14, 1919. "And so followed a series of some hundreds of lecture–film shows, attended by the highest in the land".
At the opening of his six-month London run, there were incense braziers, exotically dressed women dancing before images of the Pyramids, and the band of the Welsh Guards playing accompaniment. Lawrence saw the show several times. He later claimed to dislike it, but it generated valuable publicity for his book. To strengthen the emphasis on Lawrence in the show, Thomas needed more photographs of him than Chase had taken in 1918. Lawrence claimed to be shy of publicity, but he agreed to a series of posed portraits in Arab dress in London.
Thomas genuinely admired Lawrence and continued to defend him against attacks on his reputation. Lawrence's brother Arnold allowed Thomas to contribute to T.E. Lawrence by his Friends (1937), a collection of essays and reminiscences published after Lawrence's death.
Cinerama
Thomas was a magazine editor during the 1920s, but he never lost his fascination with the movies. He narrated Twentieth Century Fox's Movietone newsreels until 1952, when he went into business with Mike Todd and Merian C. Cooper to exploit Cinerama, a film exhibition format using three projectors and an enormous curved screen with seven-channel surround sound. He produced the documentaries This is Cinerama, Seven Wonders of the World, and Search for Paradise in this format in 1956, with a 1957 release date.
Radio commentator and newscaster
Thomas was first heard on radio delivering talks about his travels in 1929 and 1930: for example, he spoke on the NBC Radio Network in late July 1930 about his trip to Cuba. Then, in late September 1930, he took over as the host of the Sunday evening Literary Digest program, replacing the previous host, Floyd Gibbons.
On this program, he told stories of his travels. The show was fifteen-minutes long, and heard on the NBC Network. Thomas soon changed the focus of the program from his own travels to interesting stories about other people, and by early October 1930, he was also including more news stories. It was that point that the program, which was now on six days a week, moved to the CBS Radio network.
After two years, he switched back to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947. He was not an employee of either NBC or CBS, contrary to today's practices, but was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast beginning on February 21, 1940 over W2XBS (now WNBC) New York, which was a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast.
In the summer of 1940, Thomas anchored a television broadcast of the 1940 Republican National Convention, the first live telecast of a political convention, which was fed from Philadelphia to W2XBS and on to W2XB. He was not actually in Philadelphia but was anchoring the broadcast from a New York studio and merely identifying speakers who addressed the convention.
In April 1945, Thomas flew in a normally single-person P-51 Mustang over Berlin while it was being attacked by the Soviet Union, reporting live via radio.
In 1953, Thomas was featured in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show that was broadcast simultaneously on the NBC and CBS television networks. The program was viewed by 60 million persons. Thomas presented a tribute to the classic days of radio.
His persistent debt problems were remedied by Thomas' manager/investing partner, Frank Smith who, in 1954, became the President of co-owned Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, which, in 1957, became Capital Cities Television Corporation.
The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for Thomas, as he favored radio. It was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day, since surpassed by Paul Harvey. His signature sign-on was "Good evening, everybody" and his sign-off was "So long, until tomorrow," phrases that he used as titles for his two volumes of memoirs.
Personal life
Thomas' wife Frances often traveled with him. She died in 1975, and he married Marianna Munn in 1977. They embarked on a honeymoon trip that took him to many of his favorite old destinations. Thomas died at his home in Pawling, New York in 1981. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery. Marianna died in Dayton, Ohio on January 28, 2010 after suffering renal failure.
Legacy and honors
The communications building at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York is named in honor of Thomas, after he received an honorary degree from the college in 1981. The Lowell Thomas Archives are housed as part of the college library. In 1945, Thomas received the Alfred I. duPont Award. In 1971, Thomas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. The Thomas Mountains in Antarctica are named for him.
Published works
Among Thomas's books are:
With Lawrence in Arabia, 1924
The First World Flight, 1925
Beyond Khyber Pass, 1925
Count Luckner, The Sea Devil, 1927
European Skyways, 1927
The Boy's Life of Colonel Lawrence, 1927
Adventures in Afghanistan for Boys, 1928
Raiders of the Deep, 1928
The Sea Devil's Fo'c'sle, 1929
Woodfill of the Regulars, 1929
The Hero of Vincennes: the Story of George Rogers Clark, 1929
The Wreck of the Dumaru, 1930
Lauterbach of the China Sea, 1930
India--Land of the Black Pagoda, 1930
Rolling Stone: The Life and Adventures of Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore., 1931 See Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore
Tall Stories, 1931
Kabluk of the Eskimo, 1932
This Side of Hell, 1932
Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of General Smedley Butler, 1933
Born to Raise Hell, 1933
The Untold Story of Exploration, 1935
Fan Mail, 1935
A Trip to New York With Bobby and Betty, 1936
Men of Danger, 1936
Kipling Stories and a Life of Kipling, 1936
Seeing Canada With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing India With Lowell Thomas, 1936
Seeing Japan With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Seeing Mexico With Lowell Thomas, 1937
Adventures Among the Immortals, 1937
Hungry Waters, 1937
Wings Over Asia, 1937
Magic Dials, 1939
In New Brunswick We'll Find It, 1939
Soft Ball! So What?, 1940
How To Keep Mentally Fit, 1940
Stand Fast for Freedom, 1940
Pageant of Adventure, 1940
Pageant of Life, 1941
Pageant of Romance, 1943
These Men Shall Never Die, 1943
Out of this World: Across the Himalayas to Tibet (1951)
Back to Mandalay, 1951
Great True Adventures, 1955
The Story of the New York Thruway, 1955
Seven Wonders of the World, 1956
History As You Heard It 1957
The Story of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957
The Vital Spark, 1959
Sir Hubert Wilkins, A Biography, 1961
More Great True Adventures, 1963
Book of the High Mountains, 1964 ()
Famous First Flights That Changed History, 1968 ()
Burma Jack, 1971 ()
Doolittle: A Biography, 1976 ()
Good Evening Everybody: From Cripple Creek to Samarkand, 1976 ()
So Long Until Tomorrow, 1977 ()
Further reading
References
Notes
Sources
Bowen, Norman (ed) (1968) The Stranger Everyone Knows Doubleday
Hamilton, John Maxwell (2011) Journalism's Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting LSU Press pg 248
External links
With Lawrence in Arabia at Internet Archive
Lowell Thomas interview at American Heritage
"Creating History: Lowell Thomas and Lawrence of Arabia" online history exhibit at Clio Visualizing History.
An Evening with Lowell Thomas (August 13, 1981), on the YouTube-channel of Pikes Peak Library District.
1892 births
1981 deaths
American broadcast news analysts
20th-century American businesspeople
American male journalists
American radio journalists
American travel writers
Peabody Award winners
People from Darke County, Ohio
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
University of Denver alumni
Princeton University alumni
Valparaiso University alumni
T. E. Lawrence
Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows | true | [
"\"Llangollen Market\" is a song from early 19th century Wales. It is known to have been performed at an eisteddfod at Llangollen in 1858.\n\nThe text of the song survives in a manuscript held by the National Museum of Wales, which came into the possession of singer Mary Davies, a co-founder of the Welsh Folk-Song Society.\n\nThe song tells the tale of a young man from the Llangollen area going off to war and leaving behind his broken-hearted girlfriend. Originally written in English, the song has been translated into Welsh and recorded by several artists such as Siân James, Siobhan Owen, Calennig and Siwsann George.\n\nLyrics\nIt’s far beyond the mountains that look so distant here,\nTo fight his country’s battles, last Mayday went my dear;\nAh, well shall I remember with bitter sighs the day,\nWhy, Owen, did you leave me? At home why did I stay?\n\nAh, cruel was my father that did my flight restrain,\nAnd I was cruel-hearted that did at home remain,\nWith you, my love, contented, I’d journey far away;\nWhy, Owen, did you leave me? At home why did I stay?\n\nWhile thinking of my Owen, my eyes with tears do fill,\nAnd then my mother chides me because my wheel stands still,\nBut how can I think of spinning when my Owen’s far away;\nWhy, Owen, did you leave me? At home why did I stay?\n\nTo market at Llangollen each morning do I go,\nBut how to strike a bargain no longer do I know;\nMy father chides at evening, my mother all the day;\nWhy, Owen, did you leave me, at home why did I stay?\n\nOh, would it please kind heaven to shield my love from harm,\nTo clasp him to my bosom would every care disarm,\nBut alas, I fear, 'tis distant - that happy, happy day;\nWhy, Owen, did you leave me, at home why did stay?\n\nReferences\n\nWelsh folk songs",
"\"Why did the chicken cross the road?\" is a common riddle joke, with the answer being \"To get to the other side\". It is commonly seen as an example of anti-humor, in that the curious setup of the joke leads the listener to expect a traditional punchline, but they are instead given a simple statement of fact. Some also see the phrase \"other side\" as the afterlife, suggesting that it is not anti-humor. \"Why did the chicken cross the road?\" has become iconic as an exemplary generic joke to which most people know the answer, and has been repeated and changed numerous times over the course of history.\n\nHistory \n\nThe riddle appeared in an 1847 edition of The Knickerbocker, a New York City monthly magazine:\n\nThere are 'quips and quillets' which seem actual conundrums, but yet are none. Of such is this: 'Why does a chicken cross the street?['] Are you 'out of town?' Do you 'give it up?' Well, then: 'Because it wants to get on the other side!'\n\nAccording to music critic Gary Giddins in the Ken Burns documentary Jazz, the joke was spread through the United States, to large cities and small towns, by minstrel shows beginning in the 1840s as one of the first national jokes, which endures as a part of American culture to this day. \n\nIn the 1890s, a pun variant version appeared in the magazine Potter's American Monthly:\nWhy should not a chicken cross the road?\nIt would be a fowl proceeding.\n\nVariations \n\nThere are many riddles that assume a familiarity with this well-known riddle and its answer. For example, an alternate punchline can be used for the riddle, such as \"it was too far to walk around\". One class of variations enlists a creature other than the chicken to cross the road, in order to refer back to the original riddle. For example, a duck (or turkey) crosses \"because it was the chicken's day off,\" and a dinosaur crosses \"because chickens didn't exist yet.\" Some variants are both puns and references to the original, such as \"Why did the duck cross the road?\" \"To prove he's no chicken\".\n\nOther variations replace side with another word often to form a pun. Some examples are:\n 'Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the idiot's house'. Knock knock',\n\n 'Who's there?' \n\n 'The chicken'\n\n\"Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide\"\n\n\"Why did the chewing gum cross the road? It was stuck to the chicken's foot\"\n\n\"Why did the whale cross the ocean? To get to the other tide.\"\n\nA mathematical version asks, \"Why did the chicken cross the Möbius strip?\" \"To get to the same side.\"\n\nAs with the lightbulb joke, variants on these themes are widespread.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading \n Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: \n\nJoke cycles\nChickens\n1840s neologisms\nQuotations from literature\nRiddles\nWorks originally published in The Knickerbocker"
]
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[
"Wes Hall",
"Early life and career"
]
| C_afdff0741f514ee6adf43f6fec00d8f4_1 | what was wes' early life like? | 1 | what was wes hall's early life like? | Wes Hall | Hall was born in Saint Michael, Barbados--"just outside the walls of [HM Prison] Glendairy"--to a teenaged mother, his father a sometime light-heavyweight boxer. Hall began his schooling at St Giles' Boys' School and later obtained a place at the renowned Combermere School thanks to a free scholarship. At Combermere, he played for the school cricket team initially as a wicketkeeper/batsman. At the time the leading schools in Barbados played against grown men in the elite Division 1 of the Barbados Cricket Association and Hall was exposed to a high standard of cricket at an early age. One of his teammates at Combermere was the school groundskeeper, the West Indian Test cricketer Frank King. After completing his schooling, Hall found employment with the cable office in Bridgetown. Hall played for the Cable Office cricket team and it was there that Hall took up fast bowling. In a match against Wanderers, Hall was asked to fill in when his team's regular opening bowler was absent. He took six wickets that day and decided that bowling would be his path to the West Indies team. His talent was soon recognised and in 1956 he was included in the Barbados team to play E. W. Swanton's XI in 1956. Hall, still very young and inexperienced, did not take a wicket in the match, his first-class cricket debut. Hall was unlucky, however, not to pick up a wicket having Colin Cowdrey dropped by Kenneth Branker at first slip. Despite the lack of success Hall did catch the eye of Swanton who marked him down as a bowler of "great promise". Based partly on this promise, Hall was selected in the West Indian squad to tour England in 1957. Despite great enthusiasm, Hall struggled in the unfamiliar surroundings, unable to pitch the ball anywhere near the wicket. Hall remarked later "When I hit the softer wickets I was like a fish out of water." Hall did not play in any of the Test matches and in first-class matches on the tour as a whole took 27 wickets at an average of 33.55. Hall's lack of success in England saw him overlooked for the entire home Test series against Pakistan in 1957-58. CANNOTANSWER | Hall was born in Saint Michael, Barbados--"just outside the walls of [HM Prison] Glendairy"--to a teenaged mother, | Sir Wesley Winfield Hall (born 12 September 1937) is a Barbadian former cricketer and politician. A tall, strong and powerfully built man, Hall was a genuine fast bowler and despite his very long run up, he was renowned for his ability to bowl long spells. Hall played 48 Test matches for the West Indies from 1958 to 1969. Hall's opening bowling partnership with fellow Barbadian Charlie Griffith was a feature of the strong West Indies teams throughout the 1960s. Hall was one of the most popular cricketers of his day and was especially popular in Australia, where he played two seasons in the Sheffield Shield with Queensland.
A wicket-keeper/batsman as a schoolboy, Hall did not take up fast bowling until relatively late. He was included in the West Indies squad to tour England in 1957 having only played one match of first-class cricket. He made his Test cricket debut against India in 1958 and was instantly successful. He took a Test hat-trick in Pakistan in 1959, the first West Indian cricketer to do so. Hall bowled the final over in two famous Test matches, the Tied Test against Australia in 1960 and the Lord's Test against England in 1963. Years of non-stop cricket and resultant injury reduced Hall's effectiveness in the latter part of his Test career.
After his playing days Hall entered Barbadian politics, serving in both the Barbados Senate and House of Assembly and appointed Minister of Tourism in 1987. He was also involved in the administration of West Indies cricket as a selector and team manager and served as President of the West Indies Cricket Board from 2001 to 2003. Hall was later ordained a minister in the Christian Pentecostal Church. He is a member of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and the West Indies Cricket Hall of Fame. In 2012 he was created a Knight Bachelor for services to sport and the community.
Early life and career
Hall was born in Saint Michael, Barbados—"just outside the walls of [HM Prison] Glendairy"—to a teenaged mother, his father a sometime light-heavyweight boxer. Hall began his schooling at St Giles' Boys' School and later obtained a place at the renowned Combermere School thanks to a free scholarship. At Combermere, he played for the school cricket team initially as a wicketkeeper/batsman. At the time the leading schools in Barbados played against grown men in the elite Division 1 of the Barbados Cricket Association and Hall was exposed to a high standard of cricket at an early age. One of his teammates at Combermere was the school groundskeeper, the West Indian Test cricketer Frank King.
After completing his schooling, Hall found employment with the cable office in Bridgetown. Hall played for the Cable Office cricket team and it was there that Hall took up fast bowling. In a match against Wanderers, Hall was asked to fill in when his team's regular opening bowler was absent. He took six wickets that day and decided that bowling would be his path to the West Indies team. His talent was soon recognised and in 1956 he was included in the Barbados team to play E. W. Swanton's XI in 1956. Hall, still very young and inexperienced, did not take a wicket in the match, his first-class cricket debut. Hall was unlucky, however, not to pick up a wicket having Colin Cowdrey dropped by Kenneth Branker at first slip. Despite the lack of success Hall did catch the eye of Swanton who marked him down as a bowler of "great promise".
Based partly on this promise, Hall was selected in the West Indian squad to tour England in 1957. Despite great enthusiasm, Hall struggled in the unfamiliar surroundings, unable to pitch the ball anywhere near the wicket. Hall remarked later "When I hit the softer wickets I was like a fish out of water." Hall did not play in any of the Test matches and in first-class matches on the tour as a whole took 27 wickets at an average of 33.55. Hall's lack of success in England saw him overlooked for the entire home Test series against Pakistan in 1957–58.
Test career
Debut and hat-trick
Originally left out of the West Indies team to tour India and Pakistan in 1958–59, Hall was called into the team as a backup for the Trinidadian Jaswick Taylor after the all-rounder Frank Worrell withdrew from the team at a late stage. Hall met with some success an early match against Baroda, taking 5 wickets for 41 runs (5/41) in Baroda's second innings. This performance saw Hall overtake Taylor to become the first-choice partner of Roy Gilchrist in the Test team. The pair had a highly successful Test series against the Indians with Wisden Cricketers' Almanack describing the duo as "two fearsome opening bowlers reminiscent of the days of [Manny] Martindale and [Learie] Constantine."
Hall made his debut in the first Test against India at Brabourne Stadium at Bombay and met with almost instant success. He dismissed the Indian opener Nari Contractor for a duck and quickly followed than with the wickets of Pankaj Roy and Vijay Manjrekar. In what ended as a dour draw, Hall finished with 3/35 in the first innings and 1/72 in the second. When Gilchrist was dropped from the second Test at Modi Stadium in Kanpur, Hall—in only his second Test match—was given the responsibility of leading the West Indies bowling attack. Hall was equal to the task, playing "a decisive part in India's downfall" taking 11 wickets in the match. Over the entire five Test series—won by the West Indies three Tests to nil—Hall and Gilchrist terrorised the Indian batsman, who had neither the "experience or the physical capacity" to stand up to the West Indian fast bowling duo.
The West Indies were not as successful in the three Test series against Pakistan, losing the first two Tests before winning the final Test—the first time Pakistan had lost a Test match at home. Hall bowled well in both the matches, however. In the second Test at Dacca, Hall relied on movement through the air rather than sheer pace and had Pakistan reeling on stage, five wickets down for only 22 runs made (22–5) In the third Test at Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore, Hall made history by becoming the first West Indian to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. His victims were Mushtaq Mohammad (aged 15 and in his debut Test match, at the time the youngest cricketer to play Test cricket), Nasim-ul-Ghani and Fazal Mahmood.
Hall once again performed well when England toured the West Indies in 1959–60. Wisden remarked that Hall "with a lovely action, genuine speed and remarkable stamina" was "always the biggest threat to England." Hall came close to winning the third Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica for the West Indies on the first day when England were reduced to 165/5 at stumps, Hall having captured five of the wickets to fall. Only Colin Cowdrey was able to stand in his way with Hall finishing the innings with 7/69, his best bowling figures in Test cricket. In the third Test in a placid pitch at Bourda in British Guiana, Hall again broke the back of England's batting taking six wickets for 90 runs in the England first innings. This included bowling M. J. K. Smith out for a duck for the second Test in a row. Hall played alongside his great partner Charlie Griffith in Test cricket for the first time in the fifth Test at Port of Spain. By this stage, Hall had "burned himself out" and he bowled only four overs in the England second innings as the West Indies pushed for a series-equalling win. Unfortunately for the West Indies and Hall, England held on for a draw and won the series one Test to nil.
In April 1960, Hall began the first of his three seasons as a professional with Accrington Cricket Club in the Lancashire League. Hall was first offered a contract by Accrington for the 1959 season, which he turned down through loyalty to his employer in Barbados who had provided him with leave to tour England. Hall was a success in League cricket, capturing 100 wickets in the 1960 season, 106 wickets in the 1961 season (when Accrington won the Lancashire League championship) and 123 wickets in the 1962 season, falling just short of the then-League record. Hall also managed to capture 10 wickets in an innings on two occasions with Accrington, 10/57 against Burnley and 10/28 against Bacup. Hall left Accrington in 1964 to take up a less restrictive contract with Great Chell Cricket Club in the Staffordshire League. During the 1964 season, Hall married his childhood sweetheart Shurla in Liverpool.
Success in Australia
The 1960–61 Test series against Australia is one of the most famous in the history of Test cricket and Hall played a major role in its outcome. The first Test in the series at the Gabba in Brisbane had a thrilling finish. The West Indies set Australia a target of 233 runs to win the match. Hall broke through early, taking the wickets of Bob Simpson and Neil Harvey, followed, after some stubborn resistance, by Norm O'Neill. The West Indies captain Frank Worrell then dismissed Colin McDonald before Hall struck again for his fourth wicket, Les Favell caught by Joe Solomon. Australia were 57/5 and the West Indies seemed set to win the match. After the sixth Australian wicket fell with Australia having made only 92 runs, the Australian captain Richie Benaud came to the crease to join Alan Davidson. Together the pair took Australia to 226/7 and now Australia looked assured victors with only 7 runs to get. Joe Solomon then turned the game again with a direct hit on the stumps to run out Davidson. Hall was entrusted by his captain Worrell to bowl the last over of the day with Australia needing four runs and West Indies needing three wickets to win the game. In one of the most exciting finishes in Test match history, Hall had Benaud caught behind, then dropped a catch and two Australian batsmen were run out trying to make the winning run. The match finished in a tie, the first in Test cricket.
Hall bowled well in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, taking 4/51 in the first innings and another two wickets "bowling at his fastest" in the second innings in which Australia comfortably made the 70 runs they needed to win the Test. The pitches used in the remaining three Test of the series favoured slow bowling and Hall did not play as large a role from that point on. West Indies won the third Test, the fourth Test was a thrilling draw but Australia won the final Test, at Melbourne again, to win the series two Tests to one. Over the course of the series both teams had striven to play bright, attractive cricket and the Australian public took the West Indian team to their hearts. Hall and the West Indies were farewelled with a ticker-tape parade through the streets of Melbourne. Hundreds of thousands of Australians keen to express their appreciation for the team brought the city to a standstill and reportedly brought Hall and his teammates to tears. Hall later described the spontaneous display of affection from the public as one usually "reserved for royalty or the Beatles".
His popularity in Australia saw Hall invited to play with Queensland for the 1961–62 Sheffield Shield season. Hall enjoyed an immensely successful season with Queensland and a key part of the team's second place in the Sheffield Shield competition—behind perennial powerhouse New South Wales. Hall took 43 wickets for the season at an average of 20.25, trailing only Richie Benaud of New South Wales in the season aggregate. Hall's 43 wickets set a new record for a Queensland bowler in a first-class cricket season. Hall returned for a second season with Queensland in 1962–63, taking 33 wickets for the season as Queensland again finished runner-up in the Sheffield Shield, this time to Victoria. Towards the end of Hall's second season, it became clear that the demands of playing cricket 12 months of the year were starting to take a toll on Hall. Queensland were keen to see Hall return for another season in 1963–64 but Hall declined, fearing his body would not stand up to the strain.
Finest hour
After his first season with Queensland, Hall returned to the Caribbean to join the West Indies team in their Test series against India in 1962. Hall took up where he left off against the Indians two years before. The Indians were a better batting side than the one Hall destroyed in the sub-continent in 1960 but they were still unable to come to terms with his pace. The West Indies won the series 5 Tests to nil and Hall took 27 wickets at an average of 15.74. When the second Test at Sabina Park was heading towards what looked to be a tame draw on a placid pitch, Hall broke the game wide open with some "grand bowling", taking 6/49 and West Indies won the match by an innings. In the fourth Test at Queens Park Oval, Hall was part of a 93-run partnership for the last wicket, making 50 runs himself. He then scythed through the Indian top order, taking the first five wickets of the innings to have India at 30/5 at one stage, a position they could not recover from.
These efforts led him to achieve the No. 1 ranking in ICC Test Bowlers ranking for 1962.
The success of Hall and his fast bowling partner Griffith saw the arrival of the West Indies pace duo in England for the 1963 Test series "greeted with the public awe and press build-up formerly accorded to [the Australians] Ted McDonald and Jack Gregory or Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller." Before the tour, Hall and fellow professional cricketers Garry Sobers and Rohan Kanhai threatened to withdraw from the team unless paid the equivalent of their professional earnings they had forsaken. Only the intervention of captain Frank Worrell saw the three join the tour. The West Indies, with their "sparkling batting, bowling and fielding", won the series three Tests to one and captured the imagination of the English public. While Hall had a successful series—taking 16 wickets at an average of 33.37—it was Griffith who was the main destroyer for the West Indies. Hall was "the ideal foil" for Griffith and played an invaluable support role. As a partnership, Hall and Griffith were "the centre of attraction and the key to victory".
Analysis of film footage at this time showed Hall bowling at 103 mph. With Griffiths bowling from the other end batsmen had nowhere to hide.
Perhaps Hall's greatest performance of the English summer was in the second Test at Lord's. On the final day of the Test, Hall bowled unchanged for 200 minutes, broken only by the tea interval. As in the Tied Test in Brisbane three years earlier, Hall found himself bowling the final over of the match with both sides still capable of winning. In the innings as a whole Hall bowled 40 overs for a return of 4/93 but despite Hall's brave efforts, England managed to hold on for a draw—the England batsman Colin Cowdrey returned to the crease with a broken arm to help save the match. The Times said of Hall that day, "His energy was astonishing, his stamina inexhaustible, his speed awesome, from the first ball to the last". Hall himself claimed that it was his "finest hour". There was a sour note in the final Test at The Oval when Hall was informally warned about intimidatory bowling. Hall bowled two successive bouncers to the England opening batsman Brian Bolus, prompting umpire Syd Buller to speak with West Indies captain Worrell saying, "We don't want this sort of bowling to get out of hand otherwise I will have to speak to the bowler." Later than innings, Griffith was formally warned by the same umpire.
The Australian tour of the West Indies in 1964–65 was somewhat overshadowed by concerns about the bowling action of Griffith, whom the visitors considered a "chucker". Regardless, Hall again started a Test series strongly. In the first Test at Sabina Park—Hall's favourite hunting ground—Hall took 5/60 in the first innings and then 4/45 in the second to play a leading role in the West Indies victory. Wisden was of the opinion that Hall "probably never bowled faster or straighter." It was "the most important single contribution of bowling in the five Tests" but Hall was not as effective in the remainder of the series, taking only seven wickets in the following four Tests. West Indies held on to win the series two Tests to one—the first time the West Indies defeated Australia in a Test series.
Exhausted volcano
As a result of their huge support in 1963, the West Indies were invited to tour England again only three years later. Despite the England press and public fearing the impact of Hall and his partner Griffith, it was soon clear that their powers had waned somewhat since 1963. Hall's "action was as poetic as ever and his commitment was just as great, but something was missing." He captured 18 wickets in the five Tests at an average of 30.83. However, Hall was still considered "the key man of the [West Indies] attack" and on occasion was still as damaging as ever. His finest moment of the series was in the fourth Test at Headingley where a "spell of eighty minutes by Hall at his fastest and best destroyed England" aiding his team to win the match by an innings and 55 runs and wrap up the series and the Wisden Trophy.
In 1966, the Trinidad-based company West Indian Tobacco (WITCO) engaged Hall on a three-year contract to promote youth cricket in Trinidad and Tobago, including playing for the Trinidad and Tobago national team in the Shell Shield, the West Indies first-class cricket championship. One of Hall's first roles for WITCO was to promote the Wes Hall Youth Cricket League, a new nation-wide junior cricket league.
Hall accompanied the West Indies cricket team to India and Ceylon in 1966–67 but was a shadow of the bowler that cut a swathe through India in earlier series. He injured his left knee during a net session early in the tour and the sub-continental pitches neutered his speed. Hall started the first Test of the series at Bombay in style, capturing two early wickets in a "superb" spell, "worthy of a great fast bowler" but did not take another wicket in the match. Wisden said of Hall's efforts in the series; "He could not bowl with the sustained hostility of old, and his form was erratic."
The slow decline of Hall as an effective Test match bowler became clearer after the home series against England in 1967–68. Hall "bowled with his old enthusiasm" in the second Test at Kingston, albeit on a pitch described by Wisden as "crazy paving" but as the series continued the England batsmen took a heavy toll on Hall and his long-time partner Griffith. Still, such was their prestige and their perceived psychological advantage over the English that the West Indies selectors stuck with the pair for the entire series. In the four Tests he played, Hall took only 9 wickets and those at an average of 39.22. In a summary of the tour Wisden said "In the event Hall proved to be little more than a shadow of the great fast bowler he had been. His pace was no longer to be feared ..."
The West Indies captain Garry Sobers had to fight with the selectors to have Hall included in the West Indies team to tour Australia and New Zealand in 1968–69. The West Indies Test selection panel told Sobers that Hall was "past his best" and that he would be left out of the team. Sobers still considered Hall one of the best bowlers in the Caribbean and insisted on his selection, threatening to withdraw from the tour himself if he did not get his man in the squad. The selectors eventually conceded and Hall was included in the touring party but—according to Sobers — one of the selectors was told to tell Hall he was only picked because of pressure from the captain. As it turned out Hall only played in two of the Tests in Australia with Wisden noting that "old age, as cricketers go, had finally had its say". The once fearsome pair of Hall and Griffith now "resembled exhausted volcanoes." Hall played the first Test against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland. Hall sustained an injury and was not able to complete the match, having bowled only 16 overs for the match and taking a solitary wicket. Hall was still unfit to play by the time the second Test started and never again played Test cricket.
After Test cricket
After the New Zealand tour, Hall joined the Barbados team for a short tour of England. Hall played two first-class matches on the tour, capturing two wickets at an average of 53.00. Hall then returned to Trinidad to complete his last season in the Shell Shield and his contract with WITCO. Hall met with moderate success, taking 15 wickets for Trinidad at a respectable average of 22.46. Hall's last first-class match was for Barbados against the touring Indians in 1971.
Before Hall left Trinidad in 1970, Gerard Pantin — a Catholic priest in the Holy Ghost Fathers order — asked Hall if he would assist him in forming a humanitarian program to assist the poor and marginalised residents of the Laventille community. Hall agreed and together the two men walked through the dangerous neighbourhood, simply asking the residents how they could help them. This mission grew to become the SERVOL (Service Volunteered For All) voluntary organisation that now operates throughout Trinidad and Tobago and elsewhere in the Caribbean. While Hall returned to Barbados three months after the program started, he is recognised as one of SERVOL's co-founders.
Hall has served Barbados and West Indian cricket in a variety of roles since the end of his playing days including chairing the West Indies selection panel for some years. Hall also accompanied many touring West Indies teams as manager, including the ill-fated 1995 tour of England, marred by player unrest. In 2001 Hall was elected president of the West Indies Cricket Board. During his time as president Hall was instrumental in attracting the 2007 Cricket World Cup to the West Indies. Hall also developed a system of collective bargaining with the West Indies Players Association. Hall chose not to stand for re-election in 2003, citing health problems. Hall was a member of the board of directors of the Stanford 20/20 cricket project.
At the end of his career as a cricketer, Hall reflected, "I realised that I’d been playing for ten years, and I was married with three children and I didn’t have any money." After working with SERVOL in Trinidad, Hall "knew from that moment on, [he] would commit [his] life to service." He studied Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management at the Industrial Society in London and then returned to Cable and Wireless in Barbados to take a role as Regional Staff Welfare Manager. As well as his role with WITCO in Trinidad, Hall also had high-profile roles in private enterprise with Banks Barbados Brewery and Sandals Resorts.
Hall became involved in Barbadian politics, joining the Democratic Labour Party. First appointed to the Barbados Senate, Hall was later elected to the House of Assembly. Hall was elected as the representative for the Assembly constituency of St. Michael West Central in 1986 and re-elected in 1991. In 1987, Hall was appointed Minister of Tourism and Sports in the Government of Barbados. As Tourism Minister, Hall has been given credit for developing the sports tourism market in Barbados.
On a visit to Florida in 1990, Hall attended a Christian religious service. Impressed by the preacher, during the service, Hall "made a very serious decision to give [his] heart and life to God." Hall attended Bible school and was later ordained a minister in the Christian Pentecostal Church. Notably, Hall ministered to fellow Barbadian fast bowler Malcolm Marshall while Marshall was dying from colon cancer.
Hall is a member of the West Indies Cricket Hall of Fame. and the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. For his work in tourism, Hall has been awarded the Caribbean Tourism Organisation's Lifetime Achievement Award. The University of the West Indies awarded Hall an honorary Doctorate of Laws in 2005. Hall and fellow Barbadian fast bowler Charlie Griffith have a grandstand at Kensington Oval named after them—the Hall & Griffith Stand. Hall was knighted in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to sport and the community.
Style and personality
Hall was a tall and muscular cricketer, tall and bearing the "physique and strength of a bodybuilder." He had a graceful, classical action and one of the longest run-ups in Test cricket. A genuinely fast bowler, he was timed at . Hall was able to sustain pace and hostility for very long spells—during the Test against England at Lord's in 1963 he bowled unchanged for over three hours on the final day. While Hall was an aggressive fast bowler, he was not one to set out to injure the batsman. The England cricketer Ted Dexter—himself hit several times by Hall—said "there was never a hint of malice in [Hall] or in his bowling". Hall himself said after one of his deliveries fractured Australian cricketer Wally Grout's jaw "It made me sick to see Wal leaving and it made me sicker to hear some jokers in the crowd ranting on as though I had intentionally hurt [Grout]".
While Hall could never be described as an all-rounder, on occasions he was an effective batsman. His one century in first-class cricket was against Cambridge University Cricket Club at Fenner's—scored in 65 minutes, the fastest century of the 1963 English season. Wisden said of this innings, "[Hall's] batting promised so much ... [he] made his runs in the classic mould, not in the unorthodox manner usually adopted by fast bowlers." With his characteristic humour, Hall said of this innings, "Ah, but it wasn't any old hundred, it was against the intelligentsia."
Hall was one of the most popular cricketers of his day. The Australian commentator Johnnie Moyes described Hall as "a rare box-office attraction, a man who caught and held the affections of the paying public." Hall was particularly popular in Australia. When invited back to play for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield in 1961–62, Hall arrived in Brisbane to "scenes more in keeping with the arrival of a pop star, a thousand people jamming the old terminal building at Eagle Farm airport to welcome him." Hall was fond of a bet and was a keen follower of horseracing. Hall is known as a good humoured man; C. L. R. James observed "Hall simply exudes good nature at every pore." Tony Cozier states "[Hall] is renowned for his entertaining, if prolonged oratory, as well as for his tardiness."
Publications
Pace Like Fire (1965)
Notes
References
External links
1937 births
Living people
Barbadian cricketers
Barbados cricketers
Barbadian knights
Commonwealth XI cricketers
Queensland cricketers
Trinidad and Tobago cricketers
West Indies Test cricketers
International Cavaliers cricketers
Test cricket hat-trick takers
West Indies cricket team selectors
Government ministers of Barbados
Members of the Senate of Barbados
Members of the House of Assembly of Barbados
Pentecostal pastors
People educated at Combermere School
Cricket players and officials awarded knighthoods
Barbadian sportsperson-politicians | false | [
"\"Feels Like Woah\" is the second single from Wes Carr's second studio album, The Way the World Looks. It was released on 7 March 2009 and has been used as the theme song for the 2009 NRL season.\n\nTrack listing\n\nMusic video\n\nA music video was created and released for the song. It was filmed in Sydney's inner-west suburbs. On March 4, 2009 the music video was released when uploaded to Carr's official YouTube channel.\n\nChart performance\n\"Feels Like Woah\" debuted at #46 on the ARIA Top Singles chart because some record stores sold the single a week early. Feels Like Woah reached a peak of #14.\n\nCharts\n\nEnd of Year Charts\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\n2009 songs\nWes Carr songs\nSongs written by Adam Argyle\nSongs written by Wes Carr\nSony BMG singles",
"The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates is a 2010 nonfiction book by Wes Moore. Published by Spiegel & Grau, it describes two men of the same name who had very different life histories. Tavis Smiley wrote the afterword.\n\nThe author stated \"The other Wes Moore is a drug dealer, a robber, a murderer. I am a Rhodes scholar, a White House Fellow, a former Army officer. Yet our situations could easily have been reversed.\" Jen Steele of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel wrote that \"Moore's message is that it takes a village - and a bit of luck - to successfully navigate the negative surroundings where so many urban youths grow up.\" Dave Rosenthal of The Baltimore Sun stated that the comparison and contrast between the Moores was similar to that between different sections of Baltimore, which have neighborhoods of varying levels of quality and safety.\n\nIn his interview, the author stated that his intended audience includes young people who are \"going through transitions to adulthood\" as well as their parents and guardians, other people who work with them, and people in organizations working with youth.\n\nBackground\n\nThe lives of the two Wes Moores\nThe author served in the U.S. military, was an aide to Condoleezza Rice, and worked in investment banking. The author, whose father died after a medical misdiagnosis, stated that he was, as a pre-teen, failing classes and getting into legal trouble, but that his life changed after his mother sent him to Valley Forge Military Academy and College.\n\nThe book also documents Wesley John \"Wes\" Moore, born in 1975, who was also raised in Baltimore in the 1980s. This Moore, whose father abandoned him, sold illegal drugs. Wesley's mother Mary Moore, who had an associate's degree from the Community College of Baltimore, never attended Johns Hopkins University, even though she received admission, due to the cancellation of her Pell Grant. The other Wes Moore attempted to escape a life of crime, but he robbed a jewelry store on February 7, 2000, as part of a scheme with his brother, Richard Antonio \"Tony\" Moore, and two other men. Tony Moore shot and killed Sergeant Bruce A. Prothero during the getaway. All four were convicted of offenses related to the incident. Prothero's death left five children without a father and a wife without her husband.\n\nWesley Moore went to trial on first degree murder, and was convicted. Wesley Moore was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole by a judge, with the sentence reported in the press on June 9, 2001. Wesley Moore was incarcerated, and as of 2011 still was, in the Jessup Correctional Institution in Jessup, Maryland. Of the four criminals, Wesley Moore was the last to receive his sentence. Tony Moore pleaded guilty so he could not be sentenced to death, and he also received life imprisonment without parole.\n\nDevelopment of the book\nThe author first read about the other Wes circa 2000; according to the author, the article he first read was in The Baltimore Sun. Both Wes Moores grew up in low income environments and had encountered issues with illegal drugs and violence in their youths. The author mailed a letter to the prisoner, and one month later, to his surprise, got a response. The two began a mail correspondence and then the author visited the prisoner at Jessup. As part of the process, the author learned about the prisoner's history. He stated that he did not wish to judge the other and to be open in discussions so he could honestly explore the events. The author stated that he probably would not have written The Other Wes Moore if he had never gotten to know him as a person.\n\nIn addition to Moore, he interviewed members of his own family and members of the other Wes's family. In regards to interviewing his own family, the author stated that he felt humiliated by some of the details and that there were facts he was unaware of until he did the interview. He added that he had difficulty getting information out of his family, and that \"At first I was getting what they wanted me to hear. At times I felt like an eight-year-old asking questions from my mom or my uncle or my grandmother.\" He stated that \"The interviews with my family were just as tough, just hearing some of the facts about your life and your family's lives.\"\n\nThe author initially considered using the title \"Baltimore Sons\".\n\nContents\nThe book serves as both a biography of the other Wes Moore and an autobiography of the author. Sragow states \"The autobiographical parts ruthlessly analyze how the writer fell into bad behavior, then developed his brain and conscience\" after intervention from loved ones. Sragow stated that the book, in regards to both the biography and autobiography, \"refuses to whitewash anything\".\n\nThe author examines why he found success in life and the other Wes Moore did not; the author said he had a support network and had role models that encouraged him to make positive decisions, and he also added that his education provided immense help to him. Frances Romero of Time stated that \"In the case of the other Wes Moore, there appears to be no clear answer as to what went wrong.\" The website of Oprah Winfrey also stated that in regards to the other Wes, \"Now, [the author] knows there's no simple answer.\" Thembe Sachikonye, who had a correspondence with the author, wrote in the Zimbabwean newspaper Newsday that \"The juxtaposition between their lives, and the questions it raised about accountability, chance, fate and family, had a profound impact on Wes.\"\n\nThe author stated that the other's mother losing her Pell Grants affected their future, and he argued that the man's future may have been different if his role models were stronger. Sragow stated that in that regard the author \"acknowledges the unfairness of accident and history.\" However the author stated, in regards to the other Wes Moore's declaration that people will fail if people do not expect them to succeed, \"I sympathized with him, but I recoiled from his ability to shed responsibility seamlessly and drape it at the feet of others.\" Steele stated \"But the book makes it clear that personal responsibility also is paramount.\"\n\nThe end of the book has a listing of groups that provide services to underprivileged young people; the list has about 200 entries.\n\nReception\nPublishers Weekly starred the review and stated it was \"a moving exploration of roads not taken.\"\n\nKirkus Reviews stated the book was \"A testament to the importance of youth mentoring.\"\n\nRosenthal stated that \"Moore's book could be another worthy example, and a potential pick for [2011's] One Maryland, One Book program.\"\n\nIn her review, Romero recommended skimming the book, in regards to three ratings: read, skim, or to not read the book at all.\n\nMoore stated that he did not receive a significant amount of mail addressed to him with criticism of the book.\n\nProthero's family did not give assistance to the publication of the book, nor did they agree with it. The author stated that he had no intentions of harming the Prothero family nor did he intend to provide any excuses for the murder and robbery. The author stated \"but I was very careful not to glorify Wes or excuse what happened in any way, and I think most people understand that.\" The author added that he received some letters showing concern for Prothero.\n\nFeature film adaptation\nIn April 2021, it was announced that a film adaptation of the book was in development from Unanimous Media, with Stephen Curry set to executive produce.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n The Other Wes Moore - Random House Books\n - Official site archives\n \n \n\n2010 books\nAmerican memoirs\nSpiegel & Grau books"
]
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"Wes Hall",
"Early life and career",
"what was wes' early life like?",
"Hall was born in Saint Michael, Barbados--\"just outside the walls of [HM Prison] Glendairy\"--to a teenaged mother,"
]
| C_afdff0741f514ee6adf43f6fec00d8f4_1 | who were his parents? | 2 | who were wes hall's parents? | Wes Hall | Hall was born in Saint Michael, Barbados--"just outside the walls of [HM Prison] Glendairy"--to a teenaged mother, his father a sometime light-heavyweight boxer. Hall began his schooling at St Giles' Boys' School and later obtained a place at the renowned Combermere School thanks to a free scholarship. At Combermere, he played for the school cricket team initially as a wicketkeeper/batsman. At the time the leading schools in Barbados played against grown men in the elite Division 1 of the Barbados Cricket Association and Hall was exposed to a high standard of cricket at an early age. One of his teammates at Combermere was the school groundskeeper, the West Indian Test cricketer Frank King. After completing his schooling, Hall found employment with the cable office in Bridgetown. Hall played for the Cable Office cricket team and it was there that Hall took up fast bowling. In a match against Wanderers, Hall was asked to fill in when his team's regular opening bowler was absent. He took six wickets that day and decided that bowling would be his path to the West Indies team. His talent was soon recognised and in 1956 he was included in the Barbados team to play E. W. Swanton's XI in 1956. Hall, still very young and inexperienced, did not take a wicket in the match, his first-class cricket debut. Hall was unlucky, however, not to pick up a wicket having Colin Cowdrey dropped by Kenneth Branker at first slip. Despite the lack of success Hall did catch the eye of Swanton who marked him down as a bowler of "great promise". Based partly on this promise, Hall was selected in the West Indian squad to tour England in 1957. Despite great enthusiasm, Hall struggled in the unfamiliar surroundings, unable to pitch the ball anywhere near the wicket. Hall remarked later "When I hit the softer wickets I was like a fish out of water." Hall did not play in any of the Test matches and in first-class matches on the tour as a whole took 27 wickets at an average of 33.55. Hall's lack of success in England saw him overlooked for the entire home Test series against Pakistan in 1957-58. CANNOTANSWER | teenaged mother, his father a sometime light-heavyweight boxer. | Sir Wesley Winfield Hall (born 12 September 1937) is a Barbadian former cricketer and politician. A tall, strong and powerfully built man, Hall was a genuine fast bowler and despite his very long run up, he was renowned for his ability to bowl long spells. Hall played 48 Test matches for the West Indies from 1958 to 1969. Hall's opening bowling partnership with fellow Barbadian Charlie Griffith was a feature of the strong West Indies teams throughout the 1960s. Hall was one of the most popular cricketers of his day and was especially popular in Australia, where he played two seasons in the Sheffield Shield with Queensland.
A wicket-keeper/batsman as a schoolboy, Hall did not take up fast bowling until relatively late. He was included in the West Indies squad to tour England in 1957 having only played one match of first-class cricket. He made his Test cricket debut against India in 1958 and was instantly successful. He took a Test hat-trick in Pakistan in 1959, the first West Indian cricketer to do so. Hall bowled the final over in two famous Test matches, the Tied Test against Australia in 1960 and the Lord's Test against England in 1963. Years of non-stop cricket and resultant injury reduced Hall's effectiveness in the latter part of his Test career.
After his playing days Hall entered Barbadian politics, serving in both the Barbados Senate and House of Assembly and appointed Minister of Tourism in 1987. He was also involved in the administration of West Indies cricket as a selector and team manager and served as President of the West Indies Cricket Board from 2001 to 2003. Hall was later ordained a minister in the Christian Pentecostal Church. He is a member of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and the West Indies Cricket Hall of Fame. In 2012 he was created a Knight Bachelor for services to sport and the community.
Early life and career
Hall was born in Saint Michael, Barbados—"just outside the walls of [HM Prison] Glendairy"—to a teenaged mother, his father a sometime light-heavyweight boxer. Hall began his schooling at St Giles' Boys' School and later obtained a place at the renowned Combermere School thanks to a free scholarship. At Combermere, he played for the school cricket team initially as a wicketkeeper/batsman. At the time the leading schools in Barbados played against grown men in the elite Division 1 of the Barbados Cricket Association and Hall was exposed to a high standard of cricket at an early age. One of his teammates at Combermere was the school groundskeeper, the West Indian Test cricketer Frank King.
After completing his schooling, Hall found employment with the cable office in Bridgetown. Hall played for the Cable Office cricket team and it was there that Hall took up fast bowling. In a match against Wanderers, Hall was asked to fill in when his team's regular opening bowler was absent. He took six wickets that day and decided that bowling would be his path to the West Indies team. His talent was soon recognised and in 1956 he was included in the Barbados team to play E. W. Swanton's XI in 1956. Hall, still very young and inexperienced, did not take a wicket in the match, his first-class cricket debut. Hall was unlucky, however, not to pick up a wicket having Colin Cowdrey dropped by Kenneth Branker at first slip. Despite the lack of success Hall did catch the eye of Swanton who marked him down as a bowler of "great promise".
Based partly on this promise, Hall was selected in the West Indian squad to tour England in 1957. Despite great enthusiasm, Hall struggled in the unfamiliar surroundings, unable to pitch the ball anywhere near the wicket. Hall remarked later "When I hit the softer wickets I was like a fish out of water." Hall did not play in any of the Test matches and in first-class matches on the tour as a whole took 27 wickets at an average of 33.55. Hall's lack of success in England saw him overlooked for the entire home Test series against Pakistan in 1957–58.
Test career
Debut and hat-trick
Originally left out of the West Indies team to tour India and Pakistan in 1958–59, Hall was called into the team as a backup for the Trinidadian Jaswick Taylor after the all-rounder Frank Worrell withdrew from the team at a late stage. Hall met with some success an early match against Baroda, taking 5 wickets for 41 runs (5/41) in Baroda's second innings. This performance saw Hall overtake Taylor to become the first-choice partner of Roy Gilchrist in the Test team. The pair had a highly successful Test series against the Indians with Wisden Cricketers' Almanack describing the duo as "two fearsome opening bowlers reminiscent of the days of [Manny] Martindale and [Learie] Constantine."
Hall made his debut in the first Test against India at Brabourne Stadium at Bombay and met with almost instant success. He dismissed the Indian opener Nari Contractor for a duck and quickly followed than with the wickets of Pankaj Roy and Vijay Manjrekar. In what ended as a dour draw, Hall finished with 3/35 in the first innings and 1/72 in the second. When Gilchrist was dropped from the second Test at Modi Stadium in Kanpur, Hall—in only his second Test match—was given the responsibility of leading the West Indies bowling attack. Hall was equal to the task, playing "a decisive part in India's downfall" taking 11 wickets in the match. Over the entire five Test series—won by the West Indies three Tests to nil—Hall and Gilchrist terrorised the Indian batsman, who had neither the "experience or the physical capacity" to stand up to the West Indian fast bowling duo.
The West Indies were not as successful in the three Test series against Pakistan, losing the first two Tests before winning the final Test—the first time Pakistan had lost a Test match at home. Hall bowled well in both the matches, however. In the second Test at Dacca, Hall relied on movement through the air rather than sheer pace and had Pakistan reeling on stage, five wickets down for only 22 runs made (22–5) In the third Test at Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore, Hall made history by becoming the first West Indian to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. His victims were Mushtaq Mohammad (aged 15 and in his debut Test match, at the time the youngest cricketer to play Test cricket), Nasim-ul-Ghani and Fazal Mahmood.
Hall once again performed well when England toured the West Indies in 1959–60. Wisden remarked that Hall "with a lovely action, genuine speed and remarkable stamina" was "always the biggest threat to England." Hall came close to winning the third Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica for the West Indies on the first day when England were reduced to 165/5 at stumps, Hall having captured five of the wickets to fall. Only Colin Cowdrey was able to stand in his way with Hall finishing the innings with 7/69, his best bowling figures in Test cricket. In the third Test in a placid pitch at Bourda in British Guiana, Hall again broke the back of England's batting taking six wickets for 90 runs in the England first innings. This included bowling M. J. K. Smith out for a duck for the second Test in a row. Hall played alongside his great partner Charlie Griffith in Test cricket for the first time in the fifth Test at Port of Spain. By this stage, Hall had "burned himself out" and he bowled only four overs in the England second innings as the West Indies pushed for a series-equalling win. Unfortunately for the West Indies and Hall, England held on for a draw and won the series one Test to nil.
In April 1960, Hall began the first of his three seasons as a professional with Accrington Cricket Club in the Lancashire League. Hall was first offered a contract by Accrington for the 1959 season, which he turned down through loyalty to his employer in Barbados who had provided him with leave to tour England. Hall was a success in League cricket, capturing 100 wickets in the 1960 season, 106 wickets in the 1961 season (when Accrington won the Lancashire League championship) and 123 wickets in the 1962 season, falling just short of the then-League record. Hall also managed to capture 10 wickets in an innings on two occasions with Accrington, 10/57 against Burnley and 10/28 against Bacup. Hall left Accrington in 1964 to take up a less restrictive contract with Great Chell Cricket Club in the Staffordshire League. During the 1964 season, Hall married his childhood sweetheart Shurla in Liverpool.
Success in Australia
The 1960–61 Test series against Australia is one of the most famous in the history of Test cricket and Hall played a major role in its outcome. The first Test in the series at the Gabba in Brisbane had a thrilling finish. The West Indies set Australia a target of 233 runs to win the match. Hall broke through early, taking the wickets of Bob Simpson and Neil Harvey, followed, after some stubborn resistance, by Norm O'Neill. The West Indies captain Frank Worrell then dismissed Colin McDonald before Hall struck again for his fourth wicket, Les Favell caught by Joe Solomon. Australia were 57/5 and the West Indies seemed set to win the match. After the sixth Australian wicket fell with Australia having made only 92 runs, the Australian captain Richie Benaud came to the crease to join Alan Davidson. Together the pair took Australia to 226/7 and now Australia looked assured victors with only 7 runs to get. Joe Solomon then turned the game again with a direct hit on the stumps to run out Davidson. Hall was entrusted by his captain Worrell to bowl the last over of the day with Australia needing four runs and West Indies needing three wickets to win the game. In one of the most exciting finishes in Test match history, Hall had Benaud caught behind, then dropped a catch and two Australian batsmen were run out trying to make the winning run. The match finished in a tie, the first in Test cricket.
Hall bowled well in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, taking 4/51 in the first innings and another two wickets "bowling at his fastest" in the second innings in which Australia comfortably made the 70 runs they needed to win the Test. The pitches used in the remaining three Test of the series favoured slow bowling and Hall did not play as large a role from that point on. West Indies won the third Test, the fourth Test was a thrilling draw but Australia won the final Test, at Melbourne again, to win the series two Tests to one. Over the course of the series both teams had striven to play bright, attractive cricket and the Australian public took the West Indian team to their hearts. Hall and the West Indies were farewelled with a ticker-tape parade through the streets of Melbourne. Hundreds of thousands of Australians keen to express their appreciation for the team brought the city to a standstill and reportedly brought Hall and his teammates to tears. Hall later described the spontaneous display of affection from the public as one usually "reserved for royalty or the Beatles".
His popularity in Australia saw Hall invited to play with Queensland for the 1961–62 Sheffield Shield season. Hall enjoyed an immensely successful season with Queensland and a key part of the team's second place in the Sheffield Shield competition—behind perennial powerhouse New South Wales. Hall took 43 wickets for the season at an average of 20.25, trailing only Richie Benaud of New South Wales in the season aggregate. Hall's 43 wickets set a new record for a Queensland bowler in a first-class cricket season. Hall returned for a second season with Queensland in 1962–63, taking 33 wickets for the season as Queensland again finished runner-up in the Sheffield Shield, this time to Victoria. Towards the end of Hall's second season, it became clear that the demands of playing cricket 12 months of the year were starting to take a toll on Hall. Queensland were keen to see Hall return for another season in 1963–64 but Hall declined, fearing his body would not stand up to the strain.
Finest hour
After his first season with Queensland, Hall returned to the Caribbean to join the West Indies team in their Test series against India in 1962. Hall took up where he left off against the Indians two years before. The Indians were a better batting side than the one Hall destroyed in the sub-continent in 1960 but they were still unable to come to terms with his pace. The West Indies won the series 5 Tests to nil and Hall took 27 wickets at an average of 15.74. When the second Test at Sabina Park was heading towards what looked to be a tame draw on a placid pitch, Hall broke the game wide open with some "grand bowling", taking 6/49 and West Indies won the match by an innings. In the fourth Test at Queens Park Oval, Hall was part of a 93-run partnership for the last wicket, making 50 runs himself. He then scythed through the Indian top order, taking the first five wickets of the innings to have India at 30/5 at one stage, a position they could not recover from.
These efforts led him to achieve the No. 1 ranking in ICC Test Bowlers ranking for 1962.
The success of Hall and his fast bowling partner Griffith saw the arrival of the West Indies pace duo in England for the 1963 Test series "greeted with the public awe and press build-up formerly accorded to [the Australians] Ted McDonald and Jack Gregory or Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller." Before the tour, Hall and fellow professional cricketers Garry Sobers and Rohan Kanhai threatened to withdraw from the team unless paid the equivalent of their professional earnings they had forsaken. Only the intervention of captain Frank Worrell saw the three join the tour. The West Indies, with their "sparkling batting, bowling and fielding", won the series three Tests to one and captured the imagination of the English public. While Hall had a successful series—taking 16 wickets at an average of 33.37—it was Griffith who was the main destroyer for the West Indies. Hall was "the ideal foil" for Griffith and played an invaluable support role. As a partnership, Hall and Griffith were "the centre of attraction and the key to victory".
Analysis of film footage at this time showed Hall bowling at 103 mph. With Griffiths bowling from the other end batsmen had nowhere to hide.
Perhaps Hall's greatest performance of the English summer was in the second Test at Lord's. On the final day of the Test, Hall bowled unchanged for 200 minutes, broken only by the tea interval. As in the Tied Test in Brisbane three years earlier, Hall found himself bowling the final over of the match with both sides still capable of winning. In the innings as a whole Hall bowled 40 overs for a return of 4/93 but despite Hall's brave efforts, England managed to hold on for a draw—the England batsman Colin Cowdrey returned to the crease with a broken arm to help save the match. The Times said of Hall that day, "His energy was astonishing, his stamina inexhaustible, his speed awesome, from the first ball to the last". Hall himself claimed that it was his "finest hour". There was a sour note in the final Test at The Oval when Hall was informally warned about intimidatory bowling. Hall bowled two successive bouncers to the England opening batsman Brian Bolus, prompting umpire Syd Buller to speak with West Indies captain Worrell saying, "We don't want this sort of bowling to get out of hand otherwise I will have to speak to the bowler." Later than innings, Griffith was formally warned by the same umpire.
The Australian tour of the West Indies in 1964–65 was somewhat overshadowed by concerns about the bowling action of Griffith, whom the visitors considered a "chucker". Regardless, Hall again started a Test series strongly. In the first Test at Sabina Park—Hall's favourite hunting ground—Hall took 5/60 in the first innings and then 4/45 in the second to play a leading role in the West Indies victory. Wisden was of the opinion that Hall "probably never bowled faster or straighter." It was "the most important single contribution of bowling in the five Tests" but Hall was not as effective in the remainder of the series, taking only seven wickets in the following four Tests. West Indies held on to win the series two Tests to one—the first time the West Indies defeated Australia in a Test series.
Exhausted volcano
As a result of their huge support in 1963, the West Indies were invited to tour England again only three years later. Despite the England press and public fearing the impact of Hall and his partner Griffith, it was soon clear that their powers had waned somewhat since 1963. Hall's "action was as poetic as ever and his commitment was just as great, but something was missing." He captured 18 wickets in the five Tests at an average of 30.83. However, Hall was still considered "the key man of the [West Indies] attack" and on occasion was still as damaging as ever. His finest moment of the series was in the fourth Test at Headingley where a "spell of eighty minutes by Hall at his fastest and best destroyed England" aiding his team to win the match by an innings and 55 runs and wrap up the series and the Wisden Trophy.
In 1966, the Trinidad-based company West Indian Tobacco (WITCO) engaged Hall on a three-year contract to promote youth cricket in Trinidad and Tobago, including playing for the Trinidad and Tobago national team in the Shell Shield, the West Indies first-class cricket championship. One of Hall's first roles for WITCO was to promote the Wes Hall Youth Cricket League, a new nation-wide junior cricket league.
Hall accompanied the West Indies cricket team to India and Ceylon in 1966–67 but was a shadow of the bowler that cut a swathe through India in earlier series. He injured his left knee during a net session early in the tour and the sub-continental pitches neutered his speed. Hall started the first Test of the series at Bombay in style, capturing two early wickets in a "superb" spell, "worthy of a great fast bowler" but did not take another wicket in the match. Wisden said of Hall's efforts in the series; "He could not bowl with the sustained hostility of old, and his form was erratic."
The slow decline of Hall as an effective Test match bowler became clearer after the home series against England in 1967–68. Hall "bowled with his old enthusiasm" in the second Test at Kingston, albeit on a pitch described by Wisden as "crazy paving" but as the series continued the England batsmen took a heavy toll on Hall and his long-time partner Griffith. Still, such was their prestige and their perceived psychological advantage over the English that the West Indies selectors stuck with the pair for the entire series. In the four Tests he played, Hall took only 9 wickets and those at an average of 39.22. In a summary of the tour Wisden said "In the event Hall proved to be little more than a shadow of the great fast bowler he had been. His pace was no longer to be feared ..."
The West Indies captain Garry Sobers had to fight with the selectors to have Hall included in the West Indies team to tour Australia and New Zealand in 1968–69. The West Indies Test selection panel told Sobers that Hall was "past his best" and that he would be left out of the team. Sobers still considered Hall one of the best bowlers in the Caribbean and insisted on his selection, threatening to withdraw from the tour himself if he did not get his man in the squad. The selectors eventually conceded and Hall was included in the touring party but—according to Sobers — one of the selectors was told to tell Hall he was only picked because of pressure from the captain. As it turned out Hall only played in two of the Tests in Australia with Wisden noting that "old age, as cricketers go, had finally had its say". The once fearsome pair of Hall and Griffith now "resembled exhausted volcanoes." Hall played the first Test against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland. Hall sustained an injury and was not able to complete the match, having bowled only 16 overs for the match and taking a solitary wicket. Hall was still unfit to play by the time the second Test started and never again played Test cricket.
After Test cricket
After the New Zealand tour, Hall joined the Barbados team for a short tour of England. Hall played two first-class matches on the tour, capturing two wickets at an average of 53.00. Hall then returned to Trinidad to complete his last season in the Shell Shield and his contract with WITCO. Hall met with moderate success, taking 15 wickets for Trinidad at a respectable average of 22.46. Hall's last first-class match was for Barbados against the touring Indians in 1971.
Before Hall left Trinidad in 1970, Gerard Pantin — a Catholic priest in the Holy Ghost Fathers order — asked Hall if he would assist him in forming a humanitarian program to assist the poor and marginalised residents of the Laventille community. Hall agreed and together the two men walked through the dangerous neighbourhood, simply asking the residents how they could help them. This mission grew to become the SERVOL (Service Volunteered For All) voluntary organisation that now operates throughout Trinidad and Tobago and elsewhere in the Caribbean. While Hall returned to Barbados three months after the program started, he is recognised as one of SERVOL's co-founders.
Hall has served Barbados and West Indian cricket in a variety of roles since the end of his playing days including chairing the West Indies selection panel for some years. Hall also accompanied many touring West Indies teams as manager, including the ill-fated 1995 tour of England, marred by player unrest. In 2001 Hall was elected president of the West Indies Cricket Board. During his time as president Hall was instrumental in attracting the 2007 Cricket World Cup to the West Indies. Hall also developed a system of collective bargaining with the West Indies Players Association. Hall chose not to stand for re-election in 2003, citing health problems. Hall was a member of the board of directors of the Stanford 20/20 cricket project.
At the end of his career as a cricketer, Hall reflected, "I realised that I’d been playing for ten years, and I was married with three children and I didn’t have any money." After working with SERVOL in Trinidad, Hall "knew from that moment on, [he] would commit [his] life to service." He studied Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management at the Industrial Society in London and then returned to Cable and Wireless in Barbados to take a role as Regional Staff Welfare Manager. As well as his role with WITCO in Trinidad, Hall also had high-profile roles in private enterprise with Banks Barbados Brewery and Sandals Resorts.
Hall became involved in Barbadian politics, joining the Democratic Labour Party. First appointed to the Barbados Senate, Hall was later elected to the House of Assembly. Hall was elected as the representative for the Assembly constituency of St. Michael West Central in 1986 and re-elected in 1991. In 1987, Hall was appointed Minister of Tourism and Sports in the Government of Barbados. As Tourism Minister, Hall has been given credit for developing the sports tourism market in Barbados.
On a visit to Florida in 1990, Hall attended a Christian religious service. Impressed by the preacher, during the service, Hall "made a very serious decision to give [his] heart and life to God." Hall attended Bible school and was later ordained a minister in the Christian Pentecostal Church. Notably, Hall ministered to fellow Barbadian fast bowler Malcolm Marshall while Marshall was dying from colon cancer.
Hall is a member of the West Indies Cricket Hall of Fame. and the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. For his work in tourism, Hall has been awarded the Caribbean Tourism Organisation's Lifetime Achievement Award. The University of the West Indies awarded Hall an honorary Doctorate of Laws in 2005. Hall and fellow Barbadian fast bowler Charlie Griffith have a grandstand at Kensington Oval named after them—the Hall & Griffith Stand. Hall was knighted in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to sport and the community.
Style and personality
Hall was a tall and muscular cricketer, tall and bearing the "physique and strength of a bodybuilder." He had a graceful, classical action and one of the longest run-ups in Test cricket. A genuinely fast bowler, he was timed at . Hall was able to sustain pace and hostility for very long spells—during the Test against England at Lord's in 1963 he bowled unchanged for over three hours on the final day. While Hall was an aggressive fast bowler, he was not one to set out to injure the batsman. The England cricketer Ted Dexter—himself hit several times by Hall—said "there was never a hint of malice in [Hall] or in his bowling". Hall himself said after one of his deliveries fractured Australian cricketer Wally Grout's jaw "It made me sick to see Wal leaving and it made me sicker to hear some jokers in the crowd ranting on as though I had intentionally hurt [Grout]".
While Hall could never be described as an all-rounder, on occasions he was an effective batsman. His one century in first-class cricket was against Cambridge University Cricket Club at Fenner's—scored in 65 minutes, the fastest century of the 1963 English season. Wisden said of this innings, "[Hall's] batting promised so much ... [he] made his runs in the classic mould, not in the unorthodox manner usually adopted by fast bowlers." With his characteristic humour, Hall said of this innings, "Ah, but it wasn't any old hundred, it was against the intelligentsia."
Hall was one of the most popular cricketers of his day. The Australian commentator Johnnie Moyes described Hall as "a rare box-office attraction, a man who caught and held the affections of the paying public." Hall was particularly popular in Australia. When invited back to play for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield in 1961–62, Hall arrived in Brisbane to "scenes more in keeping with the arrival of a pop star, a thousand people jamming the old terminal building at Eagle Farm airport to welcome him." Hall was fond of a bet and was a keen follower of horseracing. Hall is known as a good humoured man; C. L. R. James observed "Hall simply exudes good nature at every pore." Tony Cozier states "[Hall] is renowned for his entertaining, if prolonged oratory, as well as for his tardiness."
Publications
Pace Like Fire (1965)
Notes
References
External links
1937 births
Living people
Barbadian cricketers
Barbados cricketers
Barbadian knights
Commonwealth XI cricketers
Queensland cricketers
Trinidad and Tobago cricketers
West Indies Test cricketers
International Cavaliers cricketers
Test cricket hat-trick takers
West Indies cricket team selectors
Government ministers of Barbados
Members of the Senate of Barbados
Members of the House of Assembly of Barbados
Pentecostal pastors
People educated at Combermere School
Cricket players and officials awarded knighthoods
Barbadian sportsperson-politicians | true | [
"The Extraordinary Tale of Nicholas Pierce is a 2011 adventure novel written by Alexander DeLuca. It follows the journey of a university teacher Nicholas Pierce, who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder as he searches for his biological parents, traveling across states in the United States of America. He travels with a friend, who is an eccentric barista in a cafe in upstate New York, named Sergei Tarasov.\n\nPlot\nNicholas Pierce suffers from OCD. He is also missing the memory of the first five years of his life. Raised by adoptive parents, one day he receives a mysterious box from an \"Uncle Nathan\". Curious, he sets off on a journey to find his biological parents with a Russian friend, Sergei Tarasov. On the trip, they meet several people, face money problems and different challenges. They also pick up a hitchhiker, Jessica, who later turns out to be a criminal.\n\nFinally, Nicholas finds his grandparents, who direct him to his biological parents. When he meets them, he finds out that his vaguely registered biological 'parents' were actually neighbors of his real parents who had died in an accident. The mysterious box that he had received is destroyed. He finds out that it contained photographs from his early life.\n\n2011 American novels\nNovels about obsessive–compulsive disorder",
"Bomba and the Jungle Girl is a 1952 adventure film directed by Ford Beebe and starring Johnny Sheffield. It is the eighth film (of 12) in the Bomba, the Jungle Boy film series.\n\nPlot\nBomba decides to find out who his parents were. He starts with Cody Casson's diary and follows the trail to a native village. An ancient blind woman tells him his parents, along the village's true ruler, were murdered by the current chieftain and his daughter. With the aid of an inspector and his daughter, Bomba battles the usurpers in the cave where his parents were buried.\n\nCast\nJohnny Sheffield\nKaren Sharpe\nWalter Sande\nSuzette Harbin\nMartin Wilkins\nMorris Buchanan\nLeonard Mudie\nDon Blackman.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1952 films\nAmerican films\nAmerican adventure films\nFilms directed by Ford Beebe\nFilms produced by Walter Mirisch\nMonogram Pictures films\n1952 adventure films\nAmerican black-and-white films"
]
|
[
"Wes Hall",
"Early life and career",
"what was wes' early life like?",
"Hall was born in Saint Michael, Barbados--\"just outside the walls of [HM Prison] Glendairy\"--to a teenaged mother,",
"who were his parents?",
"teenaged mother, his father a sometime light-heavyweight boxer."
]
| C_afdff0741f514ee6adf43f6fec00d8f4_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 3 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article aside from those you mentioned? | Wes Hall | Hall was born in Saint Michael, Barbados--"just outside the walls of [HM Prison] Glendairy"--to a teenaged mother, his father a sometime light-heavyweight boxer. Hall began his schooling at St Giles' Boys' School and later obtained a place at the renowned Combermere School thanks to a free scholarship. At Combermere, he played for the school cricket team initially as a wicketkeeper/batsman. At the time the leading schools in Barbados played against grown men in the elite Division 1 of the Barbados Cricket Association and Hall was exposed to a high standard of cricket at an early age. One of his teammates at Combermere was the school groundskeeper, the West Indian Test cricketer Frank King. After completing his schooling, Hall found employment with the cable office in Bridgetown. Hall played for the Cable Office cricket team and it was there that Hall took up fast bowling. In a match against Wanderers, Hall was asked to fill in when his team's regular opening bowler was absent. He took six wickets that day and decided that bowling would be his path to the West Indies team. His talent was soon recognised and in 1956 he was included in the Barbados team to play E. W. Swanton's XI in 1956. Hall, still very young and inexperienced, did not take a wicket in the match, his first-class cricket debut. Hall was unlucky, however, not to pick up a wicket having Colin Cowdrey dropped by Kenneth Branker at first slip. Despite the lack of success Hall did catch the eye of Swanton who marked him down as a bowler of "great promise". Based partly on this promise, Hall was selected in the West Indian squad to tour England in 1957. Despite great enthusiasm, Hall struggled in the unfamiliar surroundings, unable to pitch the ball anywhere near the wicket. Hall remarked later "When I hit the softer wickets I was like a fish out of water." Hall did not play in any of the Test matches and in first-class matches on the tour as a whole took 27 wickets at an average of 33.55. Hall's lack of success in England saw him overlooked for the entire home Test series against Pakistan in 1957-58. CANNOTANSWER | At the time the leading schools in Barbados played against grown men in the elite Division 1 of the Barbados Cricket Association | Sir Wesley Winfield Hall (born 12 September 1937) is a Barbadian former cricketer and politician. A tall, strong and powerfully built man, Hall was a genuine fast bowler and despite his very long run up, he was renowned for his ability to bowl long spells. Hall played 48 Test matches for the West Indies from 1958 to 1969. Hall's opening bowling partnership with fellow Barbadian Charlie Griffith was a feature of the strong West Indies teams throughout the 1960s. Hall was one of the most popular cricketers of his day and was especially popular in Australia, where he played two seasons in the Sheffield Shield with Queensland.
A wicket-keeper/batsman as a schoolboy, Hall did not take up fast bowling until relatively late. He was included in the West Indies squad to tour England in 1957 having only played one match of first-class cricket. He made his Test cricket debut against India in 1958 and was instantly successful. He took a Test hat-trick in Pakistan in 1959, the first West Indian cricketer to do so. Hall bowled the final over in two famous Test matches, the Tied Test against Australia in 1960 and the Lord's Test against England in 1963. Years of non-stop cricket and resultant injury reduced Hall's effectiveness in the latter part of his Test career.
After his playing days Hall entered Barbadian politics, serving in both the Barbados Senate and House of Assembly and appointed Minister of Tourism in 1987. He was also involved in the administration of West Indies cricket as a selector and team manager and served as President of the West Indies Cricket Board from 2001 to 2003. Hall was later ordained a minister in the Christian Pentecostal Church. He is a member of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and the West Indies Cricket Hall of Fame. In 2012 he was created a Knight Bachelor for services to sport and the community.
Early life and career
Hall was born in Saint Michael, Barbados—"just outside the walls of [HM Prison] Glendairy"—to a teenaged mother, his father a sometime light-heavyweight boxer. Hall began his schooling at St Giles' Boys' School and later obtained a place at the renowned Combermere School thanks to a free scholarship. At Combermere, he played for the school cricket team initially as a wicketkeeper/batsman. At the time the leading schools in Barbados played against grown men in the elite Division 1 of the Barbados Cricket Association and Hall was exposed to a high standard of cricket at an early age. One of his teammates at Combermere was the school groundskeeper, the West Indian Test cricketer Frank King.
After completing his schooling, Hall found employment with the cable office in Bridgetown. Hall played for the Cable Office cricket team and it was there that Hall took up fast bowling. In a match against Wanderers, Hall was asked to fill in when his team's regular opening bowler was absent. He took six wickets that day and decided that bowling would be his path to the West Indies team. His talent was soon recognised and in 1956 he was included in the Barbados team to play E. W. Swanton's XI in 1956. Hall, still very young and inexperienced, did not take a wicket in the match, his first-class cricket debut. Hall was unlucky, however, not to pick up a wicket having Colin Cowdrey dropped by Kenneth Branker at first slip. Despite the lack of success Hall did catch the eye of Swanton who marked him down as a bowler of "great promise".
Based partly on this promise, Hall was selected in the West Indian squad to tour England in 1957. Despite great enthusiasm, Hall struggled in the unfamiliar surroundings, unable to pitch the ball anywhere near the wicket. Hall remarked later "When I hit the softer wickets I was like a fish out of water." Hall did not play in any of the Test matches and in first-class matches on the tour as a whole took 27 wickets at an average of 33.55. Hall's lack of success in England saw him overlooked for the entire home Test series against Pakistan in 1957–58.
Test career
Debut and hat-trick
Originally left out of the West Indies team to tour India and Pakistan in 1958–59, Hall was called into the team as a backup for the Trinidadian Jaswick Taylor after the all-rounder Frank Worrell withdrew from the team at a late stage. Hall met with some success an early match against Baroda, taking 5 wickets for 41 runs (5/41) in Baroda's second innings. This performance saw Hall overtake Taylor to become the first-choice partner of Roy Gilchrist in the Test team. The pair had a highly successful Test series against the Indians with Wisden Cricketers' Almanack describing the duo as "two fearsome opening bowlers reminiscent of the days of [Manny] Martindale and [Learie] Constantine."
Hall made his debut in the first Test against India at Brabourne Stadium at Bombay and met with almost instant success. He dismissed the Indian opener Nari Contractor for a duck and quickly followed than with the wickets of Pankaj Roy and Vijay Manjrekar. In what ended as a dour draw, Hall finished with 3/35 in the first innings and 1/72 in the second. When Gilchrist was dropped from the second Test at Modi Stadium in Kanpur, Hall—in only his second Test match—was given the responsibility of leading the West Indies bowling attack. Hall was equal to the task, playing "a decisive part in India's downfall" taking 11 wickets in the match. Over the entire five Test series—won by the West Indies three Tests to nil—Hall and Gilchrist terrorised the Indian batsman, who had neither the "experience or the physical capacity" to stand up to the West Indian fast bowling duo.
The West Indies were not as successful in the three Test series against Pakistan, losing the first two Tests before winning the final Test—the first time Pakistan had lost a Test match at home. Hall bowled well in both the matches, however. In the second Test at Dacca, Hall relied on movement through the air rather than sheer pace and had Pakistan reeling on stage, five wickets down for only 22 runs made (22–5) In the third Test at Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore, Hall made history by becoming the first West Indian to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. His victims were Mushtaq Mohammad (aged 15 and in his debut Test match, at the time the youngest cricketer to play Test cricket), Nasim-ul-Ghani and Fazal Mahmood.
Hall once again performed well when England toured the West Indies in 1959–60. Wisden remarked that Hall "with a lovely action, genuine speed and remarkable stamina" was "always the biggest threat to England." Hall came close to winning the third Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica for the West Indies on the first day when England were reduced to 165/5 at stumps, Hall having captured five of the wickets to fall. Only Colin Cowdrey was able to stand in his way with Hall finishing the innings with 7/69, his best bowling figures in Test cricket. In the third Test in a placid pitch at Bourda in British Guiana, Hall again broke the back of England's batting taking six wickets for 90 runs in the England first innings. This included bowling M. J. K. Smith out for a duck for the second Test in a row. Hall played alongside his great partner Charlie Griffith in Test cricket for the first time in the fifth Test at Port of Spain. By this stage, Hall had "burned himself out" and he bowled only four overs in the England second innings as the West Indies pushed for a series-equalling win. Unfortunately for the West Indies and Hall, England held on for a draw and won the series one Test to nil.
In April 1960, Hall began the first of his three seasons as a professional with Accrington Cricket Club in the Lancashire League. Hall was first offered a contract by Accrington for the 1959 season, which he turned down through loyalty to his employer in Barbados who had provided him with leave to tour England. Hall was a success in League cricket, capturing 100 wickets in the 1960 season, 106 wickets in the 1961 season (when Accrington won the Lancashire League championship) and 123 wickets in the 1962 season, falling just short of the then-League record. Hall also managed to capture 10 wickets in an innings on two occasions with Accrington, 10/57 against Burnley and 10/28 against Bacup. Hall left Accrington in 1964 to take up a less restrictive contract with Great Chell Cricket Club in the Staffordshire League. During the 1964 season, Hall married his childhood sweetheart Shurla in Liverpool.
Success in Australia
The 1960–61 Test series against Australia is one of the most famous in the history of Test cricket and Hall played a major role in its outcome. The first Test in the series at the Gabba in Brisbane had a thrilling finish. The West Indies set Australia a target of 233 runs to win the match. Hall broke through early, taking the wickets of Bob Simpson and Neil Harvey, followed, after some stubborn resistance, by Norm O'Neill. The West Indies captain Frank Worrell then dismissed Colin McDonald before Hall struck again for his fourth wicket, Les Favell caught by Joe Solomon. Australia were 57/5 and the West Indies seemed set to win the match. After the sixth Australian wicket fell with Australia having made only 92 runs, the Australian captain Richie Benaud came to the crease to join Alan Davidson. Together the pair took Australia to 226/7 and now Australia looked assured victors with only 7 runs to get. Joe Solomon then turned the game again with a direct hit on the stumps to run out Davidson. Hall was entrusted by his captain Worrell to bowl the last over of the day with Australia needing four runs and West Indies needing three wickets to win the game. In one of the most exciting finishes in Test match history, Hall had Benaud caught behind, then dropped a catch and two Australian batsmen were run out trying to make the winning run. The match finished in a tie, the first in Test cricket.
Hall bowled well in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, taking 4/51 in the first innings and another two wickets "bowling at his fastest" in the second innings in which Australia comfortably made the 70 runs they needed to win the Test. The pitches used in the remaining three Test of the series favoured slow bowling and Hall did not play as large a role from that point on. West Indies won the third Test, the fourth Test was a thrilling draw but Australia won the final Test, at Melbourne again, to win the series two Tests to one. Over the course of the series both teams had striven to play bright, attractive cricket and the Australian public took the West Indian team to their hearts. Hall and the West Indies were farewelled with a ticker-tape parade through the streets of Melbourne. Hundreds of thousands of Australians keen to express their appreciation for the team brought the city to a standstill and reportedly brought Hall and his teammates to tears. Hall later described the spontaneous display of affection from the public as one usually "reserved for royalty or the Beatles".
His popularity in Australia saw Hall invited to play with Queensland for the 1961–62 Sheffield Shield season. Hall enjoyed an immensely successful season with Queensland and a key part of the team's second place in the Sheffield Shield competition—behind perennial powerhouse New South Wales. Hall took 43 wickets for the season at an average of 20.25, trailing only Richie Benaud of New South Wales in the season aggregate. Hall's 43 wickets set a new record for a Queensland bowler in a first-class cricket season. Hall returned for a second season with Queensland in 1962–63, taking 33 wickets for the season as Queensland again finished runner-up in the Sheffield Shield, this time to Victoria. Towards the end of Hall's second season, it became clear that the demands of playing cricket 12 months of the year were starting to take a toll on Hall. Queensland were keen to see Hall return for another season in 1963–64 but Hall declined, fearing his body would not stand up to the strain.
Finest hour
After his first season with Queensland, Hall returned to the Caribbean to join the West Indies team in their Test series against India in 1962. Hall took up where he left off against the Indians two years before. The Indians were a better batting side than the one Hall destroyed in the sub-continent in 1960 but they were still unable to come to terms with his pace. The West Indies won the series 5 Tests to nil and Hall took 27 wickets at an average of 15.74. When the second Test at Sabina Park was heading towards what looked to be a tame draw on a placid pitch, Hall broke the game wide open with some "grand bowling", taking 6/49 and West Indies won the match by an innings. In the fourth Test at Queens Park Oval, Hall was part of a 93-run partnership for the last wicket, making 50 runs himself. He then scythed through the Indian top order, taking the first five wickets of the innings to have India at 30/5 at one stage, a position they could not recover from.
These efforts led him to achieve the No. 1 ranking in ICC Test Bowlers ranking for 1962.
The success of Hall and his fast bowling partner Griffith saw the arrival of the West Indies pace duo in England for the 1963 Test series "greeted with the public awe and press build-up formerly accorded to [the Australians] Ted McDonald and Jack Gregory or Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller." Before the tour, Hall and fellow professional cricketers Garry Sobers and Rohan Kanhai threatened to withdraw from the team unless paid the equivalent of their professional earnings they had forsaken. Only the intervention of captain Frank Worrell saw the three join the tour. The West Indies, with their "sparkling batting, bowling and fielding", won the series three Tests to one and captured the imagination of the English public. While Hall had a successful series—taking 16 wickets at an average of 33.37—it was Griffith who was the main destroyer for the West Indies. Hall was "the ideal foil" for Griffith and played an invaluable support role. As a partnership, Hall and Griffith were "the centre of attraction and the key to victory".
Analysis of film footage at this time showed Hall bowling at 103 mph. With Griffiths bowling from the other end batsmen had nowhere to hide.
Perhaps Hall's greatest performance of the English summer was in the second Test at Lord's. On the final day of the Test, Hall bowled unchanged for 200 minutes, broken only by the tea interval. As in the Tied Test in Brisbane three years earlier, Hall found himself bowling the final over of the match with both sides still capable of winning. In the innings as a whole Hall bowled 40 overs for a return of 4/93 but despite Hall's brave efforts, England managed to hold on for a draw—the England batsman Colin Cowdrey returned to the crease with a broken arm to help save the match. The Times said of Hall that day, "His energy was astonishing, his stamina inexhaustible, his speed awesome, from the first ball to the last". Hall himself claimed that it was his "finest hour". There was a sour note in the final Test at The Oval when Hall was informally warned about intimidatory bowling. Hall bowled two successive bouncers to the England opening batsman Brian Bolus, prompting umpire Syd Buller to speak with West Indies captain Worrell saying, "We don't want this sort of bowling to get out of hand otherwise I will have to speak to the bowler." Later than innings, Griffith was formally warned by the same umpire.
The Australian tour of the West Indies in 1964–65 was somewhat overshadowed by concerns about the bowling action of Griffith, whom the visitors considered a "chucker". Regardless, Hall again started a Test series strongly. In the first Test at Sabina Park—Hall's favourite hunting ground—Hall took 5/60 in the first innings and then 4/45 in the second to play a leading role in the West Indies victory. Wisden was of the opinion that Hall "probably never bowled faster or straighter." It was "the most important single contribution of bowling in the five Tests" but Hall was not as effective in the remainder of the series, taking only seven wickets in the following four Tests. West Indies held on to win the series two Tests to one—the first time the West Indies defeated Australia in a Test series.
Exhausted volcano
As a result of their huge support in 1963, the West Indies were invited to tour England again only three years later. Despite the England press and public fearing the impact of Hall and his partner Griffith, it was soon clear that their powers had waned somewhat since 1963. Hall's "action was as poetic as ever and his commitment was just as great, but something was missing." He captured 18 wickets in the five Tests at an average of 30.83. However, Hall was still considered "the key man of the [West Indies] attack" and on occasion was still as damaging as ever. His finest moment of the series was in the fourth Test at Headingley where a "spell of eighty minutes by Hall at his fastest and best destroyed England" aiding his team to win the match by an innings and 55 runs and wrap up the series and the Wisden Trophy.
In 1966, the Trinidad-based company West Indian Tobacco (WITCO) engaged Hall on a three-year contract to promote youth cricket in Trinidad and Tobago, including playing for the Trinidad and Tobago national team in the Shell Shield, the West Indies first-class cricket championship. One of Hall's first roles for WITCO was to promote the Wes Hall Youth Cricket League, a new nation-wide junior cricket league.
Hall accompanied the West Indies cricket team to India and Ceylon in 1966–67 but was a shadow of the bowler that cut a swathe through India in earlier series. He injured his left knee during a net session early in the tour and the sub-continental pitches neutered his speed. Hall started the first Test of the series at Bombay in style, capturing two early wickets in a "superb" spell, "worthy of a great fast bowler" but did not take another wicket in the match. Wisden said of Hall's efforts in the series; "He could not bowl with the sustained hostility of old, and his form was erratic."
The slow decline of Hall as an effective Test match bowler became clearer after the home series against England in 1967–68. Hall "bowled with his old enthusiasm" in the second Test at Kingston, albeit on a pitch described by Wisden as "crazy paving" but as the series continued the England batsmen took a heavy toll on Hall and his long-time partner Griffith. Still, such was their prestige and their perceived psychological advantage over the English that the West Indies selectors stuck with the pair for the entire series. In the four Tests he played, Hall took only 9 wickets and those at an average of 39.22. In a summary of the tour Wisden said "In the event Hall proved to be little more than a shadow of the great fast bowler he had been. His pace was no longer to be feared ..."
The West Indies captain Garry Sobers had to fight with the selectors to have Hall included in the West Indies team to tour Australia and New Zealand in 1968–69. The West Indies Test selection panel told Sobers that Hall was "past his best" and that he would be left out of the team. Sobers still considered Hall one of the best bowlers in the Caribbean and insisted on his selection, threatening to withdraw from the tour himself if he did not get his man in the squad. The selectors eventually conceded and Hall was included in the touring party but—according to Sobers — one of the selectors was told to tell Hall he was only picked because of pressure from the captain. As it turned out Hall only played in two of the Tests in Australia with Wisden noting that "old age, as cricketers go, had finally had its say". The once fearsome pair of Hall and Griffith now "resembled exhausted volcanoes." Hall played the first Test against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland. Hall sustained an injury and was not able to complete the match, having bowled only 16 overs for the match and taking a solitary wicket. Hall was still unfit to play by the time the second Test started and never again played Test cricket.
After Test cricket
After the New Zealand tour, Hall joined the Barbados team for a short tour of England. Hall played two first-class matches on the tour, capturing two wickets at an average of 53.00. Hall then returned to Trinidad to complete his last season in the Shell Shield and his contract with WITCO. Hall met with moderate success, taking 15 wickets for Trinidad at a respectable average of 22.46. Hall's last first-class match was for Barbados against the touring Indians in 1971.
Before Hall left Trinidad in 1970, Gerard Pantin — a Catholic priest in the Holy Ghost Fathers order — asked Hall if he would assist him in forming a humanitarian program to assist the poor and marginalised residents of the Laventille community. Hall agreed and together the two men walked through the dangerous neighbourhood, simply asking the residents how they could help them. This mission grew to become the SERVOL (Service Volunteered For All) voluntary organisation that now operates throughout Trinidad and Tobago and elsewhere in the Caribbean. While Hall returned to Barbados three months after the program started, he is recognised as one of SERVOL's co-founders.
Hall has served Barbados and West Indian cricket in a variety of roles since the end of his playing days including chairing the West Indies selection panel for some years. Hall also accompanied many touring West Indies teams as manager, including the ill-fated 1995 tour of England, marred by player unrest. In 2001 Hall was elected president of the West Indies Cricket Board. During his time as president Hall was instrumental in attracting the 2007 Cricket World Cup to the West Indies. Hall also developed a system of collective bargaining with the West Indies Players Association. Hall chose not to stand for re-election in 2003, citing health problems. Hall was a member of the board of directors of the Stanford 20/20 cricket project.
At the end of his career as a cricketer, Hall reflected, "I realised that I’d been playing for ten years, and I was married with three children and I didn’t have any money." After working with SERVOL in Trinidad, Hall "knew from that moment on, [he] would commit [his] life to service." He studied Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management at the Industrial Society in London and then returned to Cable and Wireless in Barbados to take a role as Regional Staff Welfare Manager. As well as his role with WITCO in Trinidad, Hall also had high-profile roles in private enterprise with Banks Barbados Brewery and Sandals Resorts.
Hall became involved in Barbadian politics, joining the Democratic Labour Party. First appointed to the Barbados Senate, Hall was later elected to the House of Assembly. Hall was elected as the representative for the Assembly constituency of St. Michael West Central in 1986 and re-elected in 1991. In 1987, Hall was appointed Minister of Tourism and Sports in the Government of Barbados. As Tourism Minister, Hall has been given credit for developing the sports tourism market in Barbados.
On a visit to Florida in 1990, Hall attended a Christian religious service. Impressed by the preacher, during the service, Hall "made a very serious decision to give [his] heart and life to God." Hall attended Bible school and was later ordained a minister in the Christian Pentecostal Church. Notably, Hall ministered to fellow Barbadian fast bowler Malcolm Marshall while Marshall was dying from colon cancer.
Hall is a member of the West Indies Cricket Hall of Fame. and the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. For his work in tourism, Hall has been awarded the Caribbean Tourism Organisation's Lifetime Achievement Award. The University of the West Indies awarded Hall an honorary Doctorate of Laws in 2005. Hall and fellow Barbadian fast bowler Charlie Griffith have a grandstand at Kensington Oval named after them—the Hall & Griffith Stand. Hall was knighted in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to sport and the community.
Style and personality
Hall was a tall and muscular cricketer, tall and bearing the "physique and strength of a bodybuilder." He had a graceful, classical action and one of the longest run-ups in Test cricket. A genuinely fast bowler, he was timed at . Hall was able to sustain pace and hostility for very long spells—during the Test against England at Lord's in 1963 he bowled unchanged for over three hours on the final day. While Hall was an aggressive fast bowler, he was not one to set out to injure the batsman. The England cricketer Ted Dexter—himself hit several times by Hall—said "there was never a hint of malice in [Hall] or in his bowling". Hall himself said after one of his deliveries fractured Australian cricketer Wally Grout's jaw "It made me sick to see Wal leaving and it made me sicker to hear some jokers in the crowd ranting on as though I had intentionally hurt [Grout]".
While Hall could never be described as an all-rounder, on occasions he was an effective batsman. His one century in first-class cricket was against Cambridge University Cricket Club at Fenner's—scored in 65 minutes, the fastest century of the 1963 English season. Wisden said of this innings, "[Hall's] batting promised so much ... [he] made his runs in the classic mould, not in the unorthodox manner usually adopted by fast bowlers." With his characteristic humour, Hall said of this innings, "Ah, but it wasn't any old hundred, it was against the intelligentsia."
Hall was one of the most popular cricketers of his day. The Australian commentator Johnnie Moyes described Hall as "a rare box-office attraction, a man who caught and held the affections of the paying public." Hall was particularly popular in Australia. When invited back to play for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield in 1961–62, Hall arrived in Brisbane to "scenes more in keeping with the arrival of a pop star, a thousand people jamming the old terminal building at Eagle Farm airport to welcome him." Hall was fond of a bet and was a keen follower of horseracing. Hall is known as a good humoured man; C. L. R. James observed "Hall simply exudes good nature at every pore." Tony Cozier states "[Hall] is renowned for his entertaining, if prolonged oratory, as well as for his tardiness."
Publications
Pace Like Fire (1965)
Notes
References
External links
1937 births
Living people
Barbadian cricketers
Barbados cricketers
Barbadian knights
Commonwealth XI cricketers
Queensland cricketers
Trinidad and Tobago cricketers
West Indies Test cricketers
International Cavaliers cricketers
Test cricket hat-trick takers
West Indies cricket team selectors
Government ministers of Barbados
Members of the Senate of Barbados
Members of the House of Assembly of Barbados
Pentecostal pastors
People educated at Combermere School
Cricket players and officials awarded knighthoods
Barbadian sportsperson-politicians | 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"
]
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[
"Wes Hall",
"Early life and career",
"what was wes' early life like?",
"Hall was born in Saint Michael, Barbados--\"just outside the walls of [HM Prison] Glendairy\"--to a teenaged mother,",
"who were his parents?",
"teenaged mother, his father a sometime light-heavyweight boxer.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"At the time the leading schools in Barbados played against grown men in the elite Division 1 of the Barbados Cricket Association"
]
| C_afdff0741f514ee6adf43f6fec00d8f4_1 | did they win? | 4 | who won the game between the leading schools in barbados and the grown men in the elite division 1 of the barbados cricket association? | Wes Hall | Hall was born in Saint Michael, Barbados--"just outside the walls of [HM Prison] Glendairy"--to a teenaged mother, his father a sometime light-heavyweight boxer. Hall began his schooling at St Giles' Boys' School and later obtained a place at the renowned Combermere School thanks to a free scholarship. At Combermere, he played for the school cricket team initially as a wicketkeeper/batsman. At the time the leading schools in Barbados played against grown men in the elite Division 1 of the Barbados Cricket Association and Hall was exposed to a high standard of cricket at an early age. One of his teammates at Combermere was the school groundskeeper, the West Indian Test cricketer Frank King. After completing his schooling, Hall found employment with the cable office in Bridgetown. Hall played for the Cable Office cricket team and it was there that Hall took up fast bowling. In a match against Wanderers, Hall was asked to fill in when his team's regular opening bowler was absent. He took six wickets that day and decided that bowling would be his path to the West Indies team. His talent was soon recognised and in 1956 he was included in the Barbados team to play E. W. Swanton's XI in 1956. Hall, still very young and inexperienced, did not take a wicket in the match, his first-class cricket debut. Hall was unlucky, however, not to pick up a wicket having Colin Cowdrey dropped by Kenneth Branker at first slip. Despite the lack of success Hall did catch the eye of Swanton who marked him down as a bowler of "great promise". Based partly on this promise, Hall was selected in the West Indian squad to tour England in 1957. Despite great enthusiasm, Hall struggled in the unfamiliar surroundings, unable to pitch the ball anywhere near the wicket. Hall remarked later "When I hit the softer wickets I was like a fish out of water." Hall did not play in any of the Test matches and in first-class matches on the tour as a whole took 27 wickets at an average of 33.55. Hall's lack of success in England saw him overlooked for the entire home Test series against Pakistan in 1957-58. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Sir Wesley Winfield Hall (born 12 September 1937) is a Barbadian former cricketer and politician. A tall, strong and powerfully built man, Hall was a genuine fast bowler and despite his very long run up, he was renowned for his ability to bowl long spells. Hall played 48 Test matches for the West Indies from 1958 to 1969. Hall's opening bowling partnership with fellow Barbadian Charlie Griffith was a feature of the strong West Indies teams throughout the 1960s. Hall was one of the most popular cricketers of his day and was especially popular in Australia, where he played two seasons in the Sheffield Shield with Queensland.
A wicket-keeper/batsman as a schoolboy, Hall did not take up fast bowling until relatively late. He was included in the West Indies squad to tour England in 1957 having only played one match of first-class cricket. He made his Test cricket debut against India in 1958 and was instantly successful. He took a Test hat-trick in Pakistan in 1959, the first West Indian cricketer to do so. Hall bowled the final over in two famous Test matches, the Tied Test against Australia in 1960 and the Lord's Test against England in 1963. Years of non-stop cricket and resultant injury reduced Hall's effectiveness in the latter part of his Test career.
After his playing days Hall entered Barbadian politics, serving in both the Barbados Senate and House of Assembly and appointed Minister of Tourism in 1987. He was also involved in the administration of West Indies cricket as a selector and team manager and served as President of the West Indies Cricket Board from 2001 to 2003. Hall was later ordained a minister in the Christian Pentecostal Church. He is a member of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and the West Indies Cricket Hall of Fame. In 2012 he was created a Knight Bachelor for services to sport and the community.
Early life and career
Hall was born in Saint Michael, Barbados—"just outside the walls of [HM Prison] Glendairy"—to a teenaged mother, his father a sometime light-heavyweight boxer. Hall began his schooling at St Giles' Boys' School and later obtained a place at the renowned Combermere School thanks to a free scholarship. At Combermere, he played for the school cricket team initially as a wicketkeeper/batsman. At the time the leading schools in Barbados played against grown men in the elite Division 1 of the Barbados Cricket Association and Hall was exposed to a high standard of cricket at an early age. One of his teammates at Combermere was the school groundskeeper, the West Indian Test cricketer Frank King.
After completing his schooling, Hall found employment with the cable office in Bridgetown. Hall played for the Cable Office cricket team and it was there that Hall took up fast bowling. In a match against Wanderers, Hall was asked to fill in when his team's regular opening bowler was absent. He took six wickets that day and decided that bowling would be his path to the West Indies team. His talent was soon recognised and in 1956 he was included in the Barbados team to play E. W. Swanton's XI in 1956. Hall, still very young and inexperienced, did not take a wicket in the match, his first-class cricket debut. Hall was unlucky, however, not to pick up a wicket having Colin Cowdrey dropped by Kenneth Branker at first slip. Despite the lack of success Hall did catch the eye of Swanton who marked him down as a bowler of "great promise".
Based partly on this promise, Hall was selected in the West Indian squad to tour England in 1957. Despite great enthusiasm, Hall struggled in the unfamiliar surroundings, unable to pitch the ball anywhere near the wicket. Hall remarked later "When I hit the softer wickets I was like a fish out of water." Hall did not play in any of the Test matches and in first-class matches on the tour as a whole took 27 wickets at an average of 33.55. Hall's lack of success in England saw him overlooked for the entire home Test series against Pakistan in 1957–58.
Test career
Debut and hat-trick
Originally left out of the West Indies team to tour India and Pakistan in 1958–59, Hall was called into the team as a backup for the Trinidadian Jaswick Taylor after the all-rounder Frank Worrell withdrew from the team at a late stage. Hall met with some success an early match against Baroda, taking 5 wickets for 41 runs (5/41) in Baroda's second innings. This performance saw Hall overtake Taylor to become the first-choice partner of Roy Gilchrist in the Test team. The pair had a highly successful Test series against the Indians with Wisden Cricketers' Almanack describing the duo as "two fearsome opening bowlers reminiscent of the days of [Manny] Martindale and [Learie] Constantine."
Hall made his debut in the first Test against India at Brabourne Stadium at Bombay and met with almost instant success. He dismissed the Indian opener Nari Contractor for a duck and quickly followed than with the wickets of Pankaj Roy and Vijay Manjrekar. In what ended as a dour draw, Hall finished with 3/35 in the first innings and 1/72 in the second. When Gilchrist was dropped from the second Test at Modi Stadium in Kanpur, Hall—in only his second Test match—was given the responsibility of leading the West Indies bowling attack. Hall was equal to the task, playing "a decisive part in India's downfall" taking 11 wickets in the match. Over the entire five Test series—won by the West Indies three Tests to nil—Hall and Gilchrist terrorised the Indian batsman, who had neither the "experience or the physical capacity" to stand up to the West Indian fast bowling duo.
The West Indies were not as successful in the three Test series against Pakistan, losing the first two Tests before winning the final Test—the first time Pakistan had lost a Test match at home. Hall bowled well in both the matches, however. In the second Test at Dacca, Hall relied on movement through the air rather than sheer pace and had Pakistan reeling on stage, five wickets down for only 22 runs made (22–5) In the third Test at Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore, Hall made history by becoming the first West Indian to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. His victims were Mushtaq Mohammad (aged 15 and in his debut Test match, at the time the youngest cricketer to play Test cricket), Nasim-ul-Ghani and Fazal Mahmood.
Hall once again performed well when England toured the West Indies in 1959–60. Wisden remarked that Hall "with a lovely action, genuine speed and remarkable stamina" was "always the biggest threat to England." Hall came close to winning the third Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica for the West Indies on the first day when England were reduced to 165/5 at stumps, Hall having captured five of the wickets to fall. Only Colin Cowdrey was able to stand in his way with Hall finishing the innings with 7/69, his best bowling figures in Test cricket. In the third Test in a placid pitch at Bourda in British Guiana, Hall again broke the back of England's batting taking six wickets for 90 runs in the England first innings. This included bowling M. J. K. Smith out for a duck for the second Test in a row. Hall played alongside his great partner Charlie Griffith in Test cricket for the first time in the fifth Test at Port of Spain. By this stage, Hall had "burned himself out" and he bowled only four overs in the England second innings as the West Indies pushed for a series-equalling win. Unfortunately for the West Indies and Hall, England held on for a draw and won the series one Test to nil.
In April 1960, Hall began the first of his three seasons as a professional with Accrington Cricket Club in the Lancashire League. Hall was first offered a contract by Accrington for the 1959 season, which he turned down through loyalty to his employer in Barbados who had provided him with leave to tour England. Hall was a success in League cricket, capturing 100 wickets in the 1960 season, 106 wickets in the 1961 season (when Accrington won the Lancashire League championship) and 123 wickets in the 1962 season, falling just short of the then-League record. Hall also managed to capture 10 wickets in an innings on two occasions with Accrington, 10/57 against Burnley and 10/28 against Bacup. Hall left Accrington in 1964 to take up a less restrictive contract with Great Chell Cricket Club in the Staffordshire League. During the 1964 season, Hall married his childhood sweetheart Shurla in Liverpool.
Success in Australia
The 1960–61 Test series against Australia is one of the most famous in the history of Test cricket and Hall played a major role in its outcome. The first Test in the series at the Gabba in Brisbane had a thrilling finish. The West Indies set Australia a target of 233 runs to win the match. Hall broke through early, taking the wickets of Bob Simpson and Neil Harvey, followed, after some stubborn resistance, by Norm O'Neill. The West Indies captain Frank Worrell then dismissed Colin McDonald before Hall struck again for his fourth wicket, Les Favell caught by Joe Solomon. Australia were 57/5 and the West Indies seemed set to win the match. After the sixth Australian wicket fell with Australia having made only 92 runs, the Australian captain Richie Benaud came to the crease to join Alan Davidson. Together the pair took Australia to 226/7 and now Australia looked assured victors with only 7 runs to get. Joe Solomon then turned the game again with a direct hit on the stumps to run out Davidson. Hall was entrusted by his captain Worrell to bowl the last over of the day with Australia needing four runs and West Indies needing three wickets to win the game. In one of the most exciting finishes in Test match history, Hall had Benaud caught behind, then dropped a catch and two Australian batsmen were run out trying to make the winning run. The match finished in a tie, the first in Test cricket.
Hall bowled well in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, taking 4/51 in the first innings and another two wickets "bowling at his fastest" in the second innings in which Australia comfortably made the 70 runs they needed to win the Test. The pitches used in the remaining three Test of the series favoured slow bowling and Hall did not play as large a role from that point on. West Indies won the third Test, the fourth Test was a thrilling draw but Australia won the final Test, at Melbourne again, to win the series two Tests to one. Over the course of the series both teams had striven to play bright, attractive cricket and the Australian public took the West Indian team to their hearts. Hall and the West Indies were farewelled with a ticker-tape parade through the streets of Melbourne. Hundreds of thousands of Australians keen to express their appreciation for the team brought the city to a standstill and reportedly brought Hall and his teammates to tears. Hall later described the spontaneous display of affection from the public as one usually "reserved for royalty or the Beatles".
His popularity in Australia saw Hall invited to play with Queensland for the 1961–62 Sheffield Shield season. Hall enjoyed an immensely successful season with Queensland and a key part of the team's second place in the Sheffield Shield competition—behind perennial powerhouse New South Wales. Hall took 43 wickets for the season at an average of 20.25, trailing only Richie Benaud of New South Wales in the season aggregate. Hall's 43 wickets set a new record for a Queensland bowler in a first-class cricket season. Hall returned for a second season with Queensland in 1962–63, taking 33 wickets for the season as Queensland again finished runner-up in the Sheffield Shield, this time to Victoria. Towards the end of Hall's second season, it became clear that the demands of playing cricket 12 months of the year were starting to take a toll on Hall. Queensland were keen to see Hall return for another season in 1963–64 but Hall declined, fearing his body would not stand up to the strain.
Finest hour
After his first season with Queensland, Hall returned to the Caribbean to join the West Indies team in their Test series against India in 1962. Hall took up where he left off against the Indians two years before. The Indians were a better batting side than the one Hall destroyed in the sub-continent in 1960 but they were still unable to come to terms with his pace. The West Indies won the series 5 Tests to nil and Hall took 27 wickets at an average of 15.74. When the second Test at Sabina Park was heading towards what looked to be a tame draw on a placid pitch, Hall broke the game wide open with some "grand bowling", taking 6/49 and West Indies won the match by an innings. In the fourth Test at Queens Park Oval, Hall was part of a 93-run partnership for the last wicket, making 50 runs himself. He then scythed through the Indian top order, taking the first five wickets of the innings to have India at 30/5 at one stage, a position they could not recover from.
These efforts led him to achieve the No. 1 ranking in ICC Test Bowlers ranking for 1962.
The success of Hall and his fast bowling partner Griffith saw the arrival of the West Indies pace duo in England for the 1963 Test series "greeted with the public awe and press build-up formerly accorded to [the Australians] Ted McDonald and Jack Gregory or Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller." Before the tour, Hall and fellow professional cricketers Garry Sobers and Rohan Kanhai threatened to withdraw from the team unless paid the equivalent of their professional earnings they had forsaken. Only the intervention of captain Frank Worrell saw the three join the tour. The West Indies, with their "sparkling batting, bowling and fielding", won the series three Tests to one and captured the imagination of the English public. While Hall had a successful series—taking 16 wickets at an average of 33.37—it was Griffith who was the main destroyer for the West Indies. Hall was "the ideal foil" for Griffith and played an invaluable support role. As a partnership, Hall and Griffith were "the centre of attraction and the key to victory".
Analysis of film footage at this time showed Hall bowling at 103 mph. With Griffiths bowling from the other end batsmen had nowhere to hide.
Perhaps Hall's greatest performance of the English summer was in the second Test at Lord's. On the final day of the Test, Hall bowled unchanged for 200 minutes, broken only by the tea interval. As in the Tied Test in Brisbane three years earlier, Hall found himself bowling the final over of the match with both sides still capable of winning. In the innings as a whole Hall bowled 40 overs for a return of 4/93 but despite Hall's brave efforts, England managed to hold on for a draw—the England batsman Colin Cowdrey returned to the crease with a broken arm to help save the match. The Times said of Hall that day, "His energy was astonishing, his stamina inexhaustible, his speed awesome, from the first ball to the last". Hall himself claimed that it was his "finest hour". There was a sour note in the final Test at The Oval when Hall was informally warned about intimidatory bowling. Hall bowled two successive bouncers to the England opening batsman Brian Bolus, prompting umpire Syd Buller to speak with West Indies captain Worrell saying, "We don't want this sort of bowling to get out of hand otherwise I will have to speak to the bowler." Later than innings, Griffith was formally warned by the same umpire.
The Australian tour of the West Indies in 1964–65 was somewhat overshadowed by concerns about the bowling action of Griffith, whom the visitors considered a "chucker". Regardless, Hall again started a Test series strongly. In the first Test at Sabina Park—Hall's favourite hunting ground—Hall took 5/60 in the first innings and then 4/45 in the second to play a leading role in the West Indies victory. Wisden was of the opinion that Hall "probably never bowled faster or straighter." It was "the most important single contribution of bowling in the five Tests" but Hall was not as effective in the remainder of the series, taking only seven wickets in the following four Tests. West Indies held on to win the series two Tests to one—the first time the West Indies defeated Australia in a Test series.
Exhausted volcano
As a result of their huge support in 1963, the West Indies were invited to tour England again only three years later. Despite the England press and public fearing the impact of Hall and his partner Griffith, it was soon clear that their powers had waned somewhat since 1963. Hall's "action was as poetic as ever and his commitment was just as great, but something was missing." He captured 18 wickets in the five Tests at an average of 30.83. However, Hall was still considered "the key man of the [West Indies] attack" and on occasion was still as damaging as ever. His finest moment of the series was in the fourth Test at Headingley where a "spell of eighty minutes by Hall at his fastest and best destroyed England" aiding his team to win the match by an innings and 55 runs and wrap up the series and the Wisden Trophy.
In 1966, the Trinidad-based company West Indian Tobacco (WITCO) engaged Hall on a three-year contract to promote youth cricket in Trinidad and Tobago, including playing for the Trinidad and Tobago national team in the Shell Shield, the West Indies first-class cricket championship. One of Hall's first roles for WITCO was to promote the Wes Hall Youth Cricket League, a new nation-wide junior cricket league.
Hall accompanied the West Indies cricket team to India and Ceylon in 1966–67 but was a shadow of the bowler that cut a swathe through India in earlier series. He injured his left knee during a net session early in the tour and the sub-continental pitches neutered his speed. Hall started the first Test of the series at Bombay in style, capturing two early wickets in a "superb" spell, "worthy of a great fast bowler" but did not take another wicket in the match. Wisden said of Hall's efforts in the series; "He could not bowl with the sustained hostility of old, and his form was erratic."
The slow decline of Hall as an effective Test match bowler became clearer after the home series against England in 1967–68. Hall "bowled with his old enthusiasm" in the second Test at Kingston, albeit on a pitch described by Wisden as "crazy paving" but as the series continued the England batsmen took a heavy toll on Hall and his long-time partner Griffith. Still, such was their prestige and their perceived psychological advantage over the English that the West Indies selectors stuck with the pair for the entire series. In the four Tests he played, Hall took only 9 wickets and those at an average of 39.22. In a summary of the tour Wisden said "In the event Hall proved to be little more than a shadow of the great fast bowler he had been. His pace was no longer to be feared ..."
The West Indies captain Garry Sobers had to fight with the selectors to have Hall included in the West Indies team to tour Australia and New Zealand in 1968–69. The West Indies Test selection panel told Sobers that Hall was "past his best" and that he would be left out of the team. Sobers still considered Hall one of the best bowlers in the Caribbean and insisted on his selection, threatening to withdraw from the tour himself if he did not get his man in the squad. The selectors eventually conceded and Hall was included in the touring party but—according to Sobers — one of the selectors was told to tell Hall he was only picked because of pressure from the captain. As it turned out Hall only played in two of the Tests in Australia with Wisden noting that "old age, as cricketers go, had finally had its say". The once fearsome pair of Hall and Griffith now "resembled exhausted volcanoes." Hall played the first Test against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland. Hall sustained an injury and was not able to complete the match, having bowled only 16 overs for the match and taking a solitary wicket. Hall was still unfit to play by the time the second Test started and never again played Test cricket.
After Test cricket
After the New Zealand tour, Hall joined the Barbados team for a short tour of England. Hall played two first-class matches on the tour, capturing two wickets at an average of 53.00. Hall then returned to Trinidad to complete his last season in the Shell Shield and his contract with WITCO. Hall met with moderate success, taking 15 wickets for Trinidad at a respectable average of 22.46. Hall's last first-class match was for Barbados against the touring Indians in 1971.
Before Hall left Trinidad in 1970, Gerard Pantin — a Catholic priest in the Holy Ghost Fathers order — asked Hall if he would assist him in forming a humanitarian program to assist the poor and marginalised residents of the Laventille community. Hall agreed and together the two men walked through the dangerous neighbourhood, simply asking the residents how they could help them. This mission grew to become the SERVOL (Service Volunteered For All) voluntary organisation that now operates throughout Trinidad and Tobago and elsewhere in the Caribbean. While Hall returned to Barbados three months after the program started, he is recognised as one of SERVOL's co-founders.
Hall has served Barbados and West Indian cricket in a variety of roles since the end of his playing days including chairing the West Indies selection panel for some years. Hall also accompanied many touring West Indies teams as manager, including the ill-fated 1995 tour of England, marred by player unrest. In 2001 Hall was elected president of the West Indies Cricket Board. During his time as president Hall was instrumental in attracting the 2007 Cricket World Cup to the West Indies. Hall also developed a system of collective bargaining with the West Indies Players Association. Hall chose not to stand for re-election in 2003, citing health problems. Hall was a member of the board of directors of the Stanford 20/20 cricket project.
At the end of his career as a cricketer, Hall reflected, "I realised that I’d been playing for ten years, and I was married with three children and I didn’t have any money." After working with SERVOL in Trinidad, Hall "knew from that moment on, [he] would commit [his] life to service." He studied Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management at the Industrial Society in London and then returned to Cable and Wireless in Barbados to take a role as Regional Staff Welfare Manager. As well as his role with WITCO in Trinidad, Hall also had high-profile roles in private enterprise with Banks Barbados Brewery and Sandals Resorts.
Hall became involved in Barbadian politics, joining the Democratic Labour Party. First appointed to the Barbados Senate, Hall was later elected to the House of Assembly. Hall was elected as the representative for the Assembly constituency of St. Michael West Central in 1986 and re-elected in 1991. In 1987, Hall was appointed Minister of Tourism and Sports in the Government of Barbados. As Tourism Minister, Hall has been given credit for developing the sports tourism market in Barbados.
On a visit to Florida in 1990, Hall attended a Christian religious service. Impressed by the preacher, during the service, Hall "made a very serious decision to give [his] heart and life to God." Hall attended Bible school and was later ordained a minister in the Christian Pentecostal Church. Notably, Hall ministered to fellow Barbadian fast bowler Malcolm Marshall while Marshall was dying from colon cancer.
Hall is a member of the West Indies Cricket Hall of Fame. and the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. For his work in tourism, Hall has been awarded the Caribbean Tourism Organisation's Lifetime Achievement Award. The University of the West Indies awarded Hall an honorary Doctorate of Laws in 2005. Hall and fellow Barbadian fast bowler Charlie Griffith have a grandstand at Kensington Oval named after them—the Hall & Griffith Stand. Hall was knighted in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to sport and the community.
Style and personality
Hall was a tall and muscular cricketer, tall and bearing the "physique and strength of a bodybuilder." He had a graceful, classical action and one of the longest run-ups in Test cricket. A genuinely fast bowler, he was timed at . Hall was able to sustain pace and hostility for very long spells—during the Test against England at Lord's in 1963 he bowled unchanged for over three hours on the final day. While Hall was an aggressive fast bowler, he was not one to set out to injure the batsman. The England cricketer Ted Dexter—himself hit several times by Hall—said "there was never a hint of malice in [Hall] or in his bowling". Hall himself said after one of his deliveries fractured Australian cricketer Wally Grout's jaw "It made me sick to see Wal leaving and it made me sicker to hear some jokers in the crowd ranting on as though I had intentionally hurt [Grout]".
While Hall could never be described as an all-rounder, on occasions he was an effective batsman. His one century in first-class cricket was against Cambridge University Cricket Club at Fenner's—scored in 65 minutes, the fastest century of the 1963 English season. Wisden said of this innings, "[Hall's] batting promised so much ... [he] made his runs in the classic mould, not in the unorthodox manner usually adopted by fast bowlers." With his characteristic humour, Hall said of this innings, "Ah, but it wasn't any old hundred, it was against the intelligentsia."
Hall was one of the most popular cricketers of his day. The Australian commentator Johnnie Moyes described Hall as "a rare box-office attraction, a man who caught and held the affections of the paying public." Hall was particularly popular in Australia. When invited back to play for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield in 1961–62, Hall arrived in Brisbane to "scenes more in keeping with the arrival of a pop star, a thousand people jamming the old terminal building at Eagle Farm airport to welcome him." Hall was fond of a bet and was a keen follower of horseracing. Hall is known as a good humoured man; C. L. R. James observed "Hall simply exudes good nature at every pore." Tony Cozier states "[Hall] is renowned for his entertaining, if prolonged oratory, as well as for his tardiness."
Publications
Pace Like Fire (1965)
Notes
References
External links
1937 births
Living people
Barbadian cricketers
Barbados cricketers
Barbadian knights
Commonwealth XI cricketers
Queensland cricketers
Trinidad and Tobago cricketers
West Indies Test cricketers
International Cavaliers cricketers
Test cricket hat-trick takers
West Indies cricket team selectors
Government ministers of Barbados
Members of the Senate of Barbados
Members of the House of Assembly of Barbados
Pentecostal pastors
People educated at Combermere School
Cricket players and officials awarded knighthoods
Barbadian sportsperson-politicians | false | [
"The Gilleys Shield is a trophy symbolising the Open Women's Championship of the Softball Australia organisation (formerly known as the Australian Softball Federation). The competition's full name is the Mack Gilley Shield.\n\nHistory \nIn 1947, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria participated in the first interstate softball competition in the country. The competition was eventually called the Mack Gilley Shield. For the 2009–2010 season the Shield will for the first time admit the New Zealand White Sox team to the competition.\n\nWinners \nBetween 1947 and 1968, New South Wales did not win a single Mack Gilley Shield. They finally won in 1969, repeating their first-place finish again in 1973, 1981 when they shared the title with Victoria, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1993. Between the start of the competition and 1995, New South Wales won a total of nine Gilley Shields. This total ranked them third amongst all states.\n\nQueensland won the Mack Gilley Shield in 1963, 1966 and 1968. They won again in 1975, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1992 and 1994. In 2012, Queensland finished third in the Gilley Shield. Between the start of the competition and 1995, Queensland won a total of ten Gilley Shields. This total ranked them second amongst all states.\n\nVictoria won the Mack Gilley Shield in 1947, 1949, 1950, and 1951. They won it again in 1954, 1957 and 1958. They did not win in 1959 but won again in 1960, 1961 and 1962. Queensland won in 1963, but Victoria won again in 1964 and 1965 and 1967. Victoria went on to win again in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, and shared the title with New South Wales in 1981. They won again in 1982, and 1985. Between the start of the competition and 1995, Victoria won a total of twenty-two Gilley Shields if the 1981 tie with New South Wales is counted. This was twelve more than any other state.\n\nBetween 1947 and 1994, Tasmania did not win a single Mack Gilley Shield.\n\nSouth Australia won the Mack Gilley Shield in 1956. Between 1957 and 1994, they did not win another championship.\n\nWestern Australia won the Mack Gilley Shield in 1952 and 1953. They did not win in 1954 but won it again in 1955. They missed out in winning from 1956 to 1958, before winning again in 1959. They did not win another championship between 1960 and 1994.\n\nBetween 1947 and 1968, the Australian Capital Territory did not win the Mack Gilley Shield. They finally broke their losing streak by winning in 1978, 1979 and 1980. They did not win again between 1981 and 1994.\n\nBetween 1947 and 1968, the Northern Territory did not win the Mack Gilley Shield. They did not win between 1969 and 1994.\n\nHosting \nNew South Wales hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Sydney in 1950, 1955, 1961, and 1968. Queensland hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Brisbane in 1947, 1953, 1959 and 1966. Victoria hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Melbourne in 1949, 1954, 1960 and 1967. Tasmania hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Hobart in 1958, 1964 and 1985. South Australia hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Adelaide in 1951, 1956, and 1962. Western Australia hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Perth in 1952, 1957, and 1963. The Australian Capital Territory hosted the Mack Gilley Shield in Canberra in 1965. Between 1947 and 1968, the Northern Territory did not host the Mack Gilley Shield.\n\nGilleys Shield Awards \nThere are several awards connected with the Shield including the Midge Nelson Medal for the competition's most valuable player, the Lorraine Woolley Medal for pitching and the Sybil turner Medal for the best batting. In 1985, the Nelson Medal was won by K. Dienelt of the Northern Territory and the Woolley Medal was won by L. Evans of Victoria. In 1986, the Nelson Medal was won by H. Strauss of Queensland and the Woolley Medal was won by C. Bruce of New South Wales. In 1987, the Nelson Medal was won by K. Dienelt of the Northern Territory and the Woolley Medal was won by C. Cunderson of Queensland. 1988 was the first year all three medals were awarded. They were won respectively by L. Ward of New South Wales, M. Roche of New South Wales and V. Grant of Western Australia. In 1989, they respectively went to L. Loughman of Victoria, M. Rouche of New South Wales and L. Martin of South Australia. In 1990, they went to K, McCracken of Victoria, M. Rouche of New South Wales, and G. Ledingham of New South Wales.\n\nAWARD NAMES\nMidge Nelson Medal – Most Valuable Player\nRosemary Adey Medal – Rookie of the Year\nLorraine Woolley Medal – Best Pitcher\nSybil Turner Medal – Best Batter\n\nPrevious Individual Award Winners \n2003\nMost Valuable Player – Tanya Harding (QLD)\nRookie of the Year – Melanie Dunne (QLD)\nBest Pitcher – Kelly Hardie (QLD)\nBest Batter – Kerrie Sheehan (NSW)\n2004\nMost Valuable Player – Tanya Harding (QLD\nRookie of the Year – Kylie Cronk (QLD)\nBest Pitcher – Brooke Wilkins (QLD)\nBest Batter – Natalie Titcume (VIC)\n2005\nMost Valuable Player – Natalie Titcume (VIC)\nRookie of the Year – Krystle Rivers (WA)\nBest Pitcher – Jocelyn McCallum (QLD)\nBest Batter – Amanda Doman (QLD)\n2006\nMost Valuable Player – Amanda Doman (QLD)\nRookie of the Year – Nicole Smith (ACT)\nBest Pitcher – Kelly Hardie (QLD)\nBest Batter – Stacey Porter (NSW)\n\nSee also \nSoftball Australia\nASF National Championships\n\nReferences \n\nSoftball competitions in Australia",
"The African National Congress was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party first contested national elections in 1961, when it received just 0.5% of the vote and failed to win a seat. They did not put forward any candidates for the 1966 elections, but returned for the 1971 elections, in which they received 2.4% of the vote, but again failed to win a seat as the People's National Movement won all 36. The party did not contest any further elections.\n\nReferences\n\nDefunct political parties in Trinidad and Tobago"
]
|
[
"Avenged Sevenfold",
"Style and influences"
]
| C_020c7448b80446e583fe33477d0fc1a6_0 | Can you provide me with a little background information on Avenged Sevenfold style and influences? | 1 | Can you provide me with a little background information on Avenged Sevenfold's style and influences? | Avenged Sevenfold | The band's influences include Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera, Bad Religion, Dream Theater, Motorhead, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, In Flames, At the Gates, Helloween, Queensryche, System of a Down, AC/DC, NOFX, Alice in Chains, Black Flag, Corrosion of Conformity, Suicidal Tendencies, Misfits, Slayer, The Vandals, Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Slipknot, Deftones, Beastie Boys, Biohazard, Type O Negative, Anthrax and AFI. The band has been categorized under many genres of heavy music. Mainly categorized as heavy metal, hard rock, progressive metal and metalcore, Avenged Sevenfold's music has evolved over most of the band's career. At first, the band's debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of a metalcore sound; however, there were several deviations from this genre, most notably in "Streets", which shows a punk rock style, and "Warmness on the Soul", which is a piano ballad. On Waking the Fallen, the band displayed a metalcore style once more, but added more clean singing and leaned a bit more towards metal and bit less close to hardcore. In the band's DVD All Excess, producer Andrew Murdock explained this transition: "When I met the band after Sounding the Seventh Trumpet had come out before they had recorded Waking the Fallen, M. Shadows said to me 'This record is screaming. The record we want to make is going to be half-screaming half-singing. I don't want to scream anymore. And the record after that is going to be all singing'." On City of Evil, Avenged Sevenfold's third album, the band chose to abandon the metalcore genre, using a more hard rock and heavy metal style. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album, however, has some experiments with other music genres than that from City of Evil, most notably in "Dear God", which shows a country style and "A Little Piece of Heaven", which is circled within the influence of Broadway show tunes, using primarily brass instruments and stringed orchestra to take over most of the role of the lead and rhythm guitar. Nightmare contains further deviations, including a piano ballad called "Fiction", progressive metal-oriented track "Save Me" and a heavy metal sound with extreme vocals and heavier instrumentation on "God Hates Us". The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King shows more of a classic metal sound and a riff-oriented approach. On their newest album The Stage, the band explores further into progressive metal, blending it with elements of thrash metal. In the past, Avenged Sevenfold has also been described as alternative metal, screamo, and pop punk metal. The band has been criticized for "not being metal enough". Vocalist M. Shadows responded to this with, "we play music for the sake of music, not so that we can be labeled a metal band. That's like telling us we aren't punk enough. Who cares?" Avenged Sevenfold is one of the notable acts of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal. CANNOTANSWER | The band's influences include Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera, Bad Religion, Dream Theater, Motorhead, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, In Flames, At the Gates, Helloween, | Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Synyster Gates, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny Christ, and drummer Brooks Wackerman.
Avenged Sevenfold is known for its diverse rock sound and dramatic imagery in album covers and merchandise. The band emerged with a metalcore sound on their debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet and continued this sound through their second album Waking the Fallen. However, the band's style had evolved by the group's third album and first major label release, City of Evil, into a heavy metal and hard rock style. The band continued to explore new sounds with its self-titled release and enjoyed continued mainstream success before their drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan, died in 2009. Despite his death, Avenged Sevenfold continued on with the help of drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), and released and toured in support of their fifth album Nightmare in 2010, which debuted on the top spot of the Billboard 200, their first number one debut.
In 2011 drummer Arin Ilejay joined the band on tours and recording. The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King, which was released in 2013, marked the only Avenged Sevenfold album featuring Ilejay. Hail to the King charted as number 1 on the Billboard 200, the UK Albums chart, as well as the Finnish, Brazilian, Canadian, and Irish charts. In late 2014, Ilejay left the band, and was replaced by former Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman, but the lineup change was not announced to the public until 2015. The band then surprise-released their seventh studio album titled The Stage on October 28, 2016, which debuted as number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US. The Stage is their first conceptual album and it marked another stylistic change for the band, moving towards a progressive metal sound.
To date, Avenged Sevenfold has released seven studio albums, one live album/DVD, two compilation albums and eighteen singles and have sold over 8 million albums worldwide, and their records have received numerous certification awards, including five platinum album awards from their home country's institution (RIAA). They have also created four original songs for the Call of Duty: Black Ops series, all of which were compiled together in the 2018 EP Black Reign. The band were ranked No. 47 on Loudwire's list of Top 50 Metal Bands of All Time.
History
Formation and Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (1999–2002)
Avenged Sevenfold was formed in March 1999 in Huntington Beach, California by Matt Sanders, James Sullivan and Matt Wendt. Although they are not a religious band, Sanders came up with the name as a reference to the story of Cain and Abel from the Bible, which can be found in Genesis 4:24. Shortly after their formation, they were joined by an acquaintance from high school, Zachary Baker, who played in the punk band MPA (short for Mad Porn Action) at the time.
Avenged Sevenfold's first creative output was a three-track-demo recorded in early 1999. In early 2000, they were asked by Sadistic Records to contribute to two compilations. To that end, they recorded two new songs and released them along with the previously recorded songs on a second demo. They sent this demo to the Belgian label Good Life Recordings and were subsequently signed. Afterwards, the band participated in another two compilation albums, their label's GoodLife 4 and Novocaine Records' Scrape III compilations. Around this time, Matt Wendt left for college and Justin Meacham, the previous bassist of Suburban Legends, joined Avenged Sevenfold. In late 2000, the foursome took on their initial stage names – M. Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, Justin Sane and The Rev – and recorded their debut album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. In early 2001, lead guitarist and old friend Synyster Gates joined the band and they re-recorded the introductory track "To End the Rapture" for the album's lead-single/EP, Warmness on the Soul, released in April 2001. Although their debut album's release was initially planned for the same month, it was pushed back multiple times and eventually released on July 24, 2001, on Good Life Recordings.
Around August 2001, Meacham attempted suicide by drinking excessive amounts of cough syrup. This event was the reason for Avenged Sevenfold to join the Take Action Tour in 2003. During Meacham's hospitalization, he remained in poor condition and had to leave the band. In an interview, lead singer M. Shadows said of Meacham that "he perma-fried his brain and was in a mental institution for a long time, and when you have someone in your band who does that, it ruins everything that's going on all around you, and it makes you want to do something to prevent it from happening to other people." His replacement was Frank Melcom, stage name Dameon Ash, who performed with the band for the following months, but does not appear on any releases.
On January 18, 2002, Avenged Sevenfold left Good Life Recordings and signed with Hopeless Records. They re-released their debut album on March 19 and also appeared on the Hopelessly Devoted To You Vol. 4 sampler in April. The band started to receive recognition, performing with bands such as Mushroomhead and Shadows Fall. They spent the year touring in support of their debut album and participated in the Vans Warped Tour. In September, Dameon Ash left Avenged Sevenfold and their current bassist Johnny Christ joined them, completing their best known line-up.
Waking the Fallen and City of Evil (2003–2005)
Having found a new bassist, the group released their second studio album titled Waking the Fallen on Hopeless Records in August 2003. The album featured a more refined and mature sound production in comparison to their previous album. The band received profiles in Billboard and The Boston Globe, and again played on the Vans Warped and Take Action tours. In 2004, Avenged Sevenfold toured again on the Vans Warped Tour and recorded a video for their song "Unholy Confessions" which went into rotation on MTV2's Headbangers Ball. Shortly after the release of Waking the Fallen, Avenged Sevenfold left Hopeless Records and were officially signed to Warner Bros. Records on November 1, 2003.
City of Evil, the band's third album and major label debut, was released on June 7, 2005, and debuted at No.30 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling over 30,000 copies in its first week of release. It utilized a more classic metal sound than Avenged Sevenfold's previous albums, which had been grouped into the metalcore genre. The album is also notable for the absence of screamed and growled vocals; M. Shadows worked with vocal coach Ron Anderson—whose clients have included Axl Rose and Chris Cornell—for months before the album's release to achieve a sound that had "grit while still having the tone". The album received positive reviews from several magazines and websites and is credited for propelling the band into international popularity.
Avenged Sevenfold (2006–2008)
After playing Ozzfest in 2006, Avenged Sevenfold memorably beat out R&B Singers Rihanna and Chris Brown, Panic! at the Disco, Angels & Airwaves and James Blunt for the title of Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards, thanks in part to their Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas-inspired song "Bat Country." They returned to the Vans Warped Tour, this time headlining and then continued on their own "Cities of Evil Tour." In addition, their lead single "Bat Country" reached No.2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts, No.6 on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts and the accompanying video made it to No.1 on MTV's Total Request Live. Propelled by this success, the album sold well and became Avenged Sevenfold's first Gold record. It was later certified platinum in August 2009.
Avenged Sevenfold was invited to join Ozzfest tour on the main stage, alongside other well known rock/heavy metal acts such as DragonForce, Lacuna Coil, Hatebreed, Disturbed and System of a Down for the first time in 2006. That same year they also completed a worldwide tour, including the US, The United Kingdom (as well as mainland Europe), Japan, Australia and New Zealand. After a sixteen-month promotion of City of Evil, the band announced that they were cancelling their Fall 2006 tour to record new music. In the interim, the band released their first DVD titled All Excess on July 17, 2007. All Excess, which debuted as the No.1 DVD in the US, included live performances and backstage footage that spanned the band's eight-year career. Two tribute albums, Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: Bat Wings and Broken Strings and Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: The String Tribute were also released in October 2007.
On October 30, 2007, Avenged Sevenfold released their self-titled album, the band's fourth studio album. It debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with over 90,000 copies sold. Two singles, "Critical Acclaim" and "Almost Easy" were released prior to the album's debut. In December 2007, an animated video was made for "A Little Piece of Heaven". Due to the song's controversial subject matter, however, Warner Brothers only released it to registered MVI users over the internet. The third single, "Afterlife" and its video was released in January 2008. Their fourth single, "Dear God", was released on June 15, 2008. Although critical reception was generally mixed the self-titled album went on to sell over 500,000 copies and was awarded "Album of the Year" at the Kerrang! Awards.
Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour with Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine, Blessthefall and Idiot Pilot. They used the footage from their last show in Long Beach for Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, a two-disc B-sides CD and live DVD which was released on September 16, 2008. They also recorded numerous covers, including Pantera's "Walk", Iron Maiden's "Flash of the Blade" and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid".
Death of The Rev and Nightmare (2009–2011)
In January 2009, M. Shadows confirmed that the band was writing the follow-up to their self-titled fourth album within the upcoming months. They also played at Rock on the Range, from May 16–17, 2009. On April 16, they performed a version of Guns N' Roses' "It's So Easy" onstage with Slash, at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. On December 28, 2009, the band's drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan was found dead at his home at the age of 28. Autopsy results were inconclusive, but on June 9, 2010, the cause of death was revealed to have been an "acute polydrug intoxication due to combined effects of Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, Diazepam/Nordiazepam and ethanol". In a statement by the band, they expressed their grief over the death of The Rev and later posted a message from Sullivan's family which expressed their gratitude to his fans for their support. The band members admitted in a number of interviews that they considered disbanding at this point in time. However, on February 17, 2010, Avenged Sevenfold stated that they had entered the studio, along with now-former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, to drum for the album, in place of The Rev.
The single "Nightmare" was digitally released on May 18, 2010. A preview for the song was released on May 6, 2010, on Amazon.com, but was removed soon after for unknown reasons. Mixing for the album had been completed in New York City, and Nightmare was finally released worldwide on July 27, 2010. It met with mixed to positive reviews from music critics but was well received by the fans. Nightmare beat sales projections easily, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of 163,000 units in its first week. After finishing recording, in December, Portnoy and the band posted simultaneous statements on their websites stating that he would not be their replacement for The Rev. However, Portnoy did travel with the band overseas in December 2010 for three shows in Iraq and Kuwait sponsored by the USO. They played for U.S. Soldiers at Camp Adder, Camp Beuhring, and Balad Air Base. On January 20, 2011, Avenged Sevenfold announced via Facebook that former Confide drummer Arin Ilejay would begin touring with them that year. He was not yet considered a full-time member at this point.
Avenged Sevenfold performed at the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals on June 3–5, 2011 alongside other bands such as Alter Bridge, System of a Down, and In Flames. In April 2011, the band headlined the Golden God Awards held by Metal Hammer. The same night the band won three awards for "Best Vocalist" (M. Shadows), "Epiphone Best Guitarist(s)" (Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance), and "Affliction's Album of The Year" for Nightmare, while Mike Portnoy won the award for "Drum Workshop's Best Drummer" for his work on the album.
Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2011 Uproar Festival with supporting acts Three Days Grace, Seether, Bullet for My Valentine, Escape the Fate, among others. In November and December 2011, the band went on their "Buried Alive" tour with supporting acts Hollywood Undead, Asking Alexandria, and Black Veil Brides.
Hail to the King and Waking the Fallen: Resurrected (2012–2014)
On April 11, 2012, Avenged Sevenfold won the award for "Best Live Band" and "Most Dedicated Fans" at the Revolver Golden Gods awards.
The band toured through Asia into April and early May, and played at the Orion Music + More, Festival on June 23 and 24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey alongside Metallica and Cage the Elephant among many others.
On September 24, 2012, Avenged Sevenfold released a new song, titled "Carry On"; it was featured in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II. On November 15, 2012, vocalist M. Shadows said that the band had been working on a new album since the recording of "Carry On" in August 2012. The band began recording material for the album in January 2013. The band then started streaming snippets of the album in May 2013 on their new radio app. There, Arin Ilejay was confirmed as an official band member and replacement of deceased The Rev. M. Shadows said that the album would sound more blues rock-influenced and more like classic rock/metal like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.
The band was confirmed to play at the 2013 Rock in Rio festival on September 22, 2013. On May 24, 2013, the band have announced dates for their European tour with Five Finger Death Punch and Device serving as their support bands.
The album, entitled Hail to the King, was released on August 27, 2013. This is the first Avenged Sevenfold album without any musical contributions from deceased The Rev. The album's lead single and title track was released on July 15, 2013. Hail to the King charted as No. 1 on the US Billboard 200, the UK albums chart, as well as the Finnish, Brazilian, Canadian, and Irish charts, and was commercially and critically acclaimed. The band headlined Monster Energy's Welcome to Rockville two-day music festival in Jacksonville, Florida, April 26–27, 2014, joined by more than 25 rock acts, such as Motörhead, Rob Zombie, Chevelle, Korn, Staind, Alter Bridge, The Cult, Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, Black Label Society, and Seether. On June 13, the band headlined the Friday night of Download Festival 2014. The band also headlined the Mayhem Festival 2014 with Korn, Asking Alexandria, and Trivium.
In March 2014, vocalist M. Shadows revealed in an interview with Loudwire that the band had plans in the works to put something out for the overdue 10th anniversary of Waking the Fallen. Waking the Fallen: Resurrected was released August 25, 2014. The reissue charted No. 10 on the US Billboard 200.
Drummer change and The Stage (2015–2017)
In October 2014, M. Shadows confirmed that the band would begin writing their seventh album during mid-2015.
In July 2015 the band announced on their website that they would part ways with drummer Arin Ilejay, due to "creative differences". In October 2015, the band announced on their website that they had been working with a new drummer for over a year, making sure that it was a good fit before making sudden changes. On October 21, in an interview with Kerrang! magazine, guitarist Zacky Vengeance revealed that the band had been working on the new album for the past couple of months and that a couple of songs had already been completely written. On November 4, 2015, the band announced that Brooks Wackerman would replace Arin Ilejay as the drummer for Avenged Sevenfold. In an interview with Kerrang! magazine on December 3, guitarist Zacky Vengeance said that the new album went in all sorts of aggressive and melodic directions and described it as very "aggro".
On January 14, 2016, Billboard reported that Avenged Sevenfold had been sued by Warner Bros. for trying to leave the label. The band later released a statement clarifying that they wanted to leave because a majority of the executives who helped sign the band to Warner Bros were no longer at the label. They also revealed that the band was going to be entering the studio to record their new album very soon, intending to release it later in 2016. On March 31, the band posted a teaser of their upcoming album on their website.
On August 18, 2016, the band performed a free live show for 1500 people in Minnesota, marking it the first live performance with new drummer Brooks Wackerman. The band was announced as support for Metallica with Volbeat in the U.S. Bank Stadium on August 20, 2016, making it the first ever rock show in the stadium. The band was announced as a headliner of Monster Energy Rock Allegiance 2016, along with Alice in Chains, Slayer, The Offspring, Breaking Benjamin and others. Avenged Sevenfold also performed on "Louder Than Life" festival as headliners on October 1, with Slipknot, Slayer, Disturbed, Korn and other artists. On June 21, the band announced a U.S. Fall tour with Volbeat, Killswitch Engage, and Avatar. The band also announced a UK tour for January 2017 with Disturbed and In Flames. Avenged Sevenfold was announced as a headliner of 2016 edition of Knotfest Mexico. The band also announced the European Tour for February and March 2017 along with Disturbed and Chevelle.
On October 3, 2016, the band's logo Deathbat started appearing as a projection in London. After that, Deathbat also started appearing in Berlin, Toronto and Paris, indicating a release of the new album. On October 12, Chris Jericho posted an Instagram photo of the Deathbat logo with a date 12/9/16 underneath it. He then revealed the supposed title of the album, Voltaic Oceans, It was later revealed that the new album would actually be called The Stage, a concept album about artificial intelligence, which was released on October 28, 2016, via Capitol Records. The album was released to generally favorable reviews, and the band decided to make a unique stage production for it, hiring Cirque du Soleil directors for its making.
Avenged Sevenfold was announced as the main support act on Metallica's WorldWired 2017 stadium summer tour in the US and Canada, alongside Volbeat and Gojira. The band also announced a series of 2017 US headlining summer shows of The Stage World Tour, with Volbeat, Motionless in White, and A Day to Remember as special guests across various dates.
On December 22, 2017, the band released a deluxe edition of The Stage that included one new original track, six cover songs, and four live tracks from their European tour earlier that year.
In a December 2017 interview with Billboard, M. Shadows revealed that the band are planning "a big US summer 2018 tour", and that the band would start working on the follow-up to The Stage in late 2018. End of the World tour with Prophets of Rage was later announced for summer 2018. The band was also announced as one of the headliners of 2018's Rock on the Range and Download Festival, in addition to appearing at Hellfest, Graspop Metal Meeting, Rock am Ring and Rock im Park the same year. Due to a blood blister forming in M. Shadows' throat, the band cancelled remaining dates from their summer tour with Prophets of Rage.
Avenged Sevenfold was nominated at 60th Annual Grammy Awards in "Best Rock Song" category for The Stage.
The band released a single titled "Mad Hatter" in September 2018, which was made specifically for the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. It would later be a part of the Black Reign EP released later that month, which comprises all four of the songs Avenged Sevenfold made for the Call of Duty franchise.
Upcoming eighth studio album (2018–present)
In a December 2017 interview with Billboard, M. Shadows revealed that the band are planning "a big US summer 2018 tour", and that the band would start working on the follow-up to The Stage in late 2018. Bassist Johnny Christ in a May 2018 interview confirmed that the band is currently getting ideas and writing in their own studios to start the next record in September or October 2018.
In September 2018, Synyster Gates revealed in an interview with Loudwire that the band has started working on their eighth studio album, saying "It's still early on, but we're working on a bunch of stuff". In March 2019, Zacky Vengeance stated the band would take the rest of the year off tour to concentrate on the upcoming album, saying the band is really focused on the new material. In January 2020, Avenged Sevenfold released "Set Me Free", an unreleased song recorded during the Hail to the King recording sessions. They also announced that the song would be included in a remastered re-release of Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, released on March 6. A limited edition clear vinyl of Diamonds in the Rough was also released.
Musical style and influences
Members of Avenged Sevenfold cite In Flames, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Slayer, Mr. Bungle, Elton John, Leonard Cohen, At the Gates, Helloween, Dream Theater, Pennywise, NOFX, Pantera, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses, The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones as influences.
The band has been categorized under several genres of heavy and extreme music, primarily heavy metal, alternative metal, hard rock, and, on their album The Stage, progressive metal, with their earlier albums being categorized as metalcore. Avenged Sevenfold's musical style has consistently evolved throughout the duration of the band's career. Initially, the band's debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of a metalcore sound. However, there were several deviations from this genre, most notably in "Streets", which shows a punk rock style, and "Warmness on the Soul", which is a piano ballad. On Waking the Fallen, the band displayed a metalcore style once more, but added more clean singing and leaned a bit more towards metal and bit less close to hardcore. In the band's DVD All Excess, producer Andrew Murdock explained this transition: "When I met the band after Sounding the Seventh Trumpet had come out before they had recorded Waking the Fallen, M. Shadows said to me 'This record is screaming. The record we want to make is going to be half-screaming half-singing. I don't want to scream anymore. And the record after that is going to be all singing'."
On Avenged Sevenfold's third album City of Evil, the band chose to outright abandon the metalcore genre, creating a sound consistent with hard rock and heavy metal. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album experiments with an even wider array of musical genres than that from City of Evil, most notably in "Dear God", which shows a country style and "A Little Piece of Heaven", which is circled within the influence of Broadway show tunes, using primarily brass instruments and stringed orchestra to take over most of the role of the lead and rhythm guitar. Nightmare contains further deviations, including a piano ballad called "Fiction", progressive metal-oriented track "Save Me" and a heavy metal sound with extreme vocals and heavier instrumentation on "God Hates Us". The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King shows more of a classic metal sound and a riff-oriented approach. On their newest album The Stage, the band explores further into progressive metal, blending it with elements of thrash metal. In the past, Avenged Sevenfold has also been described as screamo and pop punk metal.
Avenged Sevenfold has been criticized for "not being metal enough". In response to this, vocalist M. Shadows said: "we play music for the sake of music, not so that we can be labeled a metal band. That's like telling us we aren't punk enough. Who cares?" Avenged Sevenfold is one of the notable acts of the new wave of American heavy metal.
Band members
Current members
M. Shadows – lead vocals, piano (1999–present)
Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1999–present); lead guitar (1999–2001)
Synyster Gates – lead guitar, piano, backing vocals (2001–present)
Johnny Christ – bass, backing vocals (2002–present)
Brooks Wackerman – drums (2015–present)
Former members
Matt Wendt – bass (1999–2000)
Justin Sane – bass, piano (2000–2001)
Dameon Ash – bass (2001–2002)
The Rev – drums, piano, co-lead vocals (1999–2009; died 2009)
Arin Ilejay – drums (2011–2015)
Session and touring musicians
Mike Portnoy – drums (2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001)
Waking the Fallen (2003)
City of Evil (2005)
Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
Nightmare (2010)
Hail to the King (2013)
The Stage (2016)
Accolades
References
External links
American alternative metal musical groups
American metalcore musical groups
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Capitol Records artists
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Hopeless Records artists
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups established in 1999
Musical groups from Orange County, California
Musical quintets
Warner Records artists
1999 establishments in California
Good Life Recordings artists | false | [
"Avenged Sevenfold (also known as The White Album) is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, released on October 30, 2007, through Warner Bros. and Hopeless Records. It is their last studio album to feature The Rev performing on drums, due to his death in December 2009 during production of their follow-up album, Nightmare.\n\nOriginally slated for an October 16 release, it was delayed by two weeks in order to provide more time to complete bonus material and production for the record. The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200. On May 4, 2021, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The band supported the album with a tour, beginning a day before the release of the album and ending in August 2009.\n\nAlthough critical reception to the album was mixed compared to previous releases, Avenged Sevenfold won the Kerrang! Award for Best Album in 2008. In addition, the album was included in Kerrang!'s \"666 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die\". As of 2014, it has sold over 960,161 copies in the United States and 152,123 copies in the United Kingdom.\n\nBackground \n\nAvenged Sevenfold revealed the track listing for the album on their YouTube profile on August 9, 2007, as well as their text messaging service, A7X Mobile. The band also posted a teaser on a recent YouTube blog featuring an excerpt of vocalist M. Shadows screaming in the studio.\n\n\"Critical Acclaim\" was the first single from the album. A 2-minute and 15-seconds teaser was posted on the band's MySpace to tide fans over until the iTunes release date, but on August 20, 2007, Avenged Sevenfold uploaded the full version on their MySpace. The full song was released on iTunes August 28, 2007.\n\nIn the weeks leading up to the album's release, a series of ten video clips, called \"webisodes\", were recorded featuring \"Wolfie the Fox\". The first webisode was released on August 24, 2007; a 3:41 clip that was posted on the band's YouTube channel. The clip consists of a pre-recorded phone message from \"Wolfie the Fox\" and a few scenes of their process of making \"Critical Acclaim\". Each of the subsequent webisodes was similar in content. The clips featured a short mock-interview between M. Shadows and Wolfie the Fox, various band members during the making of various tracks for Avenged Sevenfold, and other background videos. About eleven days before the album's release, the Wolfie Trailer was posted on YouTube. In it, Wolfie sings \"Critical Acclaim\" and talks about the MVI version of the new album. The webisodes can all be viewed on the band's Myspace and YouTube pages.\n\nBy September 9, 2007, news leaked of the completion of a music video for the song \"Almost Easy\". It was directed by P.R. Brown, known for his collaborations with Mötley Crüe and Marilyn Manson, among many others. On September 12, 2007, the release date of the single \"Almost Easy\" was announced and was released six days later on September 18 to purchase via digital download.\n\nThe month of October was a busy one for the upcoming album. On October 3, Kerrang! released an article in which M. Shadows and Synyster Gates were interviewed about the new album. This day also saw the release of a live performance of \"Almost Easy\" at the Warped Tour 2007. Originally the band intended to release this footage if viewers watched the official music video for the track on YouTube 150,000 times. Though the goal fell short at 120,000 the band still released the footage. Another live video, featuring the third track \"Scream\" performed in Liverpool, England, was posted on YouTube on October 11. The song was also heard during a commercial for the Scream Awards on Spike TV. M. Shadows can clearly be heard singing, \"You know I make you wanna scream,\" which is an excerpt from the chorus. \"Scream\" was performed live at the 2007 Spike TV Scream Awards on October 23. Also, LoveLine played the radio premiere of \"Afterlife\" and \"Almost Easy\", which was guest hosted by M. Shadows and The Rev. Three days before, the Keyclub revealed an animated music video for \"A Little Piece of Heaven\".\n\nTo promote their new album, Avenged Sevenfold started their US tour on October 29, headlining in Los Angeles at The Wiltern. Their opening acts were Black Tide and Operator.\n\nOn October 30, 2007, Avenged Sevenfold was released in stores worldwide.\n\n\"Dear God\" was the fourth single and a notable deviation from the band's usual heavy metal style, taking on more of a country feel. Johnny Christ has stated that the inspiration for the song came from the band's friendship with country act Big & Rich. Their influence can be heard in the background vocals of MuzikMafia member Shanna Crooks.\n\nOn October 31, 2008, Avenged Sevenfold mentioned that fans of the band were eligible to make their own music video for the song \"Scream\". The video had to be submitted to YouTube before November 30, 2008. The winner and five runners-up of the contest were announced on December 15, 2008. The winner received a new MacBook Air computer that came with Avenged Sevenfold videos, music, and other items from the band. The winning video was also featured on the Avenged Sevenfold website, MySpace page, YouTube account, and Facebook account. The five runners-up in this contest received a copy of the DVD and CD Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, signed by the members of the band; in addition, a merchandise pack was also rewarded to these runners-up.\n\nMusical style\n\nThe album represents a further move away from the metalcore of the band's early work, and away from the mainstream heavy metal sound of City of Evil, into more of a hard rock genre, with other genres represented on some songs. It has been considered a hard rock album with elements of symphonic rock, rock, country music and experimental music. The band worked with brass and string sections on \"A Little Piece of Heaven\", an avant-garde metal song inspired by Broadway show tunes, in which horns and orchestral strings replaced the band's lead and rhythm guitars. The album features The Rev doing co-lead vocals on songs like \"Critical Acclaim\", \"Scream\", \"Afterlife\", \"Lost\", and \"A Little Piece of Heaven\".\n\nReception\n\nUpon release, Avenged Sevenfold was met with mixed reviews. Metacritic accumulated an average score of 56 out of 100 based on thirteen reviews on the website.\n\nJason Lymangrover of AllMusic had given the album a rating of three stars out of five and wrote \"While their willingness to experiment is admirable, despite the fact that they've gone overboard with their overdubs, the overabundance of studio polish leaves one to wonder if it's not because the songs just aren't as strong this time around\". A more positive review came from Andrew Earles of The A.V. Club who commented \"The catchy Stone Temple Pilots vibe of 'Scream' is enough to put the band back on the charts, but that could happen with more than half of this album...And it probably will\". He graded the album a B.\n\nThe album wasn't without its more hostile responses. A much more negative review came from Dave de Sylvia of Sputnikmusic summarising \"Avenged Sevenfold resemble a poor man's Hardcore Superstar\" and rated the album one out of five. Andrew Blackie of PopMatters rated the album two out of ten and dismissed it as being \"Unoriginal, overlong even at a ten track setlist, and riddled with banality...\" He even went far enough to add \"...the disc is even being released the day before Halloween, could it get more corny?\"\n\nDespite the mixed reaction, the album won a Kerrang! Award for Best Album in 2008.\n\nThe USC Trojans Marching Band performed the song \"Almost Easy\" at the Rose Bowl halftime show on January 1, 2009.\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs credited to Avenged Sevenfold. Actual songwriters listed below.\n\nPersonnel\nAvenged Sevenfold\nM. Shadows – lead vocals, backing vocals\nZacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar on \"Dear God\", backing vocals\nThe Rev - drums, percussion, piano, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on \"A Little Piece of Heaven\", \"Critical Acclaim\", \"Lost\", & \"Afterlife\"\nSynyster Gates – lead guitar, backing vocals\nJohnny Christ – bass guitar, backing vocals\n\nSession musicians\nProgramming by Jay E on \"Critical Acclaim\" and \"Scream\"\nPiano and Organ by Jamie Muhoberac on \"Critical Acclaim\", \"Unbound (The Wild Ride)\", 'Lost\", and \"A Little Piece of Heaven\"\nPiano by Greg Kusten on \"Almost Easy\"\nUpright bass by Miles Mosley on \"Afterlife\", \"Brompton Cocktail\", and \"A Little Piece of Heaven\"\nCello by Cameron Stone on \"Afterlife\", \"Brompton Cocktail\", and \"A Little Piece of Heaven\"\nViolins by Caroline Campbell and Neel Hammond on \"Afterlife\", \"Brompton Cocktail\", and \"A Little Piece of Heaven\"\nViola by Andrew Duckles on \"Afterlife\", \"Brompton Cocktail\", and \"A Little Piece of Heaven\"\nBacking vocals by Zander Ayeroff and Annmarie Rizzo on \"Unbound (The Wild Ride)\"\nPercussion by Lenny Castro on \"Brompton Cocktail\"\nChoir: Beth Andersen, Monique Donnelly, Rob Giles, Debbie Hall, Scottie Haskell, Luana Jackman, Bob Joyce, Rock Logan, Susie Stevens Logan, Arnold McCuller, Gabriel Mann, and Ed Zajack on \"Unbound (The Wild Ride)\" and \"A Little Piece of Heaven\"\nAlto sax by Bill Liston and Brandon Fields on \"A Little Piece of Heaven\"\nClarinet by Bill Liston and Rusty Higgins on \"A Little Piece of Heaven\"\nTenor sax by Dave Boruff and Rusty Higgins on \"A Little Piece of Heaven\"\nBari sax by Joel Peskin on \"A Little Piece of Heaven\"\nTrumpet by Wayne Bergeron and Dan Foreno on \"A Little Piece of Heaven\"\nTrombone by Bruce Fowler and Alex Iies on \"A Little Piece of Heaven\"\nAdditional vocals by Juliette Commagere on \"A Little Piece of Heaven\"\nLap, pedal steel and banjo by Greg Leisz on \"Gunslinger\" and \"Dear God\"\nAdditional vocals by Shanna Crooks on \"Gunslinger\" and \"Dear God\"\nAdditional vocals by Jaime Ochoa on \"Critical Acclaim\"\nScream on \"Scream\" by Valary Sanders\nProduction\nProduced by Avenged Sevenfold\nEngineered by Fred Archambault and Dave Schiffman, assisted by Clifton Allen, Chris Steffen, Robert DeLong, Aaron Walk, Mike Scielzi, and Josh Wilbur\nMixed by Andy Wallace\nMastered by Brian Gardner\nDrum tech by Mike Fasano\nGuitar tech by Walter Rice\n'Fan Producers for a Day' (MVI) by Daniel McLaughlin and Christopher Guinn\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nSingles\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2007 albums\nAvenged Sevenfold albums\nWarner Records albums\nAlbums recorded at Capitol Studios\nAlbums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders",
"James \"Jimmy\" Owen Sullivan (February 9, 1981 – December 28, 2009), also known by his stage name the Rev (shortened version of the Reverend Tholomew Plague), was an American musician, best known as a member of the heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, where he played drums and provided backing vocals. He was also the lead vocalist/pianist in the avant-garde metal band Pinkly Smooth and drummed for the ska punk band Suburban Legends from 1998 to 1999.\n\nCareer \nSullivan was born on February 9, 1981, of Irish descent and raised Roman Catholic. He received his first pair of drumsticks at the age of five and his own drum set at the age of twelve. In high school, he started playing in bands. Before leaving to join Avenged Sevenfold as one of the band's founding members, Sullivan was the drummer for the third wave ska band Suburban Legends. At the age of 19, he recorded his first album with Avenged Sevenfold titled Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. His early influences included Frank Zappa and King Crimson. The Rev stated in an interview with Modern Drummer that he \"was raised on that stuff as much as rock and metal.\"\n\nLater in life, he was influenced by drummers Vinnie Paul, Mike Portnoy (who would later be his fill-in with Avenged Sevenfold), Dave Lombardo, Lars Ulrich, and Terry Bozzio, stating \"It's funny [...], of all my influences, Tommy Lee is a visual influence. I never thought I'd have one of those.\" Sullivan had a signature ability called \"the double-ride thing\" or \"the Double Octopus\", as the Rev called it, \"just for lack of a better definition.\" \"The double-ride thing\" is a technique that can be heard on tracks such as \"Almost Easy\", \"Critical Acclaim\", \"Crossroads\", and \"Dancing Dead\", in which Sullivan doubles up at a fast tempo between the double bass and ride cymbals.\n\nThe Rev was the drummer, composer, songwriter, vocalist, and pianist for the band. His vocals are featured in several Avenged Sevenfold songs, including \"Strength of the World\", \"Afterlife\", \"A Little Piece of Heaven\", \"Almost Easy\", \"Scream\", \"Critical Acclaim\", \"Lost\", \"Brompton Cocktail\", \"Crossroads\", \"Flash of the Blade\" (Iron Maiden cover), \"Art of Subconscious Illusion\", \"Save Me\", and \"Fiction\".\nHis music composing and songwriting are done in several songs for Avenged Sevenfold such as \"A Little Piece of Heaven\", \"Afterlife\", \"Almost Easy\", \"Unbound (The Wild Ride)\", \"Buried Alive\", \"Fiction\", \"Brompton Cocktail\", \"Save Me\", among others. Avenged Sevenfold released a demo version of \"Nightmare\" featuring the Rev on an electronic drumset and providing some vocals.\n\nAt the second annual Revolver Golden God Awards, the Rev won the award for \"Best Drummer\". His family members, and Avenged Sevenfold, received the posthumous honor on his behalf.\n\nIn an Ultimate Guitar online readers' poll of the \"Top Ten Greatest Drummers of All Time\", the Rev appeared at No. 8, placing higher than Bill Ward of Black Sabbath and lower than Keith Moon of the Who. In 2017, he once again appeared in Ultimate Guitar's list of Top 25 Greatest Singing Drummers, at No. 5.\n\nPinkly Smooth\n\nPinkly Smooth was an American heavy metal/avant-garde metal band. The band was formed in the summer of 2001 in Huntington Beach, California, as a side project of the Rev, and originally featured Rev (under the name \"Rathead\") on vocals, along with fellow Avenged Sevenfold member Synyster Gates on guitar and former Ballistico band members Buck Silverspur (under the name \"El Diablo\") on bass, as well as Derek Eglit (under the name \"Super Loop\") on drums. They released only one album, Unfortunate Snort, which featured former Avenged Sevenfold bassist Justin Meacham (under his stage name \"Justin Sane\") as a keyboard player.\n\nDeath\nOn December 28, 2009, the Rev was found unresponsive in his Huntington Beach home, and was later pronounced dead upon arrival to the hospital. Police ruled out foul play and noted that his death appeared to be from natural causes. An autopsy performed on December 30, 2009, was inconclusive, but toxicology results revealed to the public in June that he died from an overdose of oxycodone (Percocet), oxymorphone (a metabolite of oxycodone), diazepam (Valium), nordiazepam (a metabolite of diazepam), and alcohol. The coroner noted an enlarged heart as a \"significant condition\" that may have played a role in Sullivan's death.\n\nOn January 6, 2010, a private funeral was held for Sullivan, who was then buried in The Good Shepherd Cemetery in Huntington Beach, California. Shortly after his death, Avenged Sevenfold dedicated their fifth studio album Nightmare to him, as well as several songs, including \"So Far Away\", which had been written by bandmate (and childhood friend) Synyster Gates, and \"Fiction\", which the Rev had written three days before his death. M. Shadows and Gates stated in an interview to Hard Drive Radio:\n\nLegacy\nHis triple bass drum kit from the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour was donated for display at a Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas. It has since been taken down. Another drum kit he used is displayed in a Hard Rock Cafe in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.\n\nDiscography\n\nwith Suburban Legends\nOrigin Edition (1999)\n\nwith Pinkly Smooth\nUnfortunate Snort (2001)\n\nwith Brian Haner\nCougar Bait (2008)\n\nwith Avenged Sevenfold\nSounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001)\nWaking the Fallen (2003)\nCity of Evil (2005)\nAvenged Sevenfold (2007)\nLive in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough (2008) \nNightmare (2010) (posthumous; some vocals, lyrics, and composing featured; vocals and drums on demo tracks; co-lead vocals on \"Fiction\")\n\nReferences\n\n1981 births\n2009 deaths\nAmerican heavy metal drummers\nAmerican heavy metal keyboardists\nAmerican male musical theatre actors\nAmerican rock pianists\nAmerican male pianists\nAmerican people of Irish descent\nAmerican Roman Catholics\n20th-century Roman Catholics\n21st-century Roman Catholics\nAvenged Sevenfold members\nDrug-related deaths in California\nMusicians from Orange County, California\nPeople from Huntington Beach, California\nSuburban Legends members\n20th-century American pianists\n20th-century American drummers\nAmerican male drummers\n21st-century American drummers\n20th-century American male singers\n20th-century American singers"
]
|
[
"Avenged Sevenfold",
"Style and influences",
"Can you provide me with a little background information on Avenged Sevenfold style and influences?",
"The band's influences include Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera, Bad Religion, Dream Theater, Motorhead, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, In Flames, At the Gates, Helloween,"
]
| C_020c7448b80446e583fe33477d0fc1a6_0 | Are these hit singles? | 2 | Are Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera, Bad Religion, Dream Theater, Motorhead, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, In Flames, At the Gates, and Helloween hit singles of Avenged Sevenfold? | Avenged Sevenfold | The band's influences include Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera, Bad Religion, Dream Theater, Motorhead, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, In Flames, At the Gates, Helloween, Queensryche, System of a Down, AC/DC, NOFX, Alice in Chains, Black Flag, Corrosion of Conformity, Suicidal Tendencies, Misfits, Slayer, The Vandals, Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Slipknot, Deftones, Beastie Boys, Biohazard, Type O Negative, Anthrax and AFI. The band has been categorized under many genres of heavy music. Mainly categorized as heavy metal, hard rock, progressive metal and metalcore, Avenged Sevenfold's music has evolved over most of the band's career. At first, the band's debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of a metalcore sound; however, there were several deviations from this genre, most notably in "Streets", which shows a punk rock style, and "Warmness on the Soul", which is a piano ballad. On Waking the Fallen, the band displayed a metalcore style once more, but added more clean singing and leaned a bit more towards metal and bit less close to hardcore. In the band's DVD All Excess, producer Andrew Murdock explained this transition: "When I met the band after Sounding the Seventh Trumpet had come out before they had recorded Waking the Fallen, M. Shadows said to me 'This record is screaming. The record we want to make is going to be half-screaming half-singing. I don't want to scream anymore. And the record after that is going to be all singing'." On City of Evil, Avenged Sevenfold's third album, the band chose to abandon the metalcore genre, using a more hard rock and heavy metal style. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album, however, has some experiments with other music genres than that from City of Evil, most notably in "Dear God", which shows a country style and "A Little Piece of Heaven", which is circled within the influence of Broadway show tunes, using primarily brass instruments and stringed orchestra to take over most of the role of the lead and rhythm guitar. Nightmare contains further deviations, including a piano ballad called "Fiction", progressive metal-oriented track "Save Me" and a heavy metal sound with extreme vocals and heavier instrumentation on "God Hates Us". The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King shows more of a classic metal sound and a riff-oriented approach. On their newest album The Stage, the band explores further into progressive metal, blending it with elements of thrash metal. In the past, Avenged Sevenfold has also been described as alternative metal, screamo, and pop punk metal. The band has been criticized for "not being metal enough". Vocalist M. Shadows responded to this with, "we play music for the sake of music, not so that we can be labeled a metal band. That's like telling us we aren't punk enough. Who cares?" Avenged Sevenfold is one of the notable acts of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal. CANNOTANSWER | Streets", which shows a punk rock style, and "Warmness on the Soul", which is a piano ballad. | Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Synyster Gates, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny Christ, and drummer Brooks Wackerman.
Avenged Sevenfold is known for its diverse rock sound and dramatic imagery in album covers and merchandise. The band emerged with a metalcore sound on their debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet and continued this sound through their second album Waking the Fallen. However, the band's style had evolved by the group's third album and first major label release, City of Evil, into a heavy metal and hard rock style. The band continued to explore new sounds with its self-titled release and enjoyed continued mainstream success before their drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan, died in 2009. Despite his death, Avenged Sevenfold continued on with the help of drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), and released and toured in support of their fifth album Nightmare in 2010, which debuted on the top spot of the Billboard 200, their first number one debut.
In 2011 drummer Arin Ilejay joined the band on tours and recording. The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King, which was released in 2013, marked the only Avenged Sevenfold album featuring Ilejay. Hail to the King charted as number 1 on the Billboard 200, the UK Albums chart, as well as the Finnish, Brazilian, Canadian, and Irish charts. In late 2014, Ilejay left the band, and was replaced by former Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman, but the lineup change was not announced to the public until 2015. The band then surprise-released their seventh studio album titled The Stage on October 28, 2016, which debuted as number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US. The Stage is their first conceptual album and it marked another stylistic change for the band, moving towards a progressive metal sound.
To date, Avenged Sevenfold has released seven studio albums, one live album/DVD, two compilation albums and eighteen singles and have sold over 8 million albums worldwide, and their records have received numerous certification awards, including five platinum album awards from their home country's institution (RIAA). They have also created four original songs for the Call of Duty: Black Ops series, all of which were compiled together in the 2018 EP Black Reign. The band were ranked No. 47 on Loudwire's list of Top 50 Metal Bands of All Time.
History
Formation and Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (1999–2002)
Avenged Sevenfold was formed in March 1999 in Huntington Beach, California by Matt Sanders, James Sullivan and Matt Wendt. Although they are not a religious band, Sanders came up with the name as a reference to the story of Cain and Abel from the Bible, which can be found in Genesis 4:24. Shortly after their formation, they were joined by an acquaintance from high school, Zachary Baker, who played in the punk band MPA (short for Mad Porn Action) at the time.
Avenged Sevenfold's first creative output was a three-track-demo recorded in early 1999. In early 2000, they were asked by Sadistic Records to contribute to two compilations. To that end, they recorded two new songs and released them along with the previously recorded songs on a second demo. They sent this demo to the Belgian label Good Life Recordings and were subsequently signed. Afterwards, the band participated in another two compilation albums, their label's GoodLife 4 and Novocaine Records' Scrape III compilations. Around this time, Matt Wendt left for college and Justin Meacham, the previous bassist of Suburban Legends, joined Avenged Sevenfold. In late 2000, the foursome took on their initial stage names – M. Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, Justin Sane and The Rev – and recorded their debut album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. In early 2001, lead guitarist and old friend Synyster Gates joined the band and they re-recorded the introductory track "To End the Rapture" for the album's lead-single/EP, Warmness on the Soul, released in April 2001. Although their debut album's release was initially planned for the same month, it was pushed back multiple times and eventually released on July 24, 2001, on Good Life Recordings.
Around August 2001, Meacham attempted suicide by drinking excessive amounts of cough syrup. This event was the reason for Avenged Sevenfold to join the Take Action Tour in 2003. During Meacham's hospitalization, he remained in poor condition and had to leave the band. In an interview, lead singer M. Shadows said of Meacham that "he perma-fried his brain and was in a mental institution for a long time, and when you have someone in your band who does that, it ruins everything that's going on all around you, and it makes you want to do something to prevent it from happening to other people." His replacement was Frank Melcom, stage name Dameon Ash, who performed with the band for the following months, but does not appear on any releases.
On January 18, 2002, Avenged Sevenfold left Good Life Recordings and signed with Hopeless Records. They re-released their debut album on March 19 and also appeared on the Hopelessly Devoted To You Vol. 4 sampler in April. The band started to receive recognition, performing with bands such as Mushroomhead and Shadows Fall. They spent the year touring in support of their debut album and participated in the Vans Warped Tour. In September, Dameon Ash left Avenged Sevenfold and their current bassist Johnny Christ joined them, completing their best known line-up.
Waking the Fallen and City of Evil (2003–2005)
Having found a new bassist, the group released their second studio album titled Waking the Fallen on Hopeless Records in August 2003. The album featured a more refined and mature sound production in comparison to their previous album. The band received profiles in Billboard and The Boston Globe, and again played on the Vans Warped and Take Action tours. In 2004, Avenged Sevenfold toured again on the Vans Warped Tour and recorded a video for their song "Unholy Confessions" which went into rotation on MTV2's Headbangers Ball. Shortly after the release of Waking the Fallen, Avenged Sevenfold left Hopeless Records and were officially signed to Warner Bros. Records on November 1, 2003.
City of Evil, the band's third album and major label debut, was released on June 7, 2005, and debuted at No.30 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling over 30,000 copies in its first week of release. It utilized a more classic metal sound than Avenged Sevenfold's previous albums, which had been grouped into the metalcore genre. The album is also notable for the absence of screamed and growled vocals; M. Shadows worked with vocal coach Ron Anderson—whose clients have included Axl Rose and Chris Cornell—for months before the album's release to achieve a sound that had "grit while still having the tone". The album received positive reviews from several magazines and websites and is credited for propelling the band into international popularity.
Avenged Sevenfold (2006–2008)
After playing Ozzfest in 2006, Avenged Sevenfold memorably beat out R&B Singers Rihanna and Chris Brown, Panic! at the Disco, Angels & Airwaves and James Blunt for the title of Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards, thanks in part to their Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas-inspired song "Bat Country." They returned to the Vans Warped Tour, this time headlining and then continued on their own "Cities of Evil Tour." In addition, their lead single "Bat Country" reached No.2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts, No.6 on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts and the accompanying video made it to No.1 on MTV's Total Request Live. Propelled by this success, the album sold well and became Avenged Sevenfold's first Gold record. It was later certified platinum in August 2009.
Avenged Sevenfold was invited to join Ozzfest tour on the main stage, alongside other well known rock/heavy metal acts such as DragonForce, Lacuna Coil, Hatebreed, Disturbed and System of a Down for the first time in 2006. That same year they also completed a worldwide tour, including the US, The United Kingdom (as well as mainland Europe), Japan, Australia and New Zealand. After a sixteen-month promotion of City of Evil, the band announced that they were cancelling their Fall 2006 tour to record new music. In the interim, the band released their first DVD titled All Excess on July 17, 2007. All Excess, which debuted as the No.1 DVD in the US, included live performances and backstage footage that spanned the band's eight-year career. Two tribute albums, Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: Bat Wings and Broken Strings and Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: The String Tribute were also released in October 2007.
On October 30, 2007, Avenged Sevenfold released their self-titled album, the band's fourth studio album. It debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with over 90,000 copies sold. Two singles, "Critical Acclaim" and "Almost Easy" were released prior to the album's debut. In December 2007, an animated video was made for "A Little Piece of Heaven". Due to the song's controversial subject matter, however, Warner Brothers only released it to registered MVI users over the internet. The third single, "Afterlife" and its video was released in January 2008. Their fourth single, "Dear God", was released on June 15, 2008. Although critical reception was generally mixed the self-titled album went on to sell over 500,000 copies and was awarded "Album of the Year" at the Kerrang! Awards.
Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour with Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine, Blessthefall and Idiot Pilot. They used the footage from their last show in Long Beach for Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, a two-disc B-sides CD and live DVD which was released on September 16, 2008. They also recorded numerous covers, including Pantera's "Walk", Iron Maiden's "Flash of the Blade" and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid".
Death of The Rev and Nightmare (2009–2011)
In January 2009, M. Shadows confirmed that the band was writing the follow-up to their self-titled fourth album within the upcoming months. They also played at Rock on the Range, from May 16–17, 2009. On April 16, they performed a version of Guns N' Roses' "It's So Easy" onstage with Slash, at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. On December 28, 2009, the band's drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan was found dead at his home at the age of 28. Autopsy results were inconclusive, but on June 9, 2010, the cause of death was revealed to have been an "acute polydrug intoxication due to combined effects of Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, Diazepam/Nordiazepam and ethanol". In a statement by the band, they expressed their grief over the death of The Rev and later posted a message from Sullivan's family which expressed their gratitude to his fans for their support. The band members admitted in a number of interviews that they considered disbanding at this point in time. However, on February 17, 2010, Avenged Sevenfold stated that they had entered the studio, along with now-former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, to drum for the album, in place of The Rev.
The single "Nightmare" was digitally released on May 18, 2010. A preview for the song was released on May 6, 2010, on Amazon.com, but was removed soon after for unknown reasons. Mixing for the album had been completed in New York City, and Nightmare was finally released worldwide on July 27, 2010. It met with mixed to positive reviews from music critics but was well received by the fans. Nightmare beat sales projections easily, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of 163,000 units in its first week. After finishing recording, in December, Portnoy and the band posted simultaneous statements on their websites stating that he would not be their replacement for The Rev. However, Portnoy did travel with the band overseas in December 2010 for three shows in Iraq and Kuwait sponsored by the USO. They played for U.S. Soldiers at Camp Adder, Camp Beuhring, and Balad Air Base. On January 20, 2011, Avenged Sevenfold announced via Facebook that former Confide drummer Arin Ilejay would begin touring with them that year. He was not yet considered a full-time member at this point.
Avenged Sevenfold performed at the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals on June 3–5, 2011 alongside other bands such as Alter Bridge, System of a Down, and In Flames. In April 2011, the band headlined the Golden God Awards held by Metal Hammer. The same night the band won three awards for "Best Vocalist" (M. Shadows), "Epiphone Best Guitarist(s)" (Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance), and "Affliction's Album of The Year" for Nightmare, while Mike Portnoy won the award for "Drum Workshop's Best Drummer" for his work on the album.
Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2011 Uproar Festival with supporting acts Three Days Grace, Seether, Bullet for My Valentine, Escape the Fate, among others. In November and December 2011, the band went on their "Buried Alive" tour with supporting acts Hollywood Undead, Asking Alexandria, and Black Veil Brides.
Hail to the King and Waking the Fallen: Resurrected (2012–2014)
On April 11, 2012, Avenged Sevenfold won the award for "Best Live Band" and "Most Dedicated Fans" at the Revolver Golden Gods awards.
The band toured through Asia into April and early May, and played at the Orion Music + More, Festival on June 23 and 24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey alongside Metallica and Cage the Elephant among many others.
On September 24, 2012, Avenged Sevenfold released a new song, titled "Carry On"; it was featured in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II. On November 15, 2012, vocalist M. Shadows said that the band had been working on a new album since the recording of "Carry On" in August 2012. The band began recording material for the album in January 2013. The band then started streaming snippets of the album in May 2013 on their new radio app. There, Arin Ilejay was confirmed as an official band member and replacement of deceased The Rev. M. Shadows said that the album would sound more blues rock-influenced and more like classic rock/metal like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.
The band was confirmed to play at the 2013 Rock in Rio festival on September 22, 2013. On May 24, 2013, the band have announced dates for their European tour with Five Finger Death Punch and Device serving as their support bands.
The album, entitled Hail to the King, was released on August 27, 2013. This is the first Avenged Sevenfold album without any musical contributions from deceased The Rev. The album's lead single and title track was released on July 15, 2013. Hail to the King charted as No. 1 on the US Billboard 200, the UK albums chart, as well as the Finnish, Brazilian, Canadian, and Irish charts, and was commercially and critically acclaimed. The band headlined Monster Energy's Welcome to Rockville two-day music festival in Jacksonville, Florida, April 26–27, 2014, joined by more than 25 rock acts, such as Motörhead, Rob Zombie, Chevelle, Korn, Staind, Alter Bridge, The Cult, Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, Black Label Society, and Seether. On June 13, the band headlined the Friday night of Download Festival 2014. The band also headlined the Mayhem Festival 2014 with Korn, Asking Alexandria, and Trivium.
In March 2014, vocalist M. Shadows revealed in an interview with Loudwire that the band had plans in the works to put something out for the overdue 10th anniversary of Waking the Fallen. Waking the Fallen: Resurrected was released August 25, 2014. The reissue charted No. 10 on the US Billboard 200.
Drummer change and The Stage (2015–2017)
In October 2014, M. Shadows confirmed that the band would begin writing their seventh album during mid-2015.
In July 2015 the band announced on their website that they would part ways with drummer Arin Ilejay, due to "creative differences". In October 2015, the band announced on their website that they had been working with a new drummer for over a year, making sure that it was a good fit before making sudden changes. On October 21, in an interview with Kerrang! magazine, guitarist Zacky Vengeance revealed that the band had been working on the new album for the past couple of months and that a couple of songs had already been completely written. On November 4, 2015, the band announced that Brooks Wackerman would replace Arin Ilejay as the drummer for Avenged Sevenfold. In an interview with Kerrang! magazine on December 3, guitarist Zacky Vengeance said that the new album went in all sorts of aggressive and melodic directions and described it as very "aggro".
On January 14, 2016, Billboard reported that Avenged Sevenfold had been sued by Warner Bros. for trying to leave the label. The band later released a statement clarifying that they wanted to leave because a majority of the executives who helped sign the band to Warner Bros were no longer at the label. They also revealed that the band was going to be entering the studio to record their new album very soon, intending to release it later in 2016. On March 31, the band posted a teaser of their upcoming album on their website.
On August 18, 2016, the band performed a free live show for 1500 people in Minnesota, marking it the first live performance with new drummer Brooks Wackerman. The band was announced as support for Metallica with Volbeat in the U.S. Bank Stadium on August 20, 2016, making it the first ever rock show in the stadium. The band was announced as a headliner of Monster Energy Rock Allegiance 2016, along with Alice in Chains, Slayer, The Offspring, Breaking Benjamin and others. Avenged Sevenfold also performed on "Louder Than Life" festival as headliners on October 1, with Slipknot, Slayer, Disturbed, Korn and other artists. On June 21, the band announced a U.S. Fall tour with Volbeat, Killswitch Engage, and Avatar. The band also announced a UK tour for January 2017 with Disturbed and In Flames. Avenged Sevenfold was announced as a headliner of 2016 edition of Knotfest Mexico. The band also announced the European Tour for February and March 2017 along with Disturbed and Chevelle.
On October 3, 2016, the band's logo Deathbat started appearing as a projection in London. After that, Deathbat also started appearing in Berlin, Toronto and Paris, indicating a release of the new album. On October 12, Chris Jericho posted an Instagram photo of the Deathbat logo with a date 12/9/16 underneath it. He then revealed the supposed title of the album, Voltaic Oceans, It was later revealed that the new album would actually be called The Stage, a concept album about artificial intelligence, which was released on October 28, 2016, via Capitol Records. The album was released to generally favorable reviews, and the band decided to make a unique stage production for it, hiring Cirque du Soleil directors for its making.
Avenged Sevenfold was announced as the main support act on Metallica's WorldWired 2017 stadium summer tour in the US and Canada, alongside Volbeat and Gojira. The band also announced a series of 2017 US headlining summer shows of The Stage World Tour, with Volbeat, Motionless in White, and A Day to Remember as special guests across various dates.
On December 22, 2017, the band released a deluxe edition of The Stage that included one new original track, six cover songs, and four live tracks from their European tour earlier that year.
In a December 2017 interview with Billboard, M. Shadows revealed that the band are planning "a big US summer 2018 tour", and that the band would start working on the follow-up to The Stage in late 2018. End of the World tour with Prophets of Rage was later announced for summer 2018. The band was also announced as one of the headliners of 2018's Rock on the Range and Download Festival, in addition to appearing at Hellfest, Graspop Metal Meeting, Rock am Ring and Rock im Park the same year. Due to a blood blister forming in M. Shadows' throat, the band cancelled remaining dates from their summer tour with Prophets of Rage.
Avenged Sevenfold was nominated at 60th Annual Grammy Awards in "Best Rock Song" category for The Stage.
The band released a single titled "Mad Hatter" in September 2018, which was made specifically for the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. It would later be a part of the Black Reign EP released later that month, which comprises all four of the songs Avenged Sevenfold made for the Call of Duty franchise.
Upcoming eighth studio album (2018–present)
In a December 2017 interview with Billboard, M. Shadows revealed that the band are planning "a big US summer 2018 tour", and that the band would start working on the follow-up to The Stage in late 2018. Bassist Johnny Christ in a May 2018 interview confirmed that the band is currently getting ideas and writing in their own studios to start the next record in September or October 2018.
In September 2018, Synyster Gates revealed in an interview with Loudwire that the band has started working on their eighth studio album, saying "It's still early on, but we're working on a bunch of stuff". In March 2019, Zacky Vengeance stated the band would take the rest of the year off tour to concentrate on the upcoming album, saying the band is really focused on the new material. In January 2020, Avenged Sevenfold released "Set Me Free", an unreleased song recorded during the Hail to the King recording sessions. They also announced that the song would be included in a remastered re-release of Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, released on March 6. A limited edition clear vinyl of Diamonds in the Rough was also released.
Musical style and influences
Members of Avenged Sevenfold cite In Flames, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Slayer, Mr. Bungle, Elton John, Leonard Cohen, At the Gates, Helloween, Dream Theater, Pennywise, NOFX, Pantera, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses, The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones as influences.
The band has been categorized under several genres of heavy and extreme music, primarily heavy metal, alternative metal, hard rock, and, on their album The Stage, progressive metal, with their earlier albums being categorized as metalcore. Avenged Sevenfold's musical style has consistently evolved throughout the duration of the band's career. Initially, the band's debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of a metalcore sound. However, there were several deviations from this genre, most notably in "Streets", which shows a punk rock style, and "Warmness on the Soul", which is a piano ballad. On Waking the Fallen, the band displayed a metalcore style once more, but added more clean singing and leaned a bit more towards metal and bit less close to hardcore. In the band's DVD All Excess, producer Andrew Murdock explained this transition: "When I met the band after Sounding the Seventh Trumpet had come out before they had recorded Waking the Fallen, M. Shadows said to me 'This record is screaming. The record we want to make is going to be half-screaming half-singing. I don't want to scream anymore. And the record after that is going to be all singing'."
On Avenged Sevenfold's third album City of Evil, the band chose to outright abandon the metalcore genre, creating a sound consistent with hard rock and heavy metal. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album experiments with an even wider array of musical genres than that from City of Evil, most notably in "Dear God", which shows a country style and "A Little Piece of Heaven", which is circled within the influence of Broadway show tunes, using primarily brass instruments and stringed orchestra to take over most of the role of the lead and rhythm guitar. Nightmare contains further deviations, including a piano ballad called "Fiction", progressive metal-oriented track "Save Me" and a heavy metal sound with extreme vocals and heavier instrumentation on "God Hates Us". The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King shows more of a classic metal sound and a riff-oriented approach. On their newest album The Stage, the band explores further into progressive metal, blending it with elements of thrash metal. In the past, Avenged Sevenfold has also been described as screamo and pop punk metal.
Avenged Sevenfold has been criticized for "not being metal enough". In response to this, vocalist M. Shadows said: "we play music for the sake of music, not so that we can be labeled a metal band. That's like telling us we aren't punk enough. Who cares?" Avenged Sevenfold is one of the notable acts of the new wave of American heavy metal.
Band members
Current members
M. Shadows – lead vocals, piano (1999–present)
Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1999–present); lead guitar (1999–2001)
Synyster Gates – lead guitar, piano, backing vocals (2001–present)
Johnny Christ – bass, backing vocals (2002–present)
Brooks Wackerman – drums (2015–present)
Former members
Matt Wendt – bass (1999–2000)
Justin Sane – bass, piano (2000–2001)
Dameon Ash – bass (2001–2002)
The Rev – drums, piano, co-lead vocals (1999–2009; died 2009)
Arin Ilejay – drums (2011–2015)
Session and touring musicians
Mike Portnoy – drums (2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001)
Waking the Fallen (2003)
City of Evil (2005)
Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
Nightmare (2010)
Hail to the King (2013)
The Stage (2016)
Accolades
References
External links
American alternative metal musical groups
American metalcore musical groups
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Capitol Records artists
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Hopeless Records artists
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups established in 1999
Musical groups from Orange County, California
Musical quintets
Warner Records artists
1999 establishments in California
Good Life Recordings artists | true | [
"This is a complete list of all the singles that entered the VG-lista - the official Norwegian hit-chart - in 1959. 48 singles entered the VG-lista in 1959 altogether and these are all listed below according to how well they have charted over time.\n\n1959\n\nTop singles of 1959\n\nExternal links\n VG-Lista - the official Norwegian hit-chart\n VG-lista - Top 100 singles of all time in Norway\n\nNorwegian record charts\n1959 record charts\n1959 in Norwegian music\nNorwegian music-related lists",
"This is a complete list of all the singles that entered the VG-lista - the official Norwegian hit-chart - in 1961. 50 singles entered the VG-lista in 1961 altogether and these are all listed below according to how well they have charted over time.\n\nDetailed listing of Number-ones in 1961\n\nTop singles of 1961\n\nExternal links\n VG-Lista - the official Norwegian hit-chart\n VG-lista - Top 100 singles of all time in Norway\n\nNorwegian record charts\nNorwegian music\nNorwegian music-related lists\n1961 in Norwegian music"
]
|
[
"Avenged Sevenfold",
"Style and influences",
"Can you provide me with a little background information on Avenged Sevenfold style and influences?",
"The band's influences include Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera, Bad Religion, Dream Theater, Motorhead, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, In Flames, At the Gates, Helloween,",
"Are these hit singles?",
"Streets\", which shows a punk rock style, and \"Warmness on the Soul\", which is a piano ballad."
]
| C_020c7448b80446e583fe33477d0fc1a6_0 | Which ones were the most popular? | 3 | Which of Avenged Sevenfold's songs were the most popular? | Avenged Sevenfold | The band's influences include Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera, Bad Religion, Dream Theater, Motorhead, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, In Flames, At the Gates, Helloween, Queensryche, System of a Down, AC/DC, NOFX, Alice in Chains, Black Flag, Corrosion of Conformity, Suicidal Tendencies, Misfits, Slayer, The Vandals, Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Slipknot, Deftones, Beastie Boys, Biohazard, Type O Negative, Anthrax and AFI. The band has been categorized under many genres of heavy music. Mainly categorized as heavy metal, hard rock, progressive metal and metalcore, Avenged Sevenfold's music has evolved over most of the band's career. At first, the band's debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of a metalcore sound; however, there were several deviations from this genre, most notably in "Streets", which shows a punk rock style, and "Warmness on the Soul", which is a piano ballad. On Waking the Fallen, the band displayed a metalcore style once more, but added more clean singing and leaned a bit more towards metal and bit less close to hardcore. In the band's DVD All Excess, producer Andrew Murdock explained this transition: "When I met the band after Sounding the Seventh Trumpet had come out before they had recorded Waking the Fallen, M. Shadows said to me 'This record is screaming. The record we want to make is going to be half-screaming half-singing. I don't want to scream anymore. And the record after that is going to be all singing'." On City of Evil, Avenged Sevenfold's third album, the band chose to abandon the metalcore genre, using a more hard rock and heavy metal style. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album, however, has some experiments with other music genres than that from City of Evil, most notably in "Dear God", which shows a country style and "A Little Piece of Heaven", which is circled within the influence of Broadway show tunes, using primarily brass instruments and stringed orchestra to take over most of the role of the lead and rhythm guitar. Nightmare contains further deviations, including a piano ballad called "Fiction", progressive metal-oriented track "Save Me" and a heavy metal sound with extreme vocals and heavier instrumentation on "God Hates Us". The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King shows more of a classic metal sound and a riff-oriented approach. On their newest album The Stage, the band explores further into progressive metal, blending it with elements of thrash metal. In the past, Avenged Sevenfold has also been described as alternative metal, screamo, and pop punk metal. The band has been criticized for "not being metal enough". Vocalist M. Shadows responded to this with, "we play music for the sake of music, not so that we can be labeled a metal band. That's like telling us we aren't punk enough. Who cares?" Avenged Sevenfold is one of the notable acts of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal. CANNOTANSWER | "Fiction", progressive metal-oriented track "Save Me" and a heavy metal sound with extreme vocals and heavier instrumentation on "God Hates Us". | Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Synyster Gates, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny Christ, and drummer Brooks Wackerman.
Avenged Sevenfold is known for its diverse rock sound and dramatic imagery in album covers and merchandise. The band emerged with a metalcore sound on their debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet and continued this sound through their second album Waking the Fallen. However, the band's style had evolved by the group's third album and first major label release, City of Evil, into a heavy metal and hard rock style. The band continued to explore new sounds with its self-titled release and enjoyed continued mainstream success before their drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan, died in 2009. Despite his death, Avenged Sevenfold continued on with the help of drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), and released and toured in support of their fifth album Nightmare in 2010, which debuted on the top spot of the Billboard 200, their first number one debut.
In 2011 drummer Arin Ilejay joined the band on tours and recording. The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King, which was released in 2013, marked the only Avenged Sevenfold album featuring Ilejay. Hail to the King charted as number 1 on the Billboard 200, the UK Albums chart, as well as the Finnish, Brazilian, Canadian, and Irish charts. In late 2014, Ilejay left the band, and was replaced by former Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman, but the lineup change was not announced to the public until 2015. The band then surprise-released their seventh studio album titled The Stage on October 28, 2016, which debuted as number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US. The Stage is their first conceptual album and it marked another stylistic change for the band, moving towards a progressive metal sound.
To date, Avenged Sevenfold has released seven studio albums, one live album/DVD, two compilation albums and eighteen singles and have sold over 8 million albums worldwide, and their records have received numerous certification awards, including five platinum album awards from their home country's institution (RIAA). They have also created four original songs for the Call of Duty: Black Ops series, all of which were compiled together in the 2018 EP Black Reign. The band were ranked No. 47 on Loudwire's list of Top 50 Metal Bands of All Time.
History
Formation and Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (1999–2002)
Avenged Sevenfold was formed in March 1999 in Huntington Beach, California by Matt Sanders, James Sullivan and Matt Wendt. Although they are not a religious band, Sanders came up with the name as a reference to the story of Cain and Abel from the Bible, which can be found in Genesis 4:24. Shortly after their formation, they were joined by an acquaintance from high school, Zachary Baker, who played in the punk band MPA (short for Mad Porn Action) at the time.
Avenged Sevenfold's first creative output was a three-track-demo recorded in early 1999. In early 2000, they were asked by Sadistic Records to contribute to two compilations. To that end, they recorded two new songs and released them along with the previously recorded songs on a second demo. They sent this demo to the Belgian label Good Life Recordings and were subsequently signed. Afterwards, the band participated in another two compilation albums, their label's GoodLife 4 and Novocaine Records' Scrape III compilations. Around this time, Matt Wendt left for college and Justin Meacham, the previous bassist of Suburban Legends, joined Avenged Sevenfold. In late 2000, the foursome took on their initial stage names – M. Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, Justin Sane and The Rev – and recorded their debut album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. In early 2001, lead guitarist and old friend Synyster Gates joined the band and they re-recorded the introductory track "To End the Rapture" for the album's lead-single/EP, Warmness on the Soul, released in April 2001. Although their debut album's release was initially planned for the same month, it was pushed back multiple times and eventually released on July 24, 2001, on Good Life Recordings.
Around August 2001, Meacham attempted suicide by drinking excessive amounts of cough syrup. This event was the reason for Avenged Sevenfold to join the Take Action Tour in 2003. During Meacham's hospitalization, he remained in poor condition and had to leave the band. In an interview, lead singer M. Shadows said of Meacham that "he perma-fried his brain and was in a mental institution for a long time, and when you have someone in your band who does that, it ruins everything that's going on all around you, and it makes you want to do something to prevent it from happening to other people." His replacement was Frank Melcom, stage name Dameon Ash, who performed with the band for the following months, but does not appear on any releases.
On January 18, 2002, Avenged Sevenfold left Good Life Recordings and signed with Hopeless Records. They re-released their debut album on March 19 and also appeared on the Hopelessly Devoted To You Vol. 4 sampler in April. The band started to receive recognition, performing with bands such as Mushroomhead and Shadows Fall. They spent the year touring in support of their debut album and participated in the Vans Warped Tour. In September, Dameon Ash left Avenged Sevenfold and their current bassist Johnny Christ joined them, completing their best known line-up.
Waking the Fallen and City of Evil (2003–2005)
Having found a new bassist, the group released their second studio album titled Waking the Fallen on Hopeless Records in August 2003. The album featured a more refined and mature sound production in comparison to their previous album. The band received profiles in Billboard and The Boston Globe, and again played on the Vans Warped and Take Action tours. In 2004, Avenged Sevenfold toured again on the Vans Warped Tour and recorded a video for their song "Unholy Confessions" which went into rotation on MTV2's Headbangers Ball. Shortly after the release of Waking the Fallen, Avenged Sevenfold left Hopeless Records and were officially signed to Warner Bros. Records on November 1, 2003.
City of Evil, the band's third album and major label debut, was released on June 7, 2005, and debuted at No.30 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling over 30,000 copies in its first week of release. It utilized a more classic metal sound than Avenged Sevenfold's previous albums, which had been grouped into the metalcore genre. The album is also notable for the absence of screamed and growled vocals; M. Shadows worked with vocal coach Ron Anderson—whose clients have included Axl Rose and Chris Cornell—for months before the album's release to achieve a sound that had "grit while still having the tone". The album received positive reviews from several magazines and websites and is credited for propelling the band into international popularity.
Avenged Sevenfold (2006–2008)
After playing Ozzfest in 2006, Avenged Sevenfold memorably beat out R&B Singers Rihanna and Chris Brown, Panic! at the Disco, Angels & Airwaves and James Blunt for the title of Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards, thanks in part to their Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas-inspired song "Bat Country." They returned to the Vans Warped Tour, this time headlining and then continued on their own "Cities of Evil Tour." In addition, their lead single "Bat Country" reached No.2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts, No.6 on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts and the accompanying video made it to No.1 on MTV's Total Request Live. Propelled by this success, the album sold well and became Avenged Sevenfold's first Gold record. It was later certified platinum in August 2009.
Avenged Sevenfold was invited to join Ozzfest tour on the main stage, alongside other well known rock/heavy metal acts such as DragonForce, Lacuna Coil, Hatebreed, Disturbed and System of a Down for the first time in 2006. That same year they also completed a worldwide tour, including the US, The United Kingdom (as well as mainland Europe), Japan, Australia and New Zealand. After a sixteen-month promotion of City of Evil, the band announced that they were cancelling their Fall 2006 tour to record new music. In the interim, the band released their first DVD titled All Excess on July 17, 2007. All Excess, which debuted as the No.1 DVD in the US, included live performances and backstage footage that spanned the band's eight-year career. Two tribute albums, Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: Bat Wings and Broken Strings and Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: The String Tribute were also released in October 2007.
On October 30, 2007, Avenged Sevenfold released their self-titled album, the band's fourth studio album. It debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with over 90,000 copies sold. Two singles, "Critical Acclaim" and "Almost Easy" were released prior to the album's debut. In December 2007, an animated video was made for "A Little Piece of Heaven". Due to the song's controversial subject matter, however, Warner Brothers only released it to registered MVI users over the internet. The third single, "Afterlife" and its video was released in January 2008. Their fourth single, "Dear God", was released on June 15, 2008. Although critical reception was generally mixed the self-titled album went on to sell over 500,000 copies and was awarded "Album of the Year" at the Kerrang! Awards.
Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour with Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine, Blessthefall and Idiot Pilot. They used the footage from their last show in Long Beach for Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, a two-disc B-sides CD and live DVD which was released on September 16, 2008. They also recorded numerous covers, including Pantera's "Walk", Iron Maiden's "Flash of the Blade" and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid".
Death of The Rev and Nightmare (2009–2011)
In January 2009, M. Shadows confirmed that the band was writing the follow-up to their self-titled fourth album within the upcoming months. They also played at Rock on the Range, from May 16–17, 2009. On April 16, they performed a version of Guns N' Roses' "It's So Easy" onstage with Slash, at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. On December 28, 2009, the band's drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan was found dead at his home at the age of 28. Autopsy results were inconclusive, but on June 9, 2010, the cause of death was revealed to have been an "acute polydrug intoxication due to combined effects of Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, Diazepam/Nordiazepam and ethanol". In a statement by the band, they expressed their grief over the death of The Rev and later posted a message from Sullivan's family which expressed their gratitude to his fans for their support. The band members admitted in a number of interviews that they considered disbanding at this point in time. However, on February 17, 2010, Avenged Sevenfold stated that they had entered the studio, along with now-former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, to drum for the album, in place of The Rev.
The single "Nightmare" was digitally released on May 18, 2010. A preview for the song was released on May 6, 2010, on Amazon.com, but was removed soon after for unknown reasons. Mixing for the album had been completed in New York City, and Nightmare was finally released worldwide on July 27, 2010. It met with mixed to positive reviews from music critics but was well received by the fans. Nightmare beat sales projections easily, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of 163,000 units in its first week. After finishing recording, in December, Portnoy and the band posted simultaneous statements on their websites stating that he would not be their replacement for The Rev. However, Portnoy did travel with the band overseas in December 2010 for three shows in Iraq and Kuwait sponsored by the USO. They played for U.S. Soldiers at Camp Adder, Camp Beuhring, and Balad Air Base. On January 20, 2011, Avenged Sevenfold announced via Facebook that former Confide drummer Arin Ilejay would begin touring with them that year. He was not yet considered a full-time member at this point.
Avenged Sevenfold performed at the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals on June 3–5, 2011 alongside other bands such as Alter Bridge, System of a Down, and In Flames. In April 2011, the band headlined the Golden God Awards held by Metal Hammer. The same night the band won three awards for "Best Vocalist" (M. Shadows), "Epiphone Best Guitarist(s)" (Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance), and "Affliction's Album of The Year" for Nightmare, while Mike Portnoy won the award for "Drum Workshop's Best Drummer" for his work on the album.
Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2011 Uproar Festival with supporting acts Three Days Grace, Seether, Bullet for My Valentine, Escape the Fate, among others. In November and December 2011, the band went on their "Buried Alive" tour with supporting acts Hollywood Undead, Asking Alexandria, and Black Veil Brides.
Hail to the King and Waking the Fallen: Resurrected (2012–2014)
On April 11, 2012, Avenged Sevenfold won the award for "Best Live Band" and "Most Dedicated Fans" at the Revolver Golden Gods awards.
The band toured through Asia into April and early May, and played at the Orion Music + More, Festival on June 23 and 24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey alongside Metallica and Cage the Elephant among many others.
On September 24, 2012, Avenged Sevenfold released a new song, titled "Carry On"; it was featured in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II. On November 15, 2012, vocalist M. Shadows said that the band had been working on a new album since the recording of "Carry On" in August 2012. The band began recording material for the album in January 2013. The band then started streaming snippets of the album in May 2013 on their new radio app. There, Arin Ilejay was confirmed as an official band member and replacement of deceased The Rev. M. Shadows said that the album would sound more blues rock-influenced and more like classic rock/metal like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.
The band was confirmed to play at the 2013 Rock in Rio festival on September 22, 2013. On May 24, 2013, the band have announced dates for their European tour with Five Finger Death Punch and Device serving as their support bands.
The album, entitled Hail to the King, was released on August 27, 2013. This is the first Avenged Sevenfold album without any musical contributions from deceased The Rev. The album's lead single and title track was released on July 15, 2013. Hail to the King charted as No. 1 on the US Billboard 200, the UK albums chart, as well as the Finnish, Brazilian, Canadian, and Irish charts, and was commercially and critically acclaimed. The band headlined Monster Energy's Welcome to Rockville two-day music festival in Jacksonville, Florida, April 26–27, 2014, joined by more than 25 rock acts, such as Motörhead, Rob Zombie, Chevelle, Korn, Staind, Alter Bridge, The Cult, Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, Black Label Society, and Seether. On June 13, the band headlined the Friday night of Download Festival 2014. The band also headlined the Mayhem Festival 2014 with Korn, Asking Alexandria, and Trivium.
In March 2014, vocalist M. Shadows revealed in an interview with Loudwire that the band had plans in the works to put something out for the overdue 10th anniversary of Waking the Fallen. Waking the Fallen: Resurrected was released August 25, 2014. The reissue charted No. 10 on the US Billboard 200.
Drummer change and The Stage (2015–2017)
In October 2014, M. Shadows confirmed that the band would begin writing their seventh album during mid-2015.
In July 2015 the band announced on their website that they would part ways with drummer Arin Ilejay, due to "creative differences". In October 2015, the band announced on their website that they had been working with a new drummer for over a year, making sure that it was a good fit before making sudden changes. On October 21, in an interview with Kerrang! magazine, guitarist Zacky Vengeance revealed that the band had been working on the new album for the past couple of months and that a couple of songs had already been completely written. On November 4, 2015, the band announced that Brooks Wackerman would replace Arin Ilejay as the drummer for Avenged Sevenfold. In an interview with Kerrang! magazine on December 3, guitarist Zacky Vengeance said that the new album went in all sorts of aggressive and melodic directions and described it as very "aggro".
On January 14, 2016, Billboard reported that Avenged Sevenfold had been sued by Warner Bros. for trying to leave the label. The band later released a statement clarifying that they wanted to leave because a majority of the executives who helped sign the band to Warner Bros were no longer at the label. They also revealed that the band was going to be entering the studio to record their new album very soon, intending to release it later in 2016. On March 31, the band posted a teaser of their upcoming album on their website.
On August 18, 2016, the band performed a free live show for 1500 people in Minnesota, marking it the first live performance with new drummer Brooks Wackerman. The band was announced as support for Metallica with Volbeat in the U.S. Bank Stadium on August 20, 2016, making it the first ever rock show in the stadium. The band was announced as a headliner of Monster Energy Rock Allegiance 2016, along with Alice in Chains, Slayer, The Offspring, Breaking Benjamin and others. Avenged Sevenfold also performed on "Louder Than Life" festival as headliners on October 1, with Slipknot, Slayer, Disturbed, Korn and other artists. On June 21, the band announced a U.S. Fall tour with Volbeat, Killswitch Engage, and Avatar. The band also announced a UK tour for January 2017 with Disturbed and In Flames. Avenged Sevenfold was announced as a headliner of 2016 edition of Knotfest Mexico. The band also announced the European Tour for February and March 2017 along with Disturbed and Chevelle.
On October 3, 2016, the band's logo Deathbat started appearing as a projection in London. After that, Deathbat also started appearing in Berlin, Toronto and Paris, indicating a release of the new album. On October 12, Chris Jericho posted an Instagram photo of the Deathbat logo with a date 12/9/16 underneath it. He then revealed the supposed title of the album, Voltaic Oceans, It was later revealed that the new album would actually be called The Stage, a concept album about artificial intelligence, which was released on October 28, 2016, via Capitol Records. The album was released to generally favorable reviews, and the band decided to make a unique stage production for it, hiring Cirque du Soleil directors for its making.
Avenged Sevenfold was announced as the main support act on Metallica's WorldWired 2017 stadium summer tour in the US and Canada, alongside Volbeat and Gojira. The band also announced a series of 2017 US headlining summer shows of The Stage World Tour, with Volbeat, Motionless in White, and A Day to Remember as special guests across various dates.
On December 22, 2017, the band released a deluxe edition of The Stage that included one new original track, six cover songs, and four live tracks from their European tour earlier that year.
In a December 2017 interview with Billboard, M. Shadows revealed that the band are planning "a big US summer 2018 tour", and that the band would start working on the follow-up to The Stage in late 2018. End of the World tour with Prophets of Rage was later announced for summer 2018. The band was also announced as one of the headliners of 2018's Rock on the Range and Download Festival, in addition to appearing at Hellfest, Graspop Metal Meeting, Rock am Ring and Rock im Park the same year. Due to a blood blister forming in M. Shadows' throat, the band cancelled remaining dates from their summer tour with Prophets of Rage.
Avenged Sevenfold was nominated at 60th Annual Grammy Awards in "Best Rock Song" category for The Stage.
The band released a single titled "Mad Hatter" in September 2018, which was made specifically for the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. It would later be a part of the Black Reign EP released later that month, which comprises all four of the songs Avenged Sevenfold made for the Call of Duty franchise.
Upcoming eighth studio album (2018–present)
In a December 2017 interview with Billboard, M. Shadows revealed that the band are planning "a big US summer 2018 tour", and that the band would start working on the follow-up to The Stage in late 2018. Bassist Johnny Christ in a May 2018 interview confirmed that the band is currently getting ideas and writing in their own studios to start the next record in September or October 2018.
In September 2018, Synyster Gates revealed in an interview with Loudwire that the band has started working on their eighth studio album, saying "It's still early on, but we're working on a bunch of stuff". In March 2019, Zacky Vengeance stated the band would take the rest of the year off tour to concentrate on the upcoming album, saying the band is really focused on the new material. In January 2020, Avenged Sevenfold released "Set Me Free", an unreleased song recorded during the Hail to the King recording sessions. They also announced that the song would be included in a remastered re-release of Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, released on March 6. A limited edition clear vinyl of Diamonds in the Rough was also released.
Musical style and influences
Members of Avenged Sevenfold cite In Flames, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Slayer, Mr. Bungle, Elton John, Leonard Cohen, At the Gates, Helloween, Dream Theater, Pennywise, NOFX, Pantera, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses, The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones as influences.
The band has been categorized under several genres of heavy and extreme music, primarily heavy metal, alternative metal, hard rock, and, on their album The Stage, progressive metal, with their earlier albums being categorized as metalcore. Avenged Sevenfold's musical style has consistently evolved throughout the duration of the band's career. Initially, the band's debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of a metalcore sound. However, there were several deviations from this genre, most notably in "Streets", which shows a punk rock style, and "Warmness on the Soul", which is a piano ballad. On Waking the Fallen, the band displayed a metalcore style once more, but added more clean singing and leaned a bit more towards metal and bit less close to hardcore. In the band's DVD All Excess, producer Andrew Murdock explained this transition: "When I met the band after Sounding the Seventh Trumpet had come out before they had recorded Waking the Fallen, M. Shadows said to me 'This record is screaming. The record we want to make is going to be half-screaming half-singing. I don't want to scream anymore. And the record after that is going to be all singing'."
On Avenged Sevenfold's third album City of Evil, the band chose to outright abandon the metalcore genre, creating a sound consistent with hard rock and heavy metal. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album experiments with an even wider array of musical genres than that from City of Evil, most notably in "Dear God", which shows a country style and "A Little Piece of Heaven", which is circled within the influence of Broadway show tunes, using primarily brass instruments and stringed orchestra to take over most of the role of the lead and rhythm guitar. Nightmare contains further deviations, including a piano ballad called "Fiction", progressive metal-oriented track "Save Me" and a heavy metal sound with extreme vocals and heavier instrumentation on "God Hates Us". The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King shows more of a classic metal sound and a riff-oriented approach. On their newest album The Stage, the band explores further into progressive metal, blending it with elements of thrash metal. In the past, Avenged Sevenfold has also been described as screamo and pop punk metal.
Avenged Sevenfold has been criticized for "not being metal enough". In response to this, vocalist M. Shadows said: "we play music for the sake of music, not so that we can be labeled a metal band. That's like telling us we aren't punk enough. Who cares?" Avenged Sevenfold is one of the notable acts of the new wave of American heavy metal.
Band members
Current members
M. Shadows – lead vocals, piano (1999–present)
Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1999–present); lead guitar (1999–2001)
Synyster Gates – lead guitar, piano, backing vocals (2001–present)
Johnny Christ – bass, backing vocals (2002–present)
Brooks Wackerman – drums (2015–present)
Former members
Matt Wendt – bass (1999–2000)
Justin Sane – bass, piano (2000–2001)
Dameon Ash – bass (2001–2002)
The Rev – drums, piano, co-lead vocals (1999–2009; died 2009)
Arin Ilejay – drums (2011–2015)
Session and touring musicians
Mike Portnoy – drums (2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001)
Waking the Fallen (2003)
City of Evil (2005)
Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
Nightmare (2010)
Hail to the King (2013)
The Stage (2016)
Accolades
References
External links
American alternative metal musical groups
American metalcore musical groups
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Capitol Records artists
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Hopeless Records artists
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups established in 1999
Musical groups from Orange County, California
Musical quintets
Warner Records artists
1999 establishments in California
Good Life Recordings artists | true | [
"Poder popular (English popular or people power) is a form of workers or direct democracy. In Chilean history poder popular has referred to a form of political power that is derived from the independent activity of working class people, which is (in theory) in its formulation and constitution, highly collective, flexible, representative and direct. This is alleged to be fundamentally different from bourgeois parliamentary democratic power, which is achieved via a democratic electoral process but once established is imposed upon a predominantly static and apolitical electorate via highly inflexible bureaucratic social institutions.\n\nThroughout the 20th Century many forms of organs of poder popular were established in Chile but the most developed and important ones were formed during the Popular Unity government headed by Salvador Allende (1970-1973). The most significant ones of these were the cordones industriales which at once stage incorporated and coordinated a considerable section of the labor force in the country and threatened the traditional ground occupied by the official workers federation CUT and the leadership of the traditional working class political organisations.\n\nPolitics of Chile\nPresidency of Salvador Allende",
"Wild Ones was a video game published by Playdom. It was released on 18 December 2009 and closed on 28 August 2013, becoming one of Playdom's most popular games.\n\nGameplay\nWild Ones was a multiplayer action and arcade shooter game. It was available on Facebook, Google+ and since 2010, on MySpace. Originally, it was a last man standing game. This was later changed, however.\n\nHistory\nWild Ones was released on 18 December 2009 by Playdom. During this period, it counted with around 300,000 monthly active users. This number increased to 2,000,000 by 2010. The game was inspired on the game Worms. It also bore certain similarity to the game Crazy Planets. It managed to become one of the three most popular games of Playdom. It closed on 28 August 2013.\n\nYears later, Facebook admitted having tricked children and adults to spend money on several free-to-play games, including Wild Ones.\n\nReception\nCommon Sense Media gave the game 4/5 stars and recommended it for persons older than 13.\n\nAftermath\nThere were various projects to revive the game. The most popular one is Wild Ones Remake. It was released in 2016 by Evolved Digitals, a group made up by three Georgian and Tunisian developers. Up to 2,000,000 people have played their three main games, including Wild Ones Remake. Another one is Wild Ones Ultimate.\n\nSee also\nPlaydom\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n2009 video games\nFacebook games\nShooter video games\nVideo games developed in the United States"
]
|
[
"Avenged Sevenfold",
"Style and influences",
"Can you provide me with a little background information on Avenged Sevenfold style and influences?",
"The band's influences include Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera, Bad Religion, Dream Theater, Motorhead, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, In Flames, At the Gates, Helloween,",
"Are these hit singles?",
"Streets\", which shows a punk rock style, and \"Warmness on the Soul\", which is a piano ballad.",
"Which ones were the most popular?",
"\"Fiction\", progressive metal-oriented track \"Save Me\" and a heavy metal sound with extreme vocals and heavier instrumentation on \"God Hates Us\"."
]
| C_020c7448b80446e583fe33477d0fc1a6_0 | Did those hit the charts? | 4 | Did Avenged Sevenfold's songs called "Fiction," "Save Me," and "God Hates Us" hit the charts? | Avenged Sevenfold | The band's influences include Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera, Bad Religion, Dream Theater, Motorhead, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, In Flames, At the Gates, Helloween, Queensryche, System of a Down, AC/DC, NOFX, Alice in Chains, Black Flag, Corrosion of Conformity, Suicidal Tendencies, Misfits, Slayer, The Vandals, Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Slipknot, Deftones, Beastie Boys, Biohazard, Type O Negative, Anthrax and AFI. The band has been categorized under many genres of heavy music. Mainly categorized as heavy metal, hard rock, progressive metal and metalcore, Avenged Sevenfold's music has evolved over most of the band's career. At first, the band's debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of a metalcore sound; however, there were several deviations from this genre, most notably in "Streets", which shows a punk rock style, and "Warmness on the Soul", which is a piano ballad. On Waking the Fallen, the band displayed a metalcore style once more, but added more clean singing and leaned a bit more towards metal and bit less close to hardcore. In the band's DVD All Excess, producer Andrew Murdock explained this transition: "When I met the band after Sounding the Seventh Trumpet had come out before they had recorded Waking the Fallen, M. Shadows said to me 'This record is screaming. The record we want to make is going to be half-screaming half-singing. I don't want to scream anymore. And the record after that is going to be all singing'." On City of Evil, Avenged Sevenfold's third album, the band chose to abandon the metalcore genre, using a more hard rock and heavy metal style. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album, however, has some experiments with other music genres than that from City of Evil, most notably in "Dear God", which shows a country style and "A Little Piece of Heaven", which is circled within the influence of Broadway show tunes, using primarily brass instruments and stringed orchestra to take over most of the role of the lead and rhythm guitar. Nightmare contains further deviations, including a piano ballad called "Fiction", progressive metal-oriented track "Save Me" and a heavy metal sound with extreme vocals and heavier instrumentation on "God Hates Us". The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King shows more of a classic metal sound and a riff-oriented approach. On their newest album The Stage, the band explores further into progressive metal, blending it with elements of thrash metal. In the past, Avenged Sevenfold has also been described as alternative metal, screamo, and pop punk metal. The band has been criticized for "not being metal enough". Vocalist M. Shadows responded to this with, "we play music for the sake of music, not so that we can be labeled a metal band. That's like telling us we aren't punk enough. Who cares?" Avenged Sevenfold is one of the notable acts of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Synyster Gates, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny Christ, and drummer Brooks Wackerman.
Avenged Sevenfold is known for its diverse rock sound and dramatic imagery in album covers and merchandise. The band emerged with a metalcore sound on their debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet and continued this sound through their second album Waking the Fallen. However, the band's style had evolved by the group's third album and first major label release, City of Evil, into a heavy metal and hard rock style. The band continued to explore new sounds with its self-titled release and enjoyed continued mainstream success before their drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan, died in 2009. Despite his death, Avenged Sevenfold continued on with the help of drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), and released and toured in support of their fifth album Nightmare in 2010, which debuted on the top spot of the Billboard 200, their first number one debut.
In 2011 drummer Arin Ilejay joined the band on tours and recording. The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King, which was released in 2013, marked the only Avenged Sevenfold album featuring Ilejay. Hail to the King charted as number 1 on the Billboard 200, the UK Albums chart, as well as the Finnish, Brazilian, Canadian, and Irish charts. In late 2014, Ilejay left the band, and was replaced by former Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman, but the lineup change was not announced to the public until 2015. The band then surprise-released their seventh studio album titled The Stage on October 28, 2016, which debuted as number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US. The Stage is their first conceptual album and it marked another stylistic change for the band, moving towards a progressive metal sound.
To date, Avenged Sevenfold has released seven studio albums, one live album/DVD, two compilation albums and eighteen singles and have sold over 8 million albums worldwide, and their records have received numerous certification awards, including five platinum album awards from their home country's institution (RIAA). They have also created four original songs for the Call of Duty: Black Ops series, all of which were compiled together in the 2018 EP Black Reign. The band were ranked No. 47 on Loudwire's list of Top 50 Metal Bands of All Time.
History
Formation and Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (1999–2002)
Avenged Sevenfold was formed in March 1999 in Huntington Beach, California by Matt Sanders, James Sullivan and Matt Wendt. Although they are not a religious band, Sanders came up with the name as a reference to the story of Cain and Abel from the Bible, which can be found in Genesis 4:24. Shortly after their formation, they were joined by an acquaintance from high school, Zachary Baker, who played in the punk band MPA (short for Mad Porn Action) at the time.
Avenged Sevenfold's first creative output was a three-track-demo recorded in early 1999. In early 2000, they were asked by Sadistic Records to contribute to two compilations. To that end, they recorded two new songs and released them along with the previously recorded songs on a second demo. They sent this demo to the Belgian label Good Life Recordings and were subsequently signed. Afterwards, the band participated in another two compilation albums, their label's GoodLife 4 and Novocaine Records' Scrape III compilations. Around this time, Matt Wendt left for college and Justin Meacham, the previous bassist of Suburban Legends, joined Avenged Sevenfold. In late 2000, the foursome took on their initial stage names – M. Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, Justin Sane and The Rev – and recorded their debut album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. In early 2001, lead guitarist and old friend Synyster Gates joined the band and they re-recorded the introductory track "To End the Rapture" for the album's lead-single/EP, Warmness on the Soul, released in April 2001. Although their debut album's release was initially planned for the same month, it was pushed back multiple times and eventually released on July 24, 2001, on Good Life Recordings.
Around August 2001, Meacham attempted suicide by drinking excessive amounts of cough syrup. This event was the reason for Avenged Sevenfold to join the Take Action Tour in 2003. During Meacham's hospitalization, he remained in poor condition and had to leave the band. In an interview, lead singer M. Shadows said of Meacham that "he perma-fried his brain and was in a mental institution for a long time, and when you have someone in your band who does that, it ruins everything that's going on all around you, and it makes you want to do something to prevent it from happening to other people." His replacement was Frank Melcom, stage name Dameon Ash, who performed with the band for the following months, but does not appear on any releases.
On January 18, 2002, Avenged Sevenfold left Good Life Recordings and signed with Hopeless Records. They re-released their debut album on March 19 and also appeared on the Hopelessly Devoted To You Vol. 4 sampler in April. The band started to receive recognition, performing with bands such as Mushroomhead and Shadows Fall. They spent the year touring in support of their debut album and participated in the Vans Warped Tour. In September, Dameon Ash left Avenged Sevenfold and their current bassist Johnny Christ joined them, completing their best known line-up.
Waking the Fallen and City of Evil (2003–2005)
Having found a new bassist, the group released their second studio album titled Waking the Fallen on Hopeless Records in August 2003. The album featured a more refined and mature sound production in comparison to their previous album. The band received profiles in Billboard and The Boston Globe, and again played on the Vans Warped and Take Action tours. In 2004, Avenged Sevenfold toured again on the Vans Warped Tour and recorded a video for their song "Unholy Confessions" which went into rotation on MTV2's Headbangers Ball. Shortly after the release of Waking the Fallen, Avenged Sevenfold left Hopeless Records and were officially signed to Warner Bros. Records on November 1, 2003.
City of Evil, the band's third album and major label debut, was released on June 7, 2005, and debuted at No.30 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling over 30,000 copies in its first week of release. It utilized a more classic metal sound than Avenged Sevenfold's previous albums, which had been grouped into the metalcore genre. The album is also notable for the absence of screamed and growled vocals; M. Shadows worked with vocal coach Ron Anderson—whose clients have included Axl Rose and Chris Cornell—for months before the album's release to achieve a sound that had "grit while still having the tone". The album received positive reviews from several magazines and websites and is credited for propelling the band into international popularity.
Avenged Sevenfold (2006–2008)
After playing Ozzfest in 2006, Avenged Sevenfold memorably beat out R&B Singers Rihanna and Chris Brown, Panic! at the Disco, Angels & Airwaves and James Blunt for the title of Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards, thanks in part to their Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas-inspired song "Bat Country." They returned to the Vans Warped Tour, this time headlining and then continued on their own "Cities of Evil Tour." In addition, their lead single "Bat Country" reached No.2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts, No.6 on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts and the accompanying video made it to No.1 on MTV's Total Request Live. Propelled by this success, the album sold well and became Avenged Sevenfold's first Gold record. It was later certified platinum in August 2009.
Avenged Sevenfold was invited to join Ozzfest tour on the main stage, alongside other well known rock/heavy metal acts such as DragonForce, Lacuna Coil, Hatebreed, Disturbed and System of a Down for the first time in 2006. That same year they also completed a worldwide tour, including the US, The United Kingdom (as well as mainland Europe), Japan, Australia and New Zealand. After a sixteen-month promotion of City of Evil, the band announced that they were cancelling their Fall 2006 tour to record new music. In the interim, the band released their first DVD titled All Excess on July 17, 2007. All Excess, which debuted as the No.1 DVD in the US, included live performances and backstage footage that spanned the band's eight-year career. Two tribute albums, Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: Bat Wings and Broken Strings and Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: The String Tribute were also released in October 2007.
On October 30, 2007, Avenged Sevenfold released their self-titled album, the band's fourth studio album. It debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with over 90,000 copies sold. Two singles, "Critical Acclaim" and "Almost Easy" were released prior to the album's debut. In December 2007, an animated video was made for "A Little Piece of Heaven". Due to the song's controversial subject matter, however, Warner Brothers only released it to registered MVI users over the internet. The third single, "Afterlife" and its video was released in January 2008. Their fourth single, "Dear God", was released on June 15, 2008. Although critical reception was generally mixed the self-titled album went on to sell over 500,000 copies and was awarded "Album of the Year" at the Kerrang! Awards.
Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour with Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine, Blessthefall and Idiot Pilot. They used the footage from their last show in Long Beach for Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, a two-disc B-sides CD and live DVD which was released on September 16, 2008. They also recorded numerous covers, including Pantera's "Walk", Iron Maiden's "Flash of the Blade" and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid".
Death of The Rev and Nightmare (2009–2011)
In January 2009, M. Shadows confirmed that the band was writing the follow-up to their self-titled fourth album within the upcoming months. They also played at Rock on the Range, from May 16–17, 2009. On April 16, they performed a version of Guns N' Roses' "It's So Easy" onstage with Slash, at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. On December 28, 2009, the band's drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan was found dead at his home at the age of 28. Autopsy results were inconclusive, but on June 9, 2010, the cause of death was revealed to have been an "acute polydrug intoxication due to combined effects of Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, Diazepam/Nordiazepam and ethanol". In a statement by the band, they expressed their grief over the death of The Rev and later posted a message from Sullivan's family which expressed their gratitude to his fans for their support. The band members admitted in a number of interviews that they considered disbanding at this point in time. However, on February 17, 2010, Avenged Sevenfold stated that they had entered the studio, along with now-former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, to drum for the album, in place of The Rev.
The single "Nightmare" was digitally released on May 18, 2010. A preview for the song was released on May 6, 2010, on Amazon.com, but was removed soon after for unknown reasons. Mixing for the album had been completed in New York City, and Nightmare was finally released worldwide on July 27, 2010. It met with mixed to positive reviews from music critics but was well received by the fans. Nightmare beat sales projections easily, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of 163,000 units in its first week. After finishing recording, in December, Portnoy and the band posted simultaneous statements on their websites stating that he would not be their replacement for The Rev. However, Portnoy did travel with the band overseas in December 2010 for three shows in Iraq and Kuwait sponsored by the USO. They played for U.S. Soldiers at Camp Adder, Camp Beuhring, and Balad Air Base. On January 20, 2011, Avenged Sevenfold announced via Facebook that former Confide drummer Arin Ilejay would begin touring with them that year. He was not yet considered a full-time member at this point.
Avenged Sevenfold performed at the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals on June 3–5, 2011 alongside other bands such as Alter Bridge, System of a Down, and In Flames. In April 2011, the band headlined the Golden God Awards held by Metal Hammer. The same night the band won three awards for "Best Vocalist" (M. Shadows), "Epiphone Best Guitarist(s)" (Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance), and "Affliction's Album of The Year" for Nightmare, while Mike Portnoy won the award for "Drum Workshop's Best Drummer" for his work on the album.
Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2011 Uproar Festival with supporting acts Three Days Grace, Seether, Bullet for My Valentine, Escape the Fate, among others. In November and December 2011, the band went on their "Buried Alive" tour with supporting acts Hollywood Undead, Asking Alexandria, and Black Veil Brides.
Hail to the King and Waking the Fallen: Resurrected (2012–2014)
On April 11, 2012, Avenged Sevenfold won the award for "Best Live Band" and "Most Dedicated Fans" at the Revolver Golden Gods awards.
The band toured through Asia into April and early May, and played at the Orion Music + More, Festival on June 23 and 24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey alongside Metallica and Cage the Elephant among many others.
On September 24, 2012, Avenged Sevenfold released a new song, titled "Carry On"; it was featured in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II. On November 15, 2012, vocalist M. Shadows said that the band had been working on a new album since the recording of "Carry On" in August 2012. The band began recording material for the album in January 2013. The band then started streaming snippets of the album in May 2013 on their new radio app. There, Arin Ilejay was confirmed as an official band member and replacement of deceased The Rev. M. Shadows said that the album would sound more blues rock-influenced and more like classic rock/metal like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.
The band was confirmed to play at the 2013 Rock in Rio festival on September 22, 2013. On May 24, 2013, the band have announced dates for their European tour with Five Finger Death Punch and Device serving as their support bands.
The album, entitled Hail to the King, was released on August 27, 2013. This is the first Avenged Sevenfold album without any musical contributions from deceased The Rev. The album's lead single and title track was released on July 15, 2013. Hail to the King charted as No. 1 on the US Billboard 200, the UK albums chart, as well as the Finnish, Brazilian, Canadian, and Irish charts, and was commercially and critically acclaimed. The band headlined Monster Energy's Welcome to Rockville two-day music festival in Jacksonville, Florida, April 26–27, 2014, joined by more than 25 rock acts, such as Motörhead, Rob Zombie, Chevelle, Korn, Staind, Alter Bridge, The Cult, Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, Black Label Society, and Seether. On June 13, the band headlined the Friday night of Download Festival 2014. The band also headlined the Mayhem Festival 2014 with Korn, Asking Alexandria, and Trivium.
In March 2014, vocalist M. Shadows revealed in an interview with Loudwire that the band had plans in the works to put something out for the overdue 10th anniversary of Waking the Fallen. Waking the Fallen: Resurrected was released August 25, 2014. The reissue charted No. 10 on the US Billboard 200.
Drummer change and The Stage (2015–2017)
In October 2014, M. Shadows confirmed that the band would begin writing their seventh album during mid-2015.
In July 2015 the band announced on their website that they would part ways with drummer Arin Ilejay, due to "creative differences". In October 2015, the band announced on their website that they had been working with a new drummer for over a year, making sure that it was a good fit before making sudden changes. On October 21, in an interview with Kerrang! magazine, guitarist Zacky Vengeance revealed that the band had been working on the new album for the past couple of months and that a couple of songs had already been completely written. On November 4, 2015, the band announced that Brooks Wackerman would replace Arin Ilejay as the drummer for Avenged Sevenfold. In an interview with Kerrang! magazine on December 3, guitarist Zacky Vengeance said that the new album went in all sorts of aggressive and melodic directions and described it as very "aggro".
On January 14, 2016, Billboard reported that Avenged Sevenfold had been sued by Warner Bros. for trying to leave the label. The band later released a statement clarifying that they wanted to leave because a majority of the executives who helped sign the band to Warner Bros were no longer at the label. They also revealed that the band was going to be entering the studio to record their new album very soon, intending to release it later in 2016. On March 31, the band posted a teaser of their upcoming album on their website.
On August 18, 2016, the band performed a free live show for 1500 people in Minnesota, marking it the first live performance with new drummer Brooks Wackerman. The band was announced as support for Metallica with Volbeat in the U.S. Bank Stadium on August 20, 2016, making it the first ever rock show in the stadium. The band was announced as a headliner of Monster Energy Rock Allegiance 2016, along with Alice in Chains, Slayer, The Offspring, Breaking Benjamin and others. Avenged Sevenfold also performed on "Louder Than Life" festival as headliners on October 1, with Slipknot, Slayer, Disturbed, Korn and other artists. On June 21, the band announced a U.S. Fall tour with Volbeat, Killswitch Engage, and Avatar. The band also announced a UK tour for January 2017 with Disturbed and In Flames. Avenged Sevenfold was announced as a headliner of 2016 edition of Knotfest Mexico. The band also announced the European Tour for February and March 2017 along with Disturbed and Chevelle.
On October 3, 2016, the band's logo Deathbat started appearing as a projection in London. After that, Deathbat also started appearing in Berlin, Toronto and Paris, indicating a release of the new album. On October 12, Chris Jericho posted an Instagram photo of the Deathbat logo with a date 12/9/16 underneath it. He then revealed the supposed title of the album, Voltaic Oceans, It was later revealed that the new album would actually be called The Stage, a concept album about artificial intelligence, which was released on October 28, 2016, via Capitol Records. The album was released to generally favorable reviews, and the band decided to make a unique stage production for it, hiring Cirque du Soleil directors for its making.
Avenged Sevenfold was announced as the main support act on Metallica's WorldWired 2017 stadium summer tour in the US and Canada, alongside Volbeat and Gojira. The band also announced a series of 2017 US headlining summer shows of The Stage World Tour, with Volbeat, Motionless in White, and A Day to Remember as special guests across various dates.
On December 22, 2017, the band released a deluxe edition of The Stage that included one new original track, six cover songs, and four live tracks from their European tour earlier that year.
In a December 2017 interview with Billboard, M. Shadows revealed that the band are planning "a big US summer 2018 tour", and that the band would start working on the follow-up to The Stage in late 2018. End of the World tour with Prophets of Rage was later announced for summer 2018. The band was also announced as one of the headliners of 2018's Rock on the Range and Download Festival, in addition to appearing at Hellfest, Graspop Metal Meeting, Rock am Ring and Rock im Park the same year. Due to a blood blister forming in M. Shadows' throat, the band cancelled remaining dates from their summer tour with Prophets of Rage.
Avenged Sevenfold was nominated at 60th Annual Grammy Awards in "Best Rock Song" category for The Stage.
The band released a single titled "Mad Hatter" in September 2018, which was made specifically for the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. It would later be a part of the Black Reign EP released later that month, which comprises all four of the songs Avenged Sevenfold made for the Call of Duty franchise.
Upcoming eighth studio album (2018–present)
In a December 2017 interview with Billboard, M. Shadows revealed that the band are planning "a big US summer 2018 tour", and that the band would start working on the follow-up to The Stage in late 2018. Bassist Johnny Christ in a May 2018 interview confirmed that the band is currently getting ideas and writing in their own studios to start the next record in September or October 2018.
In September 2018, Synyster Gates revealed in an interview with Loudwire that the band has started working on their eighth studio album, saying "It's still early on, but we're working on a bunch of stuff". In March 2019, Zacky Vengeance stated the band would take the rest of the year off tour to concentrate on the upcoming album, saying the band is really focused on the new material. In January 2020, Avenged Sevenfold released "Set Me Free", an unreleased song recorded during the Hail to the King recording sessions. They also announced that the song would be included in a remastered re-release of Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, released on March 6. A limited edition clear vinyl of Diamonds in the Rough was also released.
Musical style and influences
Members of Avenged Sevenfold cite In Flames, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Slayer, Mr. Bungle, Elton John, Leonard Cohen, At the Gates, Helloween, Dream Theater, Pennywise, NOFX, Pantera, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses, The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones as influences.
The band has been categorized under several genres of heavy and extreme music, primarily heavy metal, alternative metal, hard rock, and, on their album The Stage, progressive metal, with their earlier albums being categorized as metalcore. Avenged Sevenfold's musical style has consistently evolved throughout the duration of the band's career. Initially, the band's debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of a metalcore sound. However, there were several deviations from this genre, most notably in "Streets", which shows a punk rock style, and "Warmness on the Soul", which is a piano ballad. On Waking the Fallen, the band displayed a metalcore style once more, but added more clean singing and leaned a bit more towards metal and bit less close to hardcore. In the band's DVD All Excess, producer Andrew Murdock explained this transition: "When I met the band after Sounding the Seventh Trumpet had come out before they had recorded Waking the Fallen, M. Shadows said to me 'This record is screaming. The record we want to make is going to be half-screaming half-singing. I don't want to scream anymore. And the record after that is going to be all singing'."
On Avenged Sevenfold's third album City of Evil, the band chose to outright abandon the metalcore genre, creating a sound consistent with hard rock and heavy metal. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album experiments with an even wider array of musical genres than that from City of Evil, most notably in "Dear God", which shows a country style and "A Little Piece of Heaven", which is circled within the influence of Broadway show tunes, using primarily brass instruments and stringed orchestra to take over most of the role of the lead and rhythm guitar. Nightmare contains further deviations, including a piano ballad called "Fiction", progressive metal-oriented track "Save Me" and a heavy metal sound with extreme vocals and heavier instrumentation on "God Hates Us". The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King shows more of a classic metal sound and a riff-oriented approach. On their newest album The Stage, the band explores further into progressive metal, blending it with elements of thrash metal. In the past, Avenged Sevenfold has also been described as screamo and pop punk metal.
Avenged Sevenfold has been criticized for "not being metal enough". In response to this, vocalist M. Shadows said: "we play music for the sake of music, not so that we can be labeled a metal band. That's like telling us we aren't punk enough. Who cares?" Avenged Sevenfold is one of the notable acts of the new wave of American heavy metal.
Band members
Current members
M. Shadows – lead vocals, piano (1999–present)
Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1999–present); lead guitar (1999–2001)
Synyster Gates – lead guitar, piano, backing vocals (2001–present)
Johnny Christ – bass, backing vocals (2002–present)
Brooks Wackerman – drums (2015–present)
Former members
Matt Wendt – bass (1999–2000)
Justin Sane – bass, piano (2000–2001)
Dameon Ash – bass (2001–2002)
The Rev – drums, piano, co-lead vocals (1999–2009; died 2009)
Arin Ilejay – drums (2011–2015)
Session and touring musicians
Mike Portnoy – drums (2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001)
Waking the Fallen (2003)
City of Evil (2005)
Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
Nightmare (2010)
Hail to the King (2013)
The Stage (2016)
Accolades
References
External links
American alternative metal musical groups
American metalcore musical groups
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Capitol Records artists
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Hopeless Records artists
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups established in 1999
Musical groups from Orange County, California
Musical quintets
Warner Records artists
1999 establishments in California
Good Life Recordings artists | false | [
"\"One Hell of a Woman\" is a 1974 song (see 1974 in music) by the American singer-songwriter Mac Davis. The song was written by Davis and Mark James. \n\nReleased as a single from his album Stop and Smell the Roses, the song became Davis' second Top 20 hit on the U.S. pop chart, where it peaked at No. 11 in the fall of 1974. The song remained in the Top 40 for ten weeks. It spent a total of 28 weeks on the national charts, 10 weeks longer than did his number-one hit, \"Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me.\" Unusually for Davis, the song did not chart on the American country charts.\n\nChart performance\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1974 singles\nMac Davis songs\nSongs written by Mac Davis\nSongs written by Mark James (songwriter)\n1974 songs\nColumbia Records singles",
"\"I Live for Your Love\" is a 1987 song by Natalie Cole. It was the second of four charting singles from her \nEverlasting LP, and was also the second greatest hit from the album.\n\nThe song reached number 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during the winter of 1988. It was a major Adult Contemporary and R&B hit, reaching number two and number four on those charts, respectively.\nIt was less of a hit on the Canadian pop and AC charts, and also charted minorly in the UK.\n\n\"I Live for Your Love\" is Cole's longest-running chart single. It is her only song which spent over five months on the American pop charts. Her only bigger hit on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart was \"Miss You Like Crazy\", which reached number one a year later.\n\nThe single shared a B-side with its predecessor, \"Jump Start\". Both songs were backed with \"More Than the Stars\".\n\nChart history\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1987 songs\n1988 singles\nNatalie Cole songs\nManhattan Records singles\nSongs written by Pam Reswick\nContemporary R&B ballads\nPop ballads"
]
|
[
"Avenged Sevenfold",
"Style and influences",
"Can you provide me with a little background information on Avenged Sevenfold style and influences?",
"The band's influences include Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera, Bad Religion, Dream Theater, Motorhead, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, In Flames, At the Gates, Helloween,",
"Are these hit singles?",
"Streets\", which shows a punk rock style, and \"Warmness on the Soul\", which is a piano ballad.",
"Which ones were the most popular?",
"\"Fiction\", progressive metal-oriented track \"Save Me\" and a heavy metal sound with extreme vocals and heavier instrumentation on \"God Hates Us\".",
"Did those hit the charts?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_020c7448b80446e583fe33477d0fc1a6_0 | What are some more important aspects regarding the style and influences? | 5 | What are some more important aspects regarding Avenged Sevenfold's the style and influences? | Avenged Sevenfold | The band's influences include Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera, Bad Religion, Dream Theater, Motorhead, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, In Flames, At the Gates, Helloween, Queensryche, System of a Down, AC/DC, NOFX, Alice in Chains, Black Flag, Corrosion of Conformity, Suicidal Tendencies, Misfits, Slayer, The Vandals, Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Slipknot, Deftones, Beastie Boys, Biohazard, Type O Negative, Anthrax and AFI. The band has been categorized under many genres of heavy music. Mainly categorized as heavy metal, hard rock, progressive metal and metalcore, Avenged Sevenfold's music has evolved over most of the band's career. At first, the band's debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of a metalcore sound; however, there were several deviations from this genre, most notably in "Streets", which shows a punk rock style, and "Warmness on the Soul", which is a piano ballad. On Waking the Fallen, the band displayed a metalcore style once more, but added more clean singing and leaned a bit more towards metal and bit less close to hardcore. In the band's DVD All Excess, producer Andrew Murdock explained this transition: "When I met the band after Sounding the Seventh Trumpet had come out before they had recorded Waking the Fallen, M. Shadows said to me 'This record is screaming. The record we want to make is going to be half-screaming half-singing. I don't want to scream anymore. And the record after that is going to be all singing'." On City of Evil, Avenged Sevenfold's third album, the band chose to abandon the metalcore genre, using a more hard rock and heavy metal style. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album, however, has some experiments with other music genres than that from City of Evil, most notably in "Dear God", which shows a country style and "A Little Piece of Heaven", which is circled within the influence of Broadway show tunes, using primarily brass instruments and stringed orchestra to take over most of the role of the lead and rhythm guitar. Nightmare contains further deviations, including a piano ballad called "Fiction", progressive metal-oriented track "Save Me" and a heavy metal sound with extreme vocals and heavier instrumentation on "God Hates Us". The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King shows more of a classic metal sound and a riff-oriented approach. On their newest album The Stage, the band explores further into progressive metal, blending it with elements of thrash metal. In the past, Avenged Sevenfold has also been described as alternative metal, screamo, and pop punk metal. The band has been criticized for "not being metal enough". Vocalist M. Shadows responded to this with, "we play music for the sake of music, not so that we can be labeled a metal band. That's like telling us we aren't punk enough. Who cares?" Avenged Sevenfold is one of the notable acts of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal. CANNOTANSWER | Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of a metalcore sound; however, there were several deviations from this genre, most notably in "Streets", which shows a punk rock style, | Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Synyster Gates, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny Christ, and drummer Brooks Wackerman.
Avenged Sevenfold is known for its diverse rock sound and dramatic imagery in album covers and merchandise. The band emerged with a metalcore sound on their debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet and continued this sound through their second album Waking the Fallen. However, the band's style had evolved by the group's third album and first major label release, City of Evil, into a heavy metal and hard rock style. The band continued to explore new sounds with its self-titled release and enjoyed continued mainstream success before their drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan, died in 2009. Despite his death, Avenged Sevenfold continued on with the help of drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), and released and toured in support of their fifth album Nightmare in 2010, which debuted on the top spot of the Billboard 200, their first number one debut.
In 2011 drummer Arin Ilejay joined the band on tours and recording. The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King, which was released in 2013, marked the only Avenged Sevenfold album featuring Ilejay. Hail to the King charted as number 1 on the Billboard 200, the UK Albums chart, as well as the Finnish, Brazilian, Canadian, and Irish charts. In late 2014, Ilejay left the band, and was replaced by former Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman, but the lineup change was not announced to the public until 2015. The band then surprise-released their seventh studio album titled The Stage on October 28, 2016, which debuted as number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US. The Stage is their first conceptual album and it marked another stylistic change for the band, moving towards a progressive metal sound.
To date, Avenged Sevenfold has released seven studio albums, one live album/DVD, two compilation albums and eighteen singles and have sold over 8 million albums worldwide, and their records have received numerous certification awards, including five platinum album awards from their home country's institution (RIAA). They have also created four original songs for the Call of Duty: Black Ops series, all of which were compiled together in the 2018 EP Black Reign. The band were ranked No. 47 on Loudwire's list of Top 50 Metal Bands of All Time.
History
Formation and Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (1999–2002)
Avenged Sevenfold was formed in March 1999 in Huntington Beach, California by Matt Sanders, James Sullivan and Matt Wendt. Although they are not a religious band, Sanders came up with the name as a reference to the story of Cain and Abel from the Bible, which can be found in Genesis 4:24. Shortly after their formation, they were joined by an acquaintance from high school, Zachary Baker, who played in the punk band MPA (short for Mad Porn Action) at the time.
Avenged Sevenfold's first creative output was a three-track-demo recorded in early 1999. In early 2000, they were asked by Sadistic Records to contribute to two compilations. To that end, they recorded two new songs and released them along with the previously recorded songs on a second demo. They sent this demo to the Belgian label Good Life Recordings and were subsequently signed. Afterwards, the band participated in another two compilation albums, their label's GoodLife 4 and Novocaine Records' Scrape III compilations. Around this time, Matt Wendt left for college and Justin Meacham, the previous bassist of Suburban Legends, joined Avenged Sevenfold. In late 2000, the foursome took on their initial stage names – M. Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, Justin Sane and The Rev – and recorded their debut album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. In early 2001, lead guitarist and old friend Synyster Gates joined the band and they re-recorded the introductory track "To End the Rapture" for the album's lead-single/EP, Warmness on the Soul, released in April 2001. Although their debut album's release was initially planned for the same month, it was pushed back multiple times and eventually released on July 24, 2001, on Good Life Recordings.
Around August 2001, Meacham attempted suicide by drinking excessive amounts of cough syrup. This event was the reason for Avenged Sevenfold to join the Take Action Tour in 2003. During Meacham's hospitalization, he remained in poor condition and had to leave the band. In an interview, lead singer M. Shadows said of Meacham that "he perma-fried his brain and was in a mental institution for a long time, and when you have someone in your band who does that, it ruins everything that's going on all around you, and it makes you want to do something to prevent it from happening to other people." His replacement was Frank Melcom, stage name Dameon Ash, who performed with the band for the following months, but does not appear on any releases.
On January 18, 2002, Avenged Sevenfold left Good Life Recordings and signed with Hopeless Records. They re-released their debut album on March 19 and also appeared on the Hopelessly Devoted To You Vol. 4 sampler in April. The band started to receive recognition, performing with bands such as Mushroomhead and Shadows Fall. They spent the year touring in support of their debut album and participated in the Vans Warped Tour. In September, Dameon Ash left Avenged Sevenfold and their current bassist Johnny Christ joined them, completing their best known line-up.
Waking the Fallen and City of Evil (2003–2005)
Having found a new bassist, the group released their second studio album titled Waking the Fallen on Hopeless Records in August 2003. The album featured a more refined and mature sound production in comparison to their previous album. The band received profiles in Billboard and The Boston Globe, and again played on the Vans Warped and Take Action tours. In 2004, Avenged Sevenfold toured again on the Vans Warped Tour and recorded a video for their song "Unholy Confessions" which went into rotation on MTV2's Headbangers Ball. Shortly after the release of Waking the Fallen, Avenged Sevenfold left Hopeless Records and were officially signed to Warner Bros. Records on November 1, 2003.
City of Evil, the band's third album and major label debut, was released on June 7, 2005, and debuted at No.30 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling over 30,000 copies in its first week of release. It utilized a more classic metal sound than Avenged Sevenfold's previous albums, which had been grouped into the metalcore genre. The album is also notable for the absence of screamed and growled vocals; M. Shadows worked with vocal coach Ron Anderson—whose clients have included Axl Rose and Chris Cornell—for months before the album's release to achieve a sound that had "grit while still having the tone". The album received positive reviews from several magazines and websites and is credited for propelling the band into international popularity.
Avenged Sevenfold (2006–2008)
After playing Ozzfest in 2006, Avenged Sevenfold memorably beat out R&B Singers Rihanna and Chris Brown, Panic! at the Disco, Angels & Airwaves and James Blunt for the title of Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards, thanks in part to their Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas-inspired song "Bat Country." They returned to the Vans Warped Tour, this time headlining and then continued on their own "Cities of Evil Tour." In addition, their lead single "Bat Country" reached No.2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts, No.6 on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts and the accompanying video made it to No.1 on MTV's Total Request Live. Propelled by this success, the album sold well and became Avenged Sevenfold's first Gold record. It was later certified platinum in August 2009.
Avenged Sevenfold was invited to join Ozzfest tour on the main stage, alongside other well known rock/heavy metal acts such as DragonForce, Lacuna Coil, Hatebreed, Disturbed and System of a Down for the first time in 2006. That same year they also completed a worldwide tour, including the US, The United Kingdom (as well as mainland Europe), Japan, Australia and New Zealand. After a sixteen-month promotion of City of Evil, the band announced that they were cancelling their Fall 2006 tour to record new music. In the interim, the band released their first DVD titled All Excess on July 17, 2007. All Excess, which debuted as the No.1 DVD in the US, included live performances and backstage footage that spanned the band's eight-year career. Two tribute albums, Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: Bat Wings and Broken Strings and Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: The String Tribute were also released in October 2007.
On October 30, 2007, Avenged Sevenfold released their self-titled album, the band's fourth studio album. It debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with over 90,000 copies sold. Two singles, "Critical Acclaim" and "Almost Easy" were released prior to the album's debut. In December 2007, an animated video was made for "A Little Piece of Heaven". Due to the song's controversial subject matter, however, Warner Brothers only released it to registered MVI users over the internet. The third single, "Afterlife" and its video was released in January 2008. Their fourth single, "Dear God", was released on June 15, 2008. Although critical reception was generally mixed the self-titled album went on to sell over 500,000 copies and was awarded "Album of the Year" at the Kerrang! Awards.
Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour with Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine, Blessthefall and Idiot Pilot. They used the footage from their last show in Long Beach for Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, a two-disc B-sides CD and live DVD which was released on September 16, 2008. They also recorded numerous covers, including Pantera's "Walk", Iron Maiden's "Flash of the Blade" and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid".
Death of The Rev and Nightmare (2009–2011)
In January 2009, M. Shadows confirmed that the band was writing the follow-up to their self-titled fourth album within the upcoming months. They also played at Rock on the Range, from May 16–17, 2009. On April 16, they performed a version of Guns N' Roses' "It's So Easy" onstage with Slash, at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. On December 28, 2009, the band's drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan was found dead at his home at the age of 28. Autopsy results were inconclusive, but on June 9, 2010, the cause of death was revealed to have been an "acute polydrug intoxication due to combined effects of Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, Diazepam/Nordiazepam and ethanol". In a statement by the band, they expressed their grief over the death of The Rev and later posted a message from Sullivan's family which expressed their gratitude to his fans for their support. The band members admitted in a number of interviews that they considered disbanding at this point in time. However, on February 17, 2010, Avenged Sevenfold stated that they had entered the studio, along with now-former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, to drum for the album, in place of The Rev.
The single "Nightmare" was digitally released on May 18, 2010. A preview for the song was released on May 6, 2010, on Amazon.com, but was removed soon after for unknown reasons. Mixing for the album had been completed in New York City, and Nightmare was finally released worldwide on July 27, 2010. It met with mixed to positive reviews from music critics but was well received by the fans. Nightmare beat sales projections easily, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of 163,000 units in its first week. After finishing recording, in December, Portnoy and the band posted simultaneous statements on their websites stating that he would not be their replacement for The Rev. However, Portnoy did travel with the band overseas in December 2010 for three shows in Iraq and Kuwait sponsored by the USO. They played for U.S. Soldiers at Camp Adder, Camp Beuhring, and Balad Air Base. On January 20, 2011, Avenged Sevenfold announced via Facebook that former Confide drummer Arin Ilejay would begin touring with them that year. He was not yet considered a full-time member at this point.
Avenged Sevenfold performed at the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals on June 3–5, 2011 alongside other bands such as Alter Bridge, System of a Down, and In Flames. In April 2011, the band headlined the Golden God Awards held by Metal Hammer. The same night the band won three awards for "Best Vocalist" (M. Shadows), "Epiphone Best Guitarist(s)" (Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance), and "Affliction's Album of The Year" for Nightmare, while Mike Portnoy won the award for "Drum Workshop's Best Drummer" for his work on the album.
Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2011 Uproar Festival with supporting acts Three Days Grace, Seether, Bullet for My Valentine, Escape the Fate, among others. In November and December 2011, the band went on their "Buried Alive" tour with supporting acts Hollywood Undead, Asking Alexandria, and Black Veil Brides.
Hail to the King and Waking the Fallen: Resurrected (2012–2014)
On April 11, 2012, Avenged Sevenfold won the award for "Best Live Band" and "Most Dedicated Fans" at the Revolver Golden Gods awards.
The band toured through Asia into April and early May, and played at the Orion Music + More, Festival on June 23 and 24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey alongside Metallica and Cage the Elephant among many others.
On September 24, 2012, Avenged Sevenfold released a new song, titled "Carry On"; it was featured in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II. On November 15, 2012, vocalist M. Shadows said that the band had been working on a new album since the recording of "Carry On" in August 2012. The band began recording material for the album in January 2013. The band then started streaming snippets of the album in May 2013 on their new radio app. There, Arin Ilejay was confirmed as an official band member and replacement of deceased The Rev. M. Shadows said that the album would sound more blues rock-influenced and more like classic rock/metal like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.
The band was confirmed to play at the 2013 Rock in Rio festival on September 22, 2013. On May 24, 2013, the band have announced dates for their European tour with Five Finger Death Punch and Device serving as their support bands.
The album, entitled Hail to the King, was released on August 27, 2013. This is the first Avenged Sevenfold album without any musical contributions from deceased The Rev. The album's lead single and title track was released on July 15, 2013. Hail to the King charted as No. 1 on the US Billboard 200, the UK albums chart, as well as the Finnish, Brazilian, Canadian, and Irish charts, and was commercially and critically acclaimed. The band headlined Monster Energy's Welcome to Rockville two-day music festival in Jacksonville, Florida, April 26–27, 2014, joined by more than 25 rock acts, such as Motörhead, Rob Zombie, Chevelle, Korn, Staind, Alter Bridge, The Cult, Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, Black Label Society, and Seether. On June 13, the band headlined the Friday night of Download Festival 2014. The band also headlined the Mayhem Festival 2014 with Korn, Asking Alexandria, and Trivium.
In March 2014, vocalist M. Shadows revealed in an interview with Loudwire that the band had plans in the works to put something out for the overdue 10th anniversary of Waking the Fallen. Waking the Fallen: Resurrected was released August 25, 2014. The reissue charted No. 10 on the US Billboard 200.
Drummer change and The Stage (2015–2017)
In October 2014, M. Shadows confirmed that the band would begin writing their seventh album during mid-2015.
In July 2015 the band announced on their website that they would part ways with drummer Arin Ilejay, due to "creative differences". In October 2015, the band announced on their website that they had been working with a new drummer for over a year, making sure that it was a good fit before making sudden changes. On October 21, in an interview with Kerrang! magazine, guitarist Zacky Vengeance revealed that the band had been working on the new album for the past couple of months and that a couple of songs had already been completely written. On November 4, 2015, the band announced that Brooks Wackerman would replace Arin Ilejay as the drummer for Avenged Sevenfold. In an interview with Kerrang! magazine on December 3, guitarist Zacky Vengeance said that the new album went in all sorts of aggressive and melodic directions and described it as very "aggro".
On January 14, 2016, Billboard reported that Avenged Sevenfold had been sued by Warner Bros. for trying to leave the label. The band later released a statement clarifying that they wanted to leave because a majority of the executives who helped sign the band to Warner Bros were no longer at the label. They also revealed that the band was going to be entering the studio to record their new album very soon, intending to release it later in 2016. On March 31, the band posted a teaser of their upcoming album on their website.
On August 18, 2016, the band performed a free live show for 1500 people in Minnesota, marking it the first live performance with new drummer Brooks Wackerman. The band was announced as support for Metallica with Volbeat in the U.S. Bank Stadium on August 20, 2016, making it the first ever rock show in the stadium. The band was announced as a headliner of Monster Energy Rock Allegiance 2016, along with Alice in Chains, Slayer, The Offspring, Breaking Benjamin and others. Avenged Sevenfold also performed on "Louder Than Life" festival as headliners on October 1, with Slipknot, Slayer, Disturbed, Korn and other artists. On June 21, the band announced a U.S. Fall tour with Volbeat, Killswitch Engage, and Avatar. The band also announced a UK tour for January 2017 with Disturbed and In Flames. Avenged Sevenfold was announced as a headliner of 2016 edition of Knotfest Mexico. The band also announced the European Tour for February and March 2017 along with Disturbed and Chevelle.
On October 3, 2016, the band's logo Deathbat started appearing as a projection in London. After that, Deathbat also started appearing in Berlin, Toronto and Paris, indicating a release of the new album. On October 12, Chris Jericho posted an Instagram photo of the Deathbat logo with a date 12/9/16 underneath it. He then revealed the supposed title of the album, Voltaic Oceans, It was later revealed that the new album would actually be called The Stage, a concept album about artificial intelligence, which was released on October 28, 2016, via Capitol Records. The album was released to generally favorable reviews, and the band decided to make a unique stage production for it, hiring Cirque du Soleil directors for its making.
Avenged Sevenfold was announced as the main support act on Metallica's WorldWired 2017 stadium summer tour in the US and Canada, alongside Volbeat and Gojira. The band also announced a series of 2017 US headlining summer shows of The Stage World Tour, with Volbeat, Motionless in White, and A Day to Remember as special guests across various dates.
On December 22, 2017, the band released a deluxe edition of The Stage that included one new original track, six cover songs, and four live tracks from their European tour earlier that year.
In a December 2017 interview with Billboard, M. Shadows revealed that the band are planning "a big US summer 2018 tour", and that the band would start working on the follow-up to The Stage in late 2018. End of the World tour with Prophets of Rage was later announced for summer 2018. The band was also announced as one of the headliners of 2018's Rock on the Range and Download Festival, in addition to appearing at Hellfest, Graspop Metal Meeting, Rock am Ring and Rock im Park the same year. Due to a blood blister forming in M. Shadows' throat, the band cancelled remaining dates from their summer tour with Prophets of Rage.
Avenged Sevenfold was nominated at 60th Annual Grammy Awards in "Best Rock Song" category for The Stage.
The band released a single titled "Mad Hatter" in September 2018, which was made specifically for the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. It would later be a part of the Black Reign EP released later that month, which comprises all four of the songs Avenged Sevenfold made for the Call of Duty franchise.
Upcoming eighth studio album (2018–present)
In a December 2017 interview with Billboard, M. Shadows revealed that the band are planning "a big US summer 2018 tour", and that the band would start working on the follow-up to The Stage in late 2018. Bassist Johnny Christ in a May 2018 interview confirmed that the band is currently getting ideas and writing in their own studios to start the next record in September or October 2018.
In September 2018, Synyster Gates revealed in an interview with Loudwire that the band has started working on their eighth studio album, saying "It's still early on, but we're working on a bunch of stuff". In March 2019, Zacky Vengeance stated the band would take the rest of the year off tour to concentrate on the upcoming album, saying the band is really focused on the new material. In January 2020, Avenged Sevenfold released "Set Me Free", an unreleased song recorded during the Hail to the King recording sessions. They also announced that the song would be included in a remastered re-release of Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, released on March 6. A limited edition clear vinyl of Diamonds in the Rough was also released.
Musical style and influences
Members of Avenged Sevenfold cite In Flames, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Slayer, Mr. Bungle, Elton John, Leonard Cohen, At the Gates, Helloween, Dream Theater, Pennywise, NOFX, Pantera, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses, The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones as influences.
The band has been categorized under several genres of heavy and extreme music, primarily heavy metal, alternative metal, hard rock, and, on their album The Stage, progressive metal, with their earlier albums being categorized as metalcore. Avenged Sevenfold's musical style has consistently evolved throughout the duration of the band's career. Initially, the band's debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of a metalcore sound. However, there were several deviations from this genre, most notably in "Streets", which shows a punk rock style, and "Warmness on the Soul", which is a piano ballad. On Waking the Fallen, the band displayed a metalcore style once more, but added more clean singing and leaned a bit more towards metal and bit less close to hardcore. In the band's DVD All Excess, producer Andrew Murdock explained this transition: "When I met the band after Sounding the Seventh Trumpet had come out before they had recorded Waking the Fallen, M. Shadows said to me 'This record is screaming. The record we want to make is going to be half-screaming half-singing. I don't want to scream anymore. And the record after that is going to be all singing'."
On Avenged Sevenfold's third album City of Evil, the band chose to outright abandon the metalcore genre, creating a sound consistent with hard rock and heavy metal. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album experiments with an even wider array of musical genres than that from City of Evil, most notably in "Dear God", which shows a country style and "A Little Piece of Heaven", which is circled within the influence of Broadway show tunes, using primarily brass instruments and stringed orchestra to take over most of the role of the lead and rhythm guitar. Nightmare contains further deviations, including a piano ballad called "Fiction", progressive metal-oriented track "Save Me" and a heavy metal sound with extreme vocals and heavier instrumentation on "God Hates Us". The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King shows more of a classic metal sound and a riff-oriented approach. On their newest album The Stage, the band explores further into progressive metal, blending it with elements of thrash metal. In the past, Avenged Sevenfold has also been described as screamo and pop punk metal.
Avenged Sevenfold has been criticized for "not being metal enough". In response to this, vocalist M. Shadows said: "we play music for the sake of music, not so that we can be labeled a metal band. That's like telling us we aren't punk enough. Who cares?" Avenged Sevenfold is one of the notable acts of the new wave of American heavy metal.
Band members
Current members
M. Shadows – lead vocals, piano (1999–present)
Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1999–present); lead guitar (1999–2001)
Synyster Gates – lead guitar, piano, backing vocals (2001–present)
Johnny Christ – bass, backing vocals (2002–present)
Brooks Wackerman – drums (2015–present)
Former members
Matt Wendt – bass (1999–2000)
Justin Sane – bass, piano (2000–2001)
Dameon Ash – bass (2001–2002)
The Rev – drums, piano, co-lead vocals (1999–2009; died 2009)
Arin Ilejay – drums (2011–2015)
Session and touring musicians
Mike Portnoy – drums (2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001)
Waking the Fallen (2003)
City of Evil (2005)
Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
Nightmare (2010)
Hail to the King (2013)
The Stage (2016)
Accolades
References
External links
American alternative metal musical groups
American metalcore musical groups
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Capitol Records artists
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Hopeless Records artists
Kerrang! Awards winners
Musical groups established in 1999
Musical groups from Orange County, California
Musical quintets
Warner Records artists
1999 establishments in California
Good Life Recordings artists | false | [
"The Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ) was created in 1976 by Till Roenneberg and Martha Merrow at Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) Munich. The MCTQ samples sleep and circadian rhythm data from more than 25,000 participants.\n\nQuestions about work day and free day sleep schedules, work details, and lifestyle provide data to aid in the understanding of how biological clocks work in social life, such as Roenneberg's conclusions of social jetlag. The MCTQ categorizes each participant into one of seven chronotype groups, and utilizes data on participants’ midsleep phase and sleep debt to survey what \"type\" of sleeper each person is. From these data, the MCTQ offers methods to make up for sleep debt (if any), and offers suggestions on what to do to wake up earlier or sleep later. \n\nThis Chronotype Questionnaire is important because it delves into the social aspects of circadian rhythms. By testing behavior rather than directly testing genetic factors, the MCTQ may offer new information regarding how the influences of external factors (like geographic location or seasons) or things such as obesity or social jetlag, may relate to genetic predispositions of circadian rhythms.\n\nReferences\n\nCircadian rhythm",
"What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery is a book published in 1988 and written by Francis Crick, the English co-discoverer in 1953 of the structure of DNA. In this book, Crick gives important insights into his work on the DNA structure, along with the Central Dogma of molecular biology and the genetic code, and his later work on neuroscience.\n\nDescription\nThe main purpose of Crick's book is to describe some of his experiences before and during the \"classical period\" of molecular biology from the 1953 discovery of the DNA double helix to the 1966 elucidation of the genetic code. There is a prologue outlining Crick's upbringing, education, and war work on magnetic and acoustic mines, and following World War II his decision on what branch of science to study, using the \"gossip test\". (Your interests are revealed by your gossip.) There is also an epilogue that outlines Crick's work after 1966, his move to the Salk Institute with his career transition to neuroscience concentrating on visual consciousness in primates, and some of his conclusions regarding research in theoretical biology, especially with regard to the brain sciences.\n\nCrick comments on various aspects of the DNA double helix discovery and gives a qualified endorsement to the 1987 television movie Life Story with Jeff Goldblum as Jim Watson and Tim Pigott-Smith as Francis Crick. There is a clear presentation of the basic ideas of molecular biology with appendices \"A Brief Outline of Classical Molecular Biology\" and \"The Genetic Code.\" Crick gives some anecdotes and explains some important ideas and insights without too much technical jargon.\n\nAccording to the Nobel prize-winning physicist Philip W. Anderson, the basic goal of experimental science is \"learning the truth about the world around us. Crick's words are as good a guide to that end as I have seen.\"\n\n\"This is a book to be read more than once; the beauty of its style masks much hard science and subtle thought. In spite of having heard it many times from others, the story of DNA as told by Crick still makes a marvelous read. A sense of clarity of thought combined with an equally strong sense of commitment and overlaid with the deep power of his thinking runs through the book. One sees that Crick possesses that all-important but dismayingly elusive knack of distinguishing what is significant from what is not. His confidence in the power of structural chemistry to unravel the functioning of biological molecule is unflagging. At the same time, warning signals sound constantly to keep possible evolutionary arbitrariness in mind\".\n\nReferences\n\n1988 non-fiction books\nBiology books\nGenetics in the United Kingdom\nScience autobiographies\n1988 in science"
]
|
[
"Robert Schumann",
"Biography"
]
| C_021a941b0ca84f27a6c2fe522c928a28_1 | Where was he born? | 1 | Where was Robert Schumann born? | Robert Schumann | Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony, the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (nee Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music - undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist. Schumann began receiving general musical and piano instruction at the age of seven from Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music and worked at creating musical compositions himself, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody, - ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait." At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene. Schumann's interest in music was sparked by seeing a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged the boy's musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Neither his mother nor his guardian thereafter encouraged a career in music. In 1828 Schumann left school, and after a tour during which he met Heinrich Heine in Munich, he went to Leipzig to study law (to meet the terms of his inheritance). In 1829 his law studies continued in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg. CANNOTANSWER | Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony, | Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured him that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.
In 1840, Schumann married Clara Wieck, after a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Friedrich, who opposed the marriage. A lifelong partnership in music began, as Clara herself was an established pianist and music prodigy. Clara and Robert also maintained a close relationship with German composer Johannes Brahms.
Until 1840, Schumann wrote exclusively for the piano. Later, he composed piano and orchestral works, and many Lieder (songs for voice and piano). He composed four symphonies, one opera, and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. His best-known works include Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in C. Schumann was known for infusing his music with characters through motifs, as well as references to works of literature. These characters bled into his editorial writing in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a Leipzig-based publication that he co-founded.
Schumann suffered from a mental disorder that first manifested in 1833 as a severe melancholic depressive episode—which recurred several times alternating with phases of "exaltation" and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic items. What is now thought to have been a combination of bipolar disorder and perhaps mercury poisoning led to "manic" and "depressive" periods in Schumann's compositional productivity. After a suicide attempt in 1854, Schumann was admitted at his own request to a mental asylum in Endenich (now in Bonn). Diagnosed with psychotic melancholia, he died of pneumonia two years later at the age of 46, without recovering from his mental illness.
Biography
Early life
Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony (today Central Germany), the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (née Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music—undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist.
At age seven, Schumann began studying general music and piano with Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music, and worked on his own compositions, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody,—ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait."
At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene.
Schumann's interest in music was sparked by attending a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged his musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Thereafter, neither his mother nor his guardian encouraged him to pursue a music career. In 1828, Schumann left high school, and after a trip during which he met the poet Heinrich Heine in Munich, he left to study law at the University of Leipzig under family pressure. But in Leipzig Schumann instead focused on improvisation, song composition, and writing novels. He also began to seriously study piano with Friedrich Wieck, a well-known piano teacher. In 1829, he continued his law studies in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg.
1830–1834
During Eastertide 1830, he heard the Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer Niccolò Paganini play in Frankfurt. In July he wrote to his mother, "My whole life has been a struggle between Poetry and Prose, or call it Music and Law." With her permission, by Christmas he was back in Leipzig, at age 20 taking piano lessons from his old master Friedrich Wieck, who assured him that he would be a successful concert pianist after a few years' study with him. During his studies with Wieck, some stories claim that Schumann permanently injured a finger on his right hand. Wieck claimed that Schumann damaged his finger by using a mechanical device that held back one finger while he exercised the others—which was supposed to strengthen the weakest fingers. Clara Schumann discredited the story, saying the disability was not due to a mechanical device, and Robert Schumann himself referred to it as "an affliction of the whole hand." Some argue that, as the disability appeared to have been chronic and have affected the hand, and not just a finger, it was not likely caused by a finger strengthening device. In 2012, neurologists discussed Schumann's symptoms at a conference called "Musicians With Dystonia."
Schumann abandoned the idea of a concert career and devoted himself instead to composition. To this end he began a study of music theory under Heinrich Dorn, a German composer six years his senior and, at that time, conductor of the Leipzig Opera.
Papillons
Schumann's fusion of literary ideas with musical ones—known as program music—may have first taken shape in Papillons, Op. 2 (Butterflies), a musical portrayal of events in Jean Paul's novel Flegeljahre. In a letter from Leipzig dated April 1832, Schumann bids his brothers, "Read the last scene in Jean Paul's Flegeljahre as soon as possible, because the Papillons are intended as a musical representation of that masquerade." This inspiration is foreshadowed to some extent in his first written criticism—an 1831 essay on Frédéric Chopin's variations on a theme from Mozart's Don Giovanni, published in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. In it, Schumann creates imaginary characters who discuss Chopin's work: Florestan (the embodiment of Schumann's passionate, voluble side) and Eusebius (his dreamy, introspective side)—the counterparts of Vult and Walt in Flegeljahre. They call on a third, Meister Raro, for his opinion. Raro may represent either the composer himself, Wieck's daughter Clara, or the combination of the two (Clara + Robert).
In the winter of 1832, at age 22, Schumann visited relatives in Zwickau and Schneeberg, where he performed the first movement of his Symphony in G minor (without opus number, known as the "Zwickauer"). In Zwickau, the music was performed at a concert given by Clara Wieck, who was then just 13 years old. On this occasion Clara played bravura Variations by Henri Herz, a composer whom Schumann was already deriding as a philistine. Schumann's mother said to Clara, "You must marry my Robert one day." The Symphony in G minor was not published during Schumann's lifetime but has been played and recorded in recent times.
The 1833 deaths of Schumann's brother Julius and his sister-in-law Rosalie in the worldwide cholera pandemic brought on a severe depressive episode.
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
By spring 1834, Schumann had sufficiently recovered to inaugurate Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik ("New Journal for Music"), first published on 3 April 1834. In his writings, Schumann created a fictional music society based on people in his life, called the Davidsbündler, named after the biblical King David who fought against the Philistines. Schumann published most of his critical writings in the journal, and often lambasted the popular taste for flashy technical displays from figures whom Schumann perceived as inferior composers, or "philistines". Schumann campaigned to revive interest in major composers of the past, including Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. He also promoted the work of some contemporary composers, including Chopin (about whom Schumann famously wrote, "Hats off, Gentlemen! A genius!") and Hector Berlioz, whom he praised for creating music of substance. On the other hand, Schumann disparaged the school of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. Among Schumann's associates at this time were composers Norbert Burgmüller and Ludwig Schuncke (to whom Schumann dedicated his Toccata in C).
Carnaval
Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834) is one of Schumann's most characteristic piano works. Schumann begins nearly every section of Carnaval with a musical cryptogram, the musical notes signified in German by the letters that spell Asch (A, E-flat, C, and B, or alternatively A-flat, C, and B; in German these are A, Es, C and H, and As, C and H respectively), the Bohemian town in which Ernestine was born, and the notes are also the musical letters in Schumann's own name. Eusebius and Florestan, the imaginary figures appearing so often in his critical writings, also appear, alongside brilliant imitations of Chopin and Paganini. To each of these characters he devotes a section of Carnaval. The work comes to a close with a march of the Davidsbündler—the league of King David's men against the Philistines—in which may be heard the clear accents of truth in contest with the dull clamour of falsehood embodied in a quotation from the seventeenth century Grandfather's Dance. The march, a step nearly always in duple meter, is here in 3/4 time (triple meter). The work ends in joy and a degree of mock-triumph. In Carnaval, Schumann went further than in Papillons, by conceiving the story as well as the musical representation (and also displaying a maturation of compositional resource).
Relationships
During the summer of 1834 Schumann became engaged to 16-year-old Ernestine von Fricken, the adopted daughter of a rich Bohemian-born noble. In August 1835, he learned that Ernestine was born illegitimate, which meant that she would have no dowry. Fearful that her limited means would force him to earn his living like a "day-labourer," Schumann completely broke with her toward the end of the year. He felt a growing attraction to 15-year-old Clara Wieck. They made mutual declarations of love in December in Zwickau, where Clara appeared in concert. His budding romance with Clara was disrupted when her father learned of their trysts during the Christmas holidays. He summarily forbade them further meetings, and ordered all their correspondence burnt.
1835–1839
On 3 October 1835, Schumann met Felix Mendelssohn at Wieck's house in Leipzig, and his enthusiastic appreciation of that artist was shown with the same generous freedom that distinguished his acknowledgement of the greatness of Chopin and other colleagues, and later prompted him to publicly pronounce the then-unknown Johannes Brahms a genius.
In 1837 Schumann published his Symphonic Studies, a complex set of étude-like variations written in 1834–1835, which demanded a finished piano technique. These variations were based on a theme by the adoptive father of Ernestine von Fricken. The work—described as "one of the peaks of the piano literature, lofty in conception and faultless in workmanship" [Hutcheson]—was dedicated to the young English composer William Sterndale Bennett, for whom Schumann had had a high regard when they worked together in Leipzig.
The Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, (also published in 1837 despite the low opus number) literally "Dances of the League of David", is an embodiment of the struggle between enlightened Romanticism and musical philistinism. Schumann credited the two sides of his character with the composition of the work (the more passionate numbers are signed F. (Florestan) and the more dreamy signed E. (Eusebius)). The work begins with the "motto of C. W." (Clara Wieck) denoting her support for the ideals of the Davidsbund. The Bund was a music society of Schumann's imagination, members of which were kindred spirits (as he saw them) such as Chopin, Paganini and Clara, as well as the personalized Florestan and Eusebius.
Kinderszenen, Op. 15, completed in 1838 and a favourite of Schumann's piano works, depicts the innocence and playfulness of childhood. The "Träumerei" in F major, No. 7 of the set, is one of the most famous piano pieces ever written, and has been performed in myriad forms and transcriptions. It has been the favourite encore of several great pianists, including Vladimir Horowitz. Melodic and deceptively simple, the piece is "complex" in its harmonic structure.
Kreisleriana, Op. 16 (1838), considered one of Schumann's greatest works, carried his fantasy and emotional range deeper. Johannes Kreisler was a fictional musician created by poet E. T. A. Hoffmann, and characterized as a "romantic brought into contact with reality." Schumann used the figure to express "fantastic and mad" emotional states. According to Hutcheson ("The Literature of the Piano"), this work is "among the finest efforts of Schumann's genius. He never surpassed the searching beauty of the slow movements (Nos. 2, 4, 6) or the urgent passion of others (Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7) […] To appreciate it a high level of aesthetic intelligence is required […] This is no facile music, there is severity alike in its beauty and its passion."
The Fantasie in C, Op. 17, composed in the summer of 1836, is a work of passion and deep pathos, imbued with the spirit of the late Beethoven. Schumann intended to use proceeds from sales of the work toward the construction of a monument to Beethoven, who had died in 1827. The first movement of the Fantasie contains a musical quote from Beethoven's song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (at the Adagio coda, taken from the last song of the cycle). The original titles of the movements were Ruins, Triumphal Arch, and The Starry Crown. According to Franz Liszt, who played the work for Schumann and to whom it was dedicated, the Fantasie was apt to be played too heavily, and should have a dreamier (träumerisch) character than vigorous German pianists tended to impart. Liszt also said: "It is a noble work, worthy of Beethoven, whose career, by the way, it is supposed to represent". Again, according to Hutcheson: "No words can describe the Phantasie, no quotations set forth the majesty of its genius. It must suffice to say that it is Schumann's greatest work in large form for piano solo."
After a visit to Vienna, during which he discovered Franz Schubert's previously unknown Symphony No. 9 in C, in 1839 Schumann wrote the Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Carnival Prank from Vienna). Most of the joke is in the central section of the first movement, which makes a thinly veiled reference to La Marseillaise. (Vienna had banned the song due to harsh memories of Napoleon's invasion.) The festive mood does not preclude moments of melancholic introspection in the Intermezzo.
1840–1849
From 1832 to 1839, Schumann wrote almost exclusively for piano, but in 1840 alone he wrote at least 138 songs. Indeed, 1840 (the Liederjahr or year of song) is highly significant in Schumann's musical legacy, despite his earlier deriding of works for piano and voice as inferior.
After a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Schumann married Clara Wieck in the in Leipzig-Schönefeld, on 12 September 1840, the day before her 21st birthday. Had they waited another day, they would no longer have required her father's consent. Their marriage supported a remarkable business partnership, with Clara acting as an inspiration, critic, and confidante to her husband. Despite her delicate appearance, she was an extremely strong-willed and energetic woman, who kept up a demanding schedule of concert tours in between bearing several children. Two years after their marriage, Friedrich Wieck at last reconciled himself with the couple, eager to see his grandchildren.
Prior to the legal case and subsequent marriage, the lovers exchanged love letters and rendezvoused in secret. Robert often waited for hours in a cafe in a nearby city just to see Clara for a few minutes after one of her concerts. The strain of this long courtship and its consummation may have led to this great outpouring of Lieder (vocal songs with piano accompaniment). This is evident in Widmung, for example, where he uses the melody from Schubert's Ave Maria in the postlude in homage to Clara. Schumann's biographers attribute the sweetness, doubt, and despair of these songs to the emotions aroused by his love for Clara and the uncertainties of their future together.
Robert and Clara had eight children, Emil (1846–1847), who died at 1 year; Marie (1841–1929); Elise (1843–1928); Julie (1845–1872); Ludwig (1848–1899); Ferdinand (1849–1891); Eugenie (1851–1938); and Felix (1854–1879).
His chief song-cycles in this period were settings of the Liederkreis of Joseph von Eichendorff, Op. 39 (depicting a series of moods relating to or inspired by nature); the Frauenliebe und -leben of Chamisso, Op. 42 (relating the tale of a woman's marriage, childbirth and widowhood); the Dichterliebe of Heine, Op. 48 (depicting a lover rejected, but coming to terms with his painful loss through renunciation and forgiveness); and Myrthen, a collection of songs, including poems by Goethe, Rückert, Heine, Byron, Burns and Moore. The songs Belsatzar, Op. 57 and Die beiden Grenadiere, Op. 49, both to Heine's words, show Schumann at his best as a ballad writer, although the dramatic ballad is less congenial to him than the introspective lyric. The Op. 35, 40 and 98a sets (words by Justinus Kerner, Chamisso and Goethe respectively), although less well known, also contain songs of lyric and dramatic quality.
In 1841 he wrote two of his four symphonies, No. 1 in B-flat, Op. 38, Spring and No. 4 in D minor (the latter a pioneering work in "cyclic form", was performed that year but published only much later after revision and extensive re-orchestration as Op. 120). He devoted 1842 to composing chamber music, including the Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44, now one of his best known and most admired works; the Piano Quartet and three string quartets. In 1843 he wrote Paradise and the Peri, his first attempt at concerted vocal music, an oratorio style work based on Lalla-Rookh by Thomas Moore. The main role of Peri in the world premiere was performed by Schumann's family friend, soprano Livia Frege. After this, his compositions were not confined to any one form during any particular period.
The stage in his life when he was deeply engaged in setting Goethe's Faust to music (1844–53) was a turbulent one for his health. He spent the first half of 1844 with Clara on tour in Russia, and his depression grew worse as he felt inferior to Clara as a musician. On returning to Germany, he abandoned his editorial work and left Leipzig for Dresden, where he suffered from persistent "nervous prostration". As soon as he began to work, he was seized with fits of shivering and an apprehension of death, experiencing an abhorrence of high places, all metal instruments (even keys), and drugs. Schumann's diaries also state that he suffered perpetually from imagining that he had the note A5 sounding in his ears.
His state of unease and neurasthenia is reflected in his Symphony in C, numbered second but third in order of composition, in which the composer explores states of exhaustion, obsession, and depression, culminating in Beethovenian spiritual triumph. Also published in 1845 was his Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, originally conceived and performed as a one-movement Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra in 1841. It is one of the most popular and oft-recorded of all piano concertos; according to Hutcheson "Schumann achieved a masterly work and we inherited the finest piano concerto since Mozart and Beethoven".
In 1846, he felt he had recovered. In the winter, the Schumanns revisited Vienna, traveling to Prague and Berlin in the spring of 1847 and in the summer to Zwickau, where he was received with enthusiasm. This pleased him, since until that time he was famous in only Dresden and Leipzig.
His only opera, Genoveva, Op. 81, premiered in Spring 1850. In it, Schumann attempted to abolish recitative, which he regarded as an interruption to the musical flow (an influence on Richard Wagner; Schumann's consistently flowing melody can be seen as a forerunner to Wagner's Melos). The subject of Genoveva—based on Ludwig Tieck and Christian Friedrich Hebbel's plays—was not seen an ideal choice. The text is often considered to lack dramatic qualities; the work has not remained in the repertoire. As early as 1842 the possibilities of German opera had been keenly realized by Schumann, who wrote, "Do you know my prayer as an artist, night and morning? It is called 'German Opera.' Here is a real field for enterprise ... something simple, profound, German". And in his notebook of suggestions for the text of operas are found amongst others: Nibelungen, Lohengrin and Till Eulenspiegel.
The music to Byron's Manfred was written in 1849, the overture of which is one of Schumann's most frequently performed orchestral works. The insurrection of Dresden caused Schumann to move to Kreischa, a little village a few miles outside the city. In August 1849, on the occasion of the centenary of Goethe's birth, completed scenes of Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust were performed in Dresden, Leipzig and Weimar. Liszt gave him assistance and encouragement. The rest of the work was written later in 1849, and the overture (which Schumann described as "one of the sturdiest of [his] creations") in 1853.
After 1850
From 1850 to 1854, Schumann composed in a wide variety of genres. Critics have disputed the quality of his work at this time; a widely held view has been that his music showed signs of mental breakdown and creative decay. More recently, critics have suggested that the changes in style may be explained by "lucid experimentation".
In 1850, Schumann succeeded Ferdinand Hiller as musical director at Düsseldorf, but he was a poor conductor and quickly aroused the opposition of the musicians. According to Harold C. Schonberg, in his 1967 The Great Conductors: "The great composer was impossible on the platform ... There is something heartrending about poor Schumann's epochal inefficiency as a conductor." His contract was eventually terminated. By the end of that year he completed his Symphony No. 3, "Rhenish" (a work containing five movements and whose 4th movement is apparently intended to represent an episcopal coronation ceremony). In 1851 he revised what would be published as his fourth symphony. From 1851 to 1853 he visited Switzerland, Belgium and Leipzig.
On 30 September 1853, the 20-year-old composer Johannes Brahms arrived unannounced at the door of the Schumanns carrying a letter of introduction from violinist Joseph Joachim. (Schumann was not at home, and would not meet Brahms until the next day.) Brahms amazed Clara and Robert with his music, stayed with them for several weeks, and became a close family friend. (He later worked closely with Clara to popularize Schumann's compositions during her long widowhood.)
During this time Schumann, Brahms and Schumann's pupil Albert Dietrich collaborated on the composition of the F-A-E Sonata for Joachim; Schumann also published an article, "Neue Bahnen" ("New Paths") in the Neue Zeitschrift (his first article in many years), hailing the unknown young Brahms from Hamburg, a man who had published nothing, as "the Chosen One" who "was destined to give ideal expression to the times." It was an extraordinary way to present Brahms to the musical world, setting up great expectations that he did not fulfill for many years. In January 1854, Schumann went to Hanover, where he heard a performance of his Paradise and the Peri organized by Joachim and Brahms. Two years later at Schumann's request, the work received its first English performance conducted by William Sterndale Bennett.
Schumann returned to Düsseldorf and began to edit his complete works and make an anthology on the subject of music. He suffered a renewal of the symptoms that had threatened him earlier. Besides the single note sounding in his ear (possibly evidence of tinnitus,) he imagined that voices sounded in his ear and he heard angelic music. One night he suddenly left his bed, having dreamt or imagined that a ghost (purportedly the spirit of either Schubert or Mendelssohn) had dictated a "spirit theme" to him. The theme was one he had used several times before: in his Second String Quartet, again in his Lieder-Album für die Jugend, and finally in the slow movement of his Violin Concerto. In the days leading up to his suicide attempt, Schumann wrote five variations on this theme for the piano, his last completed work, today known as the Geistervariationen (Ghost Variations). Brahms published it in a supplementary volume to the complete edition of Schumann's piano music. In 1861 Brahms published his Variations for Piano Four Hands, Op. 23, based on this theme.
Final illness and death
In late February 1854, Schumann's symptoms increased, the angelic visions sometimes being replaced by demonic ones. He warned Clara that he feared he might do her harm. On 27 February, he attempted suicide by throwing himself from a bridge into the Rhine River (his elder sister Emilie had committed suicide in 1825, possibly by drowning herself). Rescued by boatmen and taken home, he asked to be taken to an asylum for the insane. He entered Dr. Franz Richarz's sanatorium in Endenich, a quarter of Bonn, and remained there until he died on 29 July 1856 at the age of 46. During his confinement, he was not allowed to see Clara, although Brahms was free to visit him. Clara finally visited him two days before his death. He appeared to recognize her, but was able to speak only a few words.
Given his reported symptoms, one modern view is that he died from syphilis, which he could have contracted during his student days, and which could have remained latent during most of his marriage. According to studies by the musicologist and literary scholar Eric Sams, Schumann's symptoms during his terminal illness and death appear consistent with those of mercury poisoning; mercury was a common treatment for syphilis and other conditions. Another possibility is that his neurological problems were a result of an intracranial mass. A report by Janisch and Nauhaus on Schumann's autopsy indicates that he had a "gelatinous" tumor at the base of the brain; it may have represented a colloid cyst, a craniopharyngioma, a chordoma, or a chordoid meningioma. In particular, meningiomas are known to produce musical auditory hallucinations such as Schumann reported. It has also been hypothesised that he suffered from schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder; bipolar type, or bipolar disorder and bipolar II disorder. His medical records from this illness were released in 1991, and suggest a "progressive paralysis", a term used for neurosyphilis at the time, although a diagnostic test for Treponema pallidum did not become available till 1906.
Schumann heard a persistent A-note at the end of his life. It was a form of tinnitus, or perhaps an auditory hallucination related to his major depressive episode. At times, he had musical hallucinations that were longer than just the single A, but his diaries include comments about hearing that annoying single note.
After Robert's death, Clara continued her career as a concert pianist, which supported the family. From mid-career on, she mainly performed music by leading composers. A hired cook and housekeeper tended to the children while she traveled. In 1856, she first visited England. The critics received Robert's music coolly, with Henry Fothergill Chorley being particularly harsh. She returned to London in 1865 and made regular appearances there in later years, often performing chamber music with the violinist Joseph Joachim and others. She became the authoritative editor of her husband's works for Breitkopf & Härtel. It was rumoured that she and Brahms destroyed many of Schumann's later works, which they thought were tainted by his madness, but only the Five Pieces for Cello and Piano are known to have been destroyed. Most of Schumann's late works, particularly the Violin Concerto, the Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra and the Violin Sonata No. 3, all from 1853, have entered the repertoire.
Legacy
Schumann had considerable influence in the nineteenth century and beyond, despite his adoption of more conservative modes of composition after his marriage. He left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Partly through his protégé Brahms, Schumann's ideals and musical vocabulary became widely disseminated. Composer Sir Edward Elgar called Schumann "my ideal."
Schumann has often been confused with Austrian composer Franz Schubert; one well-known example occurred in 1956, when East Germany issued a pair of postage stamps featuring Schumann's picture against an open score that featured Schubert's music. The stamps were soon replaced by a pair featuring music written by Schumann.
Instruments
One of the best known instruments that Robert Schumann played on was the grand piano by Conrad Graf, a present from Graf on the occasion of Robert and Clara’s marriage in 1839. This instrument stood in Schumann’s workroom in Düsseldorf and was later given by Clara Schumann to Johannes Brahms. After changing a few lodgings, it was received by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and can be seen at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Compositions
List of compositions by Robert Schumann
:Category:Compositions by Robert Schumann
Media portrayals
Dreaming (1944) is a UFA movie starring Mathias Wieman as Schumann, Hilde Krahl as Clara Wieck, Ullrich Haupt as Johannes Brahms, and Emil Lohkamp as Franz Liszt.
Song of Love (1947) is an MGM film starring Paul Henreid as Schumann, Katharine Hepburn as Clara Wieck, Robert Walker as Johannes Brahms, and Henry Daniell as Franz Liszt.
Peter Schamoni's 1983 movie Frühlingssinfonie (Spring Symphony) tells the story of Schumann and Wieck's romance, against her father's opposition. Robert was played by Herbert Grönemeyer, Clara by Nastassja Kinski, and Clara's father by Rolf Hoppe. The role of Niccolò Paganini was played by the violinist Gidon Kremer. The score was written by Grönemeyer and conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.
The Andrew Crumey novel Mobius Dick has a chapter depicting Schumann at Endenich.
Seinfeld: Robert Schumann is mentioned in a 1991 episode of Seinfeld called "The Jacket".
Frasier: The troubled Dresden premiere of the Second Symphony is mentioned in a 1998 episode of Frasier "Frasier's Curse".
Geliebte Clara ("Beloved Clara") was a 2008 Franco-German-Hungarian film about the lives of Clara and Robert.
Longing is a 2000 biographical novel by American author J. D. Landis.
Notes
References
Bibliography
Books and encyclopedias
The author argues that the composer was mentally normal all his life, until the sudden onset of insanity near the end resulting from tertiary syphilis
Articles
Websites
Works by Schumann
External links
Musical Rules at Home and in Life – text by Robert Schumann
Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig – edition of letters written by Robert and Clara Schumann
The city of Robert Schumann
(texts)
(audio and video)
1810 births
1856 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century male conductors (music)
19th-century conductors (music)
19th-century German composers
19th-century German journalists
19th-century German male writers
Composers for piano
Composers for pipe organ
German Romantic composers
German conductors (music)
German opera composers
German male classical composers
German male conductors (music)
German music critics
German male journalists
Male opera composers
Classical music critics
Musicians from Leipzig
Musicians from Düsseldorf
People from the Kingdom of Saxony
People from Zwickau
Pupils of Friedrich Wieck
Leipzig University alumni
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig faculty
People with bipolar disorder
Angelic visionaries
Heinrich Heine
Composers for pedal piano
Musicians with dystonia
German magazine founders
Deaths in mental institutions | false | [
"Miguel Skrobot (Warsaw, 1873 – Curitiba, February 20, 1912) was a businessman Brazilian of Polish origin.\n\nMiguel Skrobot was born in 1873, in Warsaw, Poland, to José Skrobot and Rosa Skrobot. When he was 18 he migrated to Brazil and settled in Curitiba as a merchant.\n\nHe married Maria Pansardi, who was born in Tibagi, Paraná, to Italian immigrants, and she bore him three children. He kept a steam-powered factory where he worked on grinding and toasting coffee beans under the \"Rio Branco\" brand, located on the spot where today stands the square called Praça Zacarias (square located in the center of Curitiba). He also owned a grocery store near Praça Tiradentes (also a square in the center of Curitiba, where the city was born). He died an early death, when he was 39, on February 20, 1912.\n\nReferences\n\n1873 births\n1912 deaths\nBrazilian businesspeople\nPeople from Curitiba\nPolish emigrants to Brazil",
"Adolf von Rauch (22 April 1798 - 12 December 1882) was a German paper manufacturer in Heilbronn, where he was born and died and where he was a major builder of social housing.\n\nPapermakers\n1798 births\n1882 deaths\nPeople from Heilbronn"
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| C_021a941b0ca84f27a6c2fe522c928a28_1 | When was he born | 2 | When was Robert Schumann born? | Robert Schumann | Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony, the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (nee Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music - undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist. Schumann began receiving general musical and piano instruction at the age of seven from Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music and worked at creating musical compositions himself, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody, - ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait." At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene. Schumann's interest in music was sparked by seeing a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged the boy's musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Neither his mother nor his guardian thereafter encouraged a career in music. In 1828 Schumann left school, and after a tour during which he met Heinrich Heine in Munich, he went to Leipzig to study law (to meet the terms of his inheritance). In 1829 his law studies continued in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured him that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.
In 1840, Schumann married Clara Wieck, after a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Friedrich, who opposed the marriage. A lifelong partnership in music began, as Clara herself was an established pianist and music prodigy. Clara and Robert also maintained a close relationship with German composer Johannes Brahms.
Until 1840, Schumann wrote exclusively for the piano. Later, he composed piano and orchestral works, and many Lieder (songs for voice and piano). He composed four symphonies, one opera, and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. His best-known works include Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in C. Schumann was known for infusing his music with characters through motifs, as well as references to works of literature. These characters bled into his editorial writing in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a Leipzig-based publication that he co-founded.
Schumann suffered from a mental disorder that first manifested in 1833 as a severe melancholic depressive episode—which recurred several times alternating with phases of "exaltation" and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic items. What is now thought to have been a combination of bipolar disorder and perhaps mercury poisoning led to "manic" and "depressive" periods in Schumann's compositional productivity. After a suicide attempt in 1854, Schumann was admitted at his own request to a mental asylum in Endenich (now in Bonn). Diagnosed with psychotic melancholia, he died of pneumonia two years later at the age of 46, without recovering from his mental illness.
Biography
Early life
Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony (today Central Germany), the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (née Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music—undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist.
At age seven, Schumann began studying general music and piano with Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music, and worked on his own compositions, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody,—ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait."
At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene.
Schumann's interest in music was sparked by attending a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged his musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Thereafter, neither his mother nor his guardian encouraged him to pursue a music career. In 1828, Schumann left high school, and after a trip during which he met the poet Heinrich Heine in Munich, he left to study law at the University of Leipzig under family pressure. But in Leipzig Schumann instead focused on improvisation, song composition, and writing novels. He also began to seriously study piano with Friedrich Wieck, a well-known piano teacher. In 1829, he continued his law studies in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg.
1830–1834
During Eastertide 1830, he heard the Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer Niccolò Paganini play in Frankfurt. In July he wrote to his mother, "My whole life has been a struggle between Poetry and Prose, or call it Music and Law." With her permission, by Christmas he was back in Leipzig, at age 20 taking piano lessons from his old master Friedrich Wieck, who assured him that he would be a successful concert pianist after a few years' study with him. During his studies with Wieck, some stories claim that Schumann permanently injured a finger on his right hand. Wieck claimed that Schumann damaged his finger by using a mechanical device that held back one finger while he exercised the others—which was supposed to strengthen the weakest fingers. Clara Schumann discredited the story, saying the disability was not due to a mechanical device, and Robert Schumann himself referred to it as "an affliction of the whole hand." Some argue that, as the disability appeared to have been chronic and have affected the hand, and not just a finger, it was not likely caused by a finger strengthening device. In 2012, neurologists discussed Schumann's symptoms at a conference called "Musicians With Dystonia."
Schumann abandoned the idea of a concert career and devoted himself instead to composition. To this end he began a study of music theory under Heinrich Dorn, a German composer six years his senior and, at that time, conductor of the Leipzig Opera.
Papillons
Schumann's fusion of literary ideas with musical ones—known as program music—may have first taken shape in Papillons, Op. 2 (Butterflies), a musical portrayal of events in Jean Paul's novel Flegeljahre. In a letter from Leipzig dated April 1832, Schumann bids his brothers, "Read the last scene in Jean Paul's Flegeljahre as soon as possible, because the Papillons are intended as a musical representation of that masquerade." This inspiration is foreshadowed to some extent in his first written criticism—an 1831 essay on Frédéric Chopin's variations on a theme from Mozart's Don Giovanni, published in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. In it, Schumann creates imaginary characters who discuss Chopin's work: Florestan (the embodiment of Schumann's passionate, voluble side) and Eusebius (his dreamy, introspective side)—the counterparts of Vult and Walt in Flegeljahre. They call on a third, Meister Raro, for his opinion. Raro may represent either the composer himself, Wieck's daughter Clara, or the combination of the two (Clara + Robert).
In the winter of 1832, at age 22, Schumann visited relatives in Zwickau and Schneeberg, where he performed the first movement of his Symphony in G minor (without opus number, known as the "Zwickauer"). In Zwickau, the music was performed at a concert given by Clara Wieck, who was then just 13 years old. On this occasion Clara played bravura Variations by Henri Herz, a composer whom Schumann was already deriding as a philistine. Schumann's mother said to Clara, "You must marry my Robert one day." The Symphony in G minor was not published during Schumann's lifetime but has been played and recorded in recent times.
The 1833 deaths of Schumann's brother Julius and his sister-in-law Rosalie in the worldwide cholera pandemic brought on a severe depressive episode.
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
By spring 1834, Schumann had sufficiently recovered to inaugurate Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik ("New Journal for Music"), first published on 3 April 1834. In his writings, Schumann created a fictional music society based on people in his life, called the Davidsbündler, named after the biblical King David who fought against the Philistines. Schumann published most of his critical writings in the journal, and often lambasted the popular taste for flashy technical displays from figures whom Schumann perceived as inferior composers, or "philistines". Schumann campaigned to revive interest in major composers of the past, including Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. He also promoted the work of some contemporary composers, including Chopin (about whom Schumann famously wrote, "Hats off, Gentlemen! A genius!") and Hector Berlioz, whom he praised for creating music of substance. On the other hand, Schumann disparaged the school of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. Among Schumann's associates at this time were composers Norbert Burgmüller and Ludwig Schuncke (to whom Schumann dedicated his Toccata in C).
Carnaval
Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834) is one of Schumann's most characteristic piano works. Schumann begins nearly every section of Carnaval with a musical cryptogram, the musical notes signified in German by the letters that spell Asch (A, E-flat, C, and B, or alternatively A-flat, C, and B; in German these are A, Es, C and H, and As, C and H respectively), the Bohemian town in which Ernestine was born, and the notes are also the musical letters in Schumann's own name. Eusebius and Florestan, the imaginary figures appearing so often in his critical writings, also appear, alongside brilliant imitations of Chopin and Paganini. To each of these characters he devotes a section of Carnaval. The work comes to a close with a march of the Davidsbündler—the league of King David's men against the Philistines—in which may be heard the clear accents of truth in contest with the dull clamour of falsehood embodied in a quotation from the seventeenth century Grandfather's Dance. The march, a step nearly always in duple meter, is here in 3/4 time (triple meter). The work ends in joy and a degree of mock-triumph. In Carnaval, Schumann went further than in Papillons, by conceiving the story as well as the musical representation (and also displaying a maturation of compositional resource).
Relationships
During the summer of 1834 Schumann became engaged to 16-year-old Ernestine von Fricken, the adopted daughter of a rich Bohemian-born noble. In August 1835, he learned that Ernestine was born illegitimate, which meant that she would have no dowry. Fearful that her limited means would force him to earn his living like a "day-labourer," Schumann completely broke with her toward the end of the year. He felt a growing attraction to 15-year-old Clara Wieck. They made mutual declarations of love in December in Zwickau, where Clara appeared in concert. His budding romance with Clara was disrupted when her father learned of their trysts during the Christmas holidays. He summarily forbade them further meetings, and ordered all their correspondence burnt.
1835–1839
On 3 October 1835, Schumann met Felix Mendelssohn at Wieck's house in Leipzig, and his enthusiastic appreciation of that artist was shown with the same generous freedom that distinguished his acknowledgement of the greatness of Chopin and other colleagues, and later prompted him to publicly pronounce the then-unknown Johannes Brahms a genius.
In 1837 Schumann published his Symphonic Studies, a complex set of étude-like variations written in 1834–1835, which demanded a finished piano technique. These variations were based on a theme by the adoptive father of Ernestine von Fricken. The work—described as "one of the peaks of the piano literature, lofty in conception and faultless in workmanship" [Hutcheson]—was dedicated to the young English composer William Sterndale Bennett, for whom Schumann had had a high regard when they worked together in Leipzig.
The Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, (also published in 1837 despite the low opus number) literally "Dances of the League of David", is an embodiment of the struggle between enlightened Romanticism and musical philistinism. Schumann credited the two sides of his character with the composition of the work (the more passionate numbers are signed F. (Florestan) and the more dreamy signed E. (Eusebius)). The work begins with the "motto of C. W." (Clara Wieck) denoting her support for the ideals of the Davidsbund. The Bund was a music society of Schumann's imagination, members of which were kindred spirits (as he saw them) such as Chopin, Paganini and Clara, as well as the personalized Florestan and Eusebius.
Kinderszenen, Op. 15, completed in 1838 and a favourite of Schumann's piano works, depicts the innocence and playfulness of childhood. The "Träumerei" in F major, No. 7 of the set, is one of the most famous piano pieces ever written, and has been performed in myriad forms and transcriptions. It has been the favourite encore of several great pianists, including Vladimir Horowitz. Melodic and deceptively simple, the piece is "complex" in its harmonic structure.
Kreisleriana, Op. 16 (1838), considered one of Schumann's greatest works, carried his fantasy and emotional range deeper. Johannes Kreisler was a fictional musician created by poet E. T. A. Hoffmann, and characterized as a "romantic brought into contact with reality." Schumann used the figure to express "fantastic and mad" emotional states. According to Hutcheson ("The Literature of the Piano"), this work is "among the finest efforts of Schumann's genius. He never surpassed the searching beauty of the slow movements (Nos. 2, 4, 6) or the urgent passion of others (Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7) […] To appreciate it a high level of aesthetic intelligence is required […] This is no facile music, there is severity alike in its beauty and its passion."
The Fantasie in C, Op. 17, composed in the summer of 1836, is a work of passion and deep pathos, imbued with the spirit of the late Beethoven. Schumann intended to use proceeds from sales of the work toward the construction of a monument to Beethoven, who had died in 1827. The first movement of the Fantasie contains a musical quote from Beethoven's song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (at the Adagio coda, taken from the last song of the cycle). The original titles of the movements were Ruins, Triumphal Arch, and The Starry Crown. According to Franz Liszt, who played the work for Schumann and to whom it was dedicated, the Fantasie was apt to be played too heavily, and should have a dreamier (träumerisch) character than vigorous German pianists tended to impart. Liszt also said: "It is a noble work, worthy of Beethoven, whose career, by the way, it is supposed to represent". Again, according to Hutcheson: "No words can describe the Phantasie, no quotations set forth the majesty of its genius. It must suffice to say that it is Schumann's greatest work in large form for piano solo."
After a visit to Vienna, during which he discovered Franz Schubert's previously unknown Symphony No. 9 in C, in 1839 Schumann wrote the Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Carnival Prank from Vienna). Most of the joke is in the central section of the first movement, which makes a thinly veiled reference to La Marseillaise. (Vienna had banned the song due to harsh memories of Napoleon's invasion.) The festive mood does not preclude moments of melancholic introspection in the Intermezzo.
1840–1849
From 1832 to 1839, Schumann wrote almost exclusively for piano, but in 1840 alone he wrote at least 138 songs. Indeed, 1840 (the Liederjahr or year of song) is highly significant in Schumann's musical legacy, despite his earlier deriding of works for piano and voice as inferior.
After a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Schumann married Clara Wieck in the in Leipzig-Schönefeld, on 12 September 1840, the day before her 21st birthday. Had they waited another day, they would no longer have required her father's consent. Their marriage supported a remarkable business partnership, with Clara acting as an inspiration, critic, and confidante to her husband. Despite her delicate appearance, she was an extremely strong-willed and energetic woman, who kept up a demanding schedule of concert tours in between bearing several children. Two years after their marriage, Friedrich Wieck at last reconciled himself with the couple, eager to see his grandchildren.
Prior to the legal case and subsequent marriage, the lovers exchanged love letters and rendezvoused in secret. Robert often waited for hours in a cafe in a nearby city just to see Clara for a few minutes after one of her concerts. The strain of this long courtship and its consummation may have led to this great outpouring of Lieder (vocal songs with piano accompaniment). This is evident in Widmung, for example, where he uses the melody from Schubert's Ave Maria in the postlude in homage to Clara. Schumann's biographers attribute the sweetness, doubt, and despair of these songs to the emotions aroused by his love for Clara and the uncertainties of their future together.
Robert and Clara had eight children, Emil (1846–1847), who died at 1 year; Marie (1841–1929); Elise (1843–1928); Julie (1845–1872); Ludwig (1848–1899); Ferdinand (1849–1891); Eugenie (1851–1938); and Felix (1854–1879).
His chief song-cycles in this period were settings of the Liederkreis of Joseph von Eichendorff, Op. 39 (depicting a series of moods relating to or inspired by nature); the Frauenliebe und -leben of Chamisso, Op. 42 (relating the tale of a woman's marriage, childbirth and widowhood); the Dichterliebe of Heine, Op. 48 (depicting a lover rejected, but coming to terms with his painful loss through renunciation and forgiveness); and Myrthen, a collection of songs, including poems by Goethe, Rückert, Heine, Byron, Burns and Moore. The songs Belsatzar, Op. 57 and Die beiden Grenadiere, Op. 49, both to Heine's words, show Schumann at his best as a ballad writer, although the dramatic ballad is less congenial to him than the introspective lyric. The Op. 35, 40 and 98a sets (words by Justinus Kerner, Chamisso and Goethe respectively), although less well known, also contain songs of lyric and dramatic quality.
In 1841 he wrote two of his four symphonies, No. 1 in B-flat, Op. 38, Spring and No. 4 in D minor (the latter a pioneering work in "cyclic form", was performed that year but published only much later after revision and extensive re-orchestration as Op. 120). He devoted 1842 to composing chamber music, including the Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44, now one of his best known and most admired works; the Piano Quartet and three string quartets. In 1843 he wrote Paradise and the Peri, his first attempt at concerted vocal music, an oratorio style work based on Lalla-Rookh by Thomas Moore. The main role of Peri in the world premiere was performed by Schumann's family friend, soprano Livia Frege. After this, his compositions were not confined to any one form during any particular period.
The stage in his life when he was deeply engaged in setting Goethe's Faust to music (1844–53) was a turbulent one for his health. He spent the first half of 1844 with Clara on tour in Russia, and his depression grew worse as he felt inferior to Clara as a musician. On returning to Germany, he abandoned his editorial work and left Leipzig for Dresden, where he suffered from persistent "nervous prostration". As soon as he began to work, he was seized with fits of shivering and an apprehension of death, experiencing an abhorrence of high places, all metal instruments (even keys), and drugs. Schumann's diaries also state that he suffered perpetually from imagining that he had the note A5 sounding in his ears.
His state of unease and neurasthenia is reflected in his Symphony in C, numbered second but third in order of composition, in which the composer explores states of exhaustion, obsession, and depression, culminating in Beethovenian spiritual triumph. Also published in 1845 was his Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, originally conceived and performed as a one-movement Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra in 1841. It is one of the most popular and oft-recorded of all piano concertos; according to Hutcheson "Schumann achieved a masterly work and we inherited the finest piano concerto since Mozart and Beethoven".
In 1846, he felt he had recovered. In the winter, the Schumanns revisited Vienna, traveling to Prague and Berlin in the spring of 1847 and in the summer to Zwickau, where he was received with enthusiasm. This pleased him, since until that time he was famous in only Dresden and Leipzig.
His only opera, Genoveva, Op. 81, premiered in Spring 1850. In it, Schumann attempted to abolish recitative, which he regarded as an interruption to the musical flow (an influence on Richard Wagner; Schumann's consistently flowing melody can be seen as a forerunner to Wagner's Melos). The subject of Genoveva—based on Ludwig Tieck and Christian Friedrich Hebbel's plays—was not seen an ideal choice. The text is often considered to lack dramatic qualities; the work has not remained in the repertoire. As early as 1842 the possibilities of German opera had been keenly realized by Schumann, who wrote, "Do you know my prayer as an artist, night and morning? It is called 'German Opera.' Here is a real field for enterprise ... something simple, profound, German". And in his notebook of suggestions for the text of operas are found amongst others: Nibelungen, Lohengrin and Till Eulenspiegel.
The music to Byron's Manfred was written in 1849, the overture of which is one of Schumann's most frequently performed orchestral works. The insurrection of Dresden caused Schumann to move to Kreischa, a little village a few miles outside the city. In August 1849, on the occasion of the centenary of Goethe's birth, completed scenes of Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust were performed in Dresden, Leipzig and Weimar. Liszt gave him assistance and encouragement. The rest of the work was written later in 1849, and the overture (which Schumann described as "one of the sturdiest of [his] creations") in 1853.
After 1850
From 1850 to 1854, Schumann composed in a wide variety of genres. Critics have disputed the quality of his work at this time; a widely held view has been that his music showed signs of mental breakdown and creative decay. More recently, critics have suggested that the changes in style may be explained by "lucid experimentation".
In 1850, Schumann succeeded Ferdinand Hiller as musical director at Düsseldorf, but he was a poor conductor and quickly aroused the opposition of the musicians. According to Harold C. Schonberg, in his 1967 The Great Conductors: "The great composer was impossible on the platform ... There is something heartrending about poor Schumann's epochal inefficiency as a conductor." His contract was eventually terminated. By the end of that year he completed his Symphony No. 3, "Rhenish" (a work containing five movements and whose 4th movement is apparently intended to represent an episcopal coronation ceremony). In 1851 he revised what would be published as his fourth symphony. From 1851 to 1853 he visited Switzerland, Belgium and Leipzig.
On 30 September 1853, the 20-year-old composer Johannes Brahms arrived unannounced at the door of the Schumanns carrying a letter of introduction from violinist Joseph Joachim. (Schumann was not at home, and would not meet Brahms until the next day.) Brahms amazed Clara and Robert with his music, stayed with them for several weeks, and became a close family friend. (He later worked closely with Clara to popularize Schumann's compositions during her long widowhood.)
During this time Schumann, Brahms and Schumann's pupil Albert Dietrich collaborated on the composition of the F-A-E Sonata for Joachim; Schumann also published an article, "Neue Bahnen" ("New Paths") in the Neue Zeitschrift (his first article in many years), hailing the unknown young Brahms from Hamburg, a man who had published nothing, as "the Chosen One" who "was destined to give ideal expression to the times." It was an extraordinary way to present Brahms to the musical world, setting up great expectations that he did not fulfill for many years. In January 1854, Schumann went to Hanover, where he heard a performance of his Paradise and the Peri organized by Joachim and Brahms. Two years later at Schumann's request, the work received its first English performance conducted by William Sterndale Bennett.
Schumann returned to Düsseldorf and began to edit his complete works and make an anthology on the subject of music. He suffered a renewal of the symptoms that had threatened him earlier. Besides the single note sounding in his ear (possibly evidence of tinnitus,) he imagined that voices sounded in his ear and he heard angelic music. One night he suddenly left his bed, having dreamt or imagined that a ghost (purportedly the spirit of either Schubert or Mendelssohn) had dictated a "spirit theme" to him. The theme was one he had used several times before: in his Second String Quartet, again in his Lieder-Album für die Jugend, and finally in the slow movement of his Violin Concerto. In the days leading up to his suicide attempt, Schumann wrote five variations on this theme for the piano, his last completed work, today known as the Geistervariationen (Ghost Variations). Brahms published it in a supplementary volume to the complete edition of Schumann's piano music. In 1861 Brahms published his Variations for Piano Four Hands, Op. 23, based on this theme.
Final illness and death
In late February 1854, Schumann's symptoms increased, the angelic visions sometimes being replaced by demonic ones. He warned Clara that he feared he might do her harm. On 27 February, he attempted suicide by throwing himself from a bridge into the Rhine River (his elder sister Emilie had committed suicide in 1825, possibly by drowning herself). Rescued by boatmen and taken home, he asked to be taken to an asylum for the insane. He entered Dr. Franz Richarz's sanatorium in Endenich, a quarter of Bonn, and remained there until he died on 29 July 1856 at the age of 46. During his confinement, he was not allowed to see Clara, although Brahms was free to visit him. Clara finally visited him two days before his death. He appeared to recognize her, but was able to speak only a few words.
Given his reported symptoms, one modern view is that he died from syphilis, which he could have contracted during his student days, and which could have remained latent during most of his marriage. According to studies by the musicologist and literary scholar Eric Sams, Schumann's symptoms during his terminal illness and death appear consistent with those of mercury poisoning; mercury was a common treatment for syphilis and other conditions. Another possibility is that his neurological problems were a result of an intracranial mass. A report by Janisch and Nauhaus on Schumann's autopsy indicates that he had a "gelatinous" tumor at the base of the brain; it may have represented a colloid cyst, a craniopharyngioma, a chordoma, or a chordoid meningioma. In particular, meningiomas are known to produce musical auditory hallucinations such as Schumann reported. It has also been hypothesised that he suffered from schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder; bipolar type, or bipolar disorder and bipolar II disorder. His medical records from this illness were released in 1991, and suggest a "progressive paralysis", a term used for neurosyphilis at the time, although a diagnostic test for Treponema pallidum did not become available till 1906.
Schumann heard a persistent A-note at the end of his life. It was a form of tinnitus, or perhaps an auditory hallucination related to his major depressive episode. At times, he had musical hallucinations that were longer than just the single A, but his diaries include comments about hearing that annoying single note.
After Robert's death, Clara continued her career as a concert pianist, which supported the family. From mid-career on, she mainly performed music by leading composers. A hired cook and housekeeper tended to the children while she traveled. In 1856, she first visited England. The critics received Robert's music coolly, with Henry Fothergill Chorley being particularly harsh. She returned to London in 1865 and made regular appearances there in later years, often performing chamber music with the violinist Joseph Joachim and others. She became the authoritative editor of her husband's works for Breitkopf & Härtel. It was rumoured that she and Brahms destroyed many of Schumann's later works, which they thought were tainted by his madness, but only the Five Pieces for Cello and Piano are known to have been destroyed. Most of Schumann's late works, particularly the Violin Concerto, the Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra and the Violin Sonata No. 3, all from 1853, have entered the repertoire.
Legacy
Schumann had considerable influence in the nineteenth century and beyond, despite his adoption of more conservative modes of composition after his marriage. He left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Partly through his protégé Brahms, Schumann's ideals and musical vocabulary became widely disseminated. Composer Sir Edward Elgar called Schumann "my ideal."
Schumann has often been confused with Austrian composer Franz Schubert; one well-known example occurred in 1956, when East Germany issued a pair of postage stamps featuring Schumann's picture against an open score that featured Schubert's music. The stamps were soon replaced by a pair featuring music written by Schumann.
Instruments
One of the best known instruments that Robert Schumann played on was the grand piano by Conrad Graf, a present from Graf on the occasion of Robert and Clara’s marriage in 1839. This instrument stood in Schumann’s workroom in Düsseldorf and was later given by Clara Schumann to Johannes Brahms. After changing a few lodgings, it was received by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and can be seen at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Compositions
List of compositions by Robert Schumann
:Category:Compositions by Robert Schumann
Media portrayals
Dreaming (1944) is a UFA movie starring Mathias Wieman as Schumann, Hilde Krahl as Clara Wieck, Ullrich Haupt as Johannes Brahms, and Emil Lohkamp as Franz Liszt.
Song of Love (1947) is an MGM film starring Paul Henreid as Schumann, Katharine Hepburn as Clara Wieck, Robert Walker as Johannes Brahms, and Henry Daniell as Franz Liszt.
Peter Schamoni's 1983 movie Frühlingssinfonie (Spring Symphony) tells the story of Schumann and Wieck's romance, against her father's opposition. Robert was played by Herbert Grönemeyer, Clara by Nastassja Kinski, and Clara's father by Rolf Hoppe. The role of Niccolò Paganini was played by the violinist Gidon Kremer. The score was written by Grönemeyer and conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.
The Andrew Crumey novel Mobius Dick has a chapter depicting Schumann at Endenich.
Seinfeld: Robert Schumann is mentioned in a 1991 episode of Seinfeld called "The Jacket".
Frasier: The troubled Dresden premiere of the Second Symphony is mentioned in a 1998 episode of Frasier "Frasier's Curse".
Geliebte Clara ("Beloved Clara") was a 2008 Franco-German-Hungarian film about the lives of Clara and Robert.
Longing is a 2000 biographical novel by American author J. D. Landis.
Notes
References
Bibliography
Books and encyclopedias
The author argues that the composer was mentally normal all his life, until the sudden onset of insanity near the end resulting from tertiary syphilis
Articles
Websites
Works by Schumann
External links
Musical Rules at Home and in Life – text by Robert Schumann
Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig – edition of letters written by Robert and Clara Schumann
The city of Robert Schumann
(texts)
(audio and video)
1810 births
1856 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century male conductors (music)
19th-century conductors (music)
19th-century German composers
19th-century German journalists
19th-century German male writers
Composers for piano
Composers for pipe organ
German Romantic composers
German conductors (music)
German opera composers
German male classical composers
German male conductors (music)
German music critics
German male journalists
Male opera composers
Classical music critics
Musicians from Leipzig
Musicians from Düsseldorf
People from the Kingdom of Saxony
People from Zwickau
Pupils of Friedrich Wieck
Leipzig University alumni
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig faculty
People with bipolar disorder
Angelic visionaries
Heinrich Heine
Composers for pedal piano
Musicians with dystonia
German magazine founders
Deaths in mental institutions | false | [
"Since the first human spaceflight by the Soviet Union, citizens of 42 countries have flown in space. For each nationality, the launch date of the first mission is listed. The list is based on the nationality of the person at the time of the launch. Only 3 of the 42 \"first flyers\" have been women (Helen Sharman for the United Kingdom in 1991, Anousheh Ansari for Iran in 2006, and Yi So-yeon for South Korea in 2008). Only three nations (Soviet Union/Russia, U.S., China) have launched their own crewed spacecraft, with the Soviets/Russians and the American programs providing rides to other nations' astronauts. Twenty-seven \"first flights\" occurred on Soviet or Russian flights while the United States carried fourteen.\n\nTimeline\nNote: All dates given are UTC. Countries indicated in bold have achieved independent human spaceflight capability.\n\nNotes\n\nOther claims\nThe above list uses the nationality at the time of launch. Lists with differing criteria might include the following people:\n Pavel Popovich, first launched 12 August 1962, was the first Ukrainian-born man in space. At the time, Ukraine was a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.\n Michael Collins, first launched 18 July 1966 was born in Italy to American parents and was an American citizen when he went into space.\n William Anders, American citizen, first launched 21 December 1968, was the first Hong Kong-born man in space.\n Vladimir Shatalov, first launched 14 January 1969, was the first Kazakh-born man in space. At the time, Kazakhstan was a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.\n Bill Pogue, first launched 16 November 1973, as an inductee to the 5 Civilized Tribes Hall of Fame can lay claim to being the first Native American in space. See John Herrington below regarding technicality of tribal registration.\n Pyotr Klimuk, first launched 18 December 1973, was the first Belorussian-born man in space. At the time, Belarus was a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.\n Vladimir Dzhanibekov, first launched 16 March 1978, was the first Uzbek-born man in space. At the time, Uzbekistan was a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.\n Paul D. Scully-Power, first launched 5 October 1984, was born in Australia, but was an American citizen when he went into space; Australian law at the time forbade dual-citizenship.\n Taylor Gun-Jin Wang, first launched 29 April 1985, was born in China to Chinese parents, but was an American citizen when he went into space.\n Lodewijk van den Berg, launched 29 April 1985, was born in the Netherlands, but was an American citizen when he went into space.\n Patrick Baudry, first launched 17 June 1985, was born in French Cameroun (now part of Cameroon), but was a French citizen when he went into space.\n Shannon Lucid, first launched 17 June 1985, was born in China to American parents of European descent, and was an American citizen when she went into space.\n Franklin Chang-Diaz, first launched 12 January 1986, was born in Costa Rica, but was an American citizen when he went into space\n Musa Manarov, first launched 21 December 1987, was the first Azerbaijan-born man in space. At the time, Azerbaijan was a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.\n Anatoly Solovyev, first launched 7 June 1988, was the first Latvian-born man in space. At the time, Latvia was a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.\n Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev and Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Volkov became Russian rather than Soviet citizens while still in orbit aboard Mir, making them the first purely Russian citizens in space.\n James H. Newman, American citizen, first launched 12 September 1993, was born in the portion of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands that is now the Federated States of Micronesia.\n Talgat Musabayev, first launched 1 July 1994, was born in the Kazakh SSR and is known in Kazakhstan as the \"first cosmonaut of independent Kazakhstan\", but was a Russian citizen when he went into space.\n Frederick W. Leslie, American citizen, launched 20 October 1995, was born in Panama Canal Zone (now Panama).\n Andy Thomas, first launched 19 May 1996, was born in Australia but like Paul D. Scully-Power was an American citizen when he went to space; Australian law at the time forbade dual-citizenship.\n Carlos I. Noriega, first launched 15 May 1997, was born in Peru, but was an American citizen when he went into space.\n Bjarni Tryggvason, launched 7 August 1997, was born in Iceland, but was a Canadian citizen when he went into space.\n Salizhan Sharipov, first launched 22 January 1998, was born in Kyrgyzstan (then the Kirghiz SSR), but was a Russian citizen when he went into space. Sharipov is of Uzbek ancestry.\n Philippe Perrin, first launched 5 June 2002, was born in Morocco, but was a French citizen when he went into space.\n John Herrington, an American citizen first launched 24 November 2002, is the first tribal registered Native American in space (Chickasaw). See also Bill Pogue above.\n Fyodor Yurchikhin, first launched 7 October 2002, was born in Georgia (then the Georgian SSR). He was a Russian citizen at the time he went into space and is of Pontian Greek descent.\n Joseph M. Acaba, first launched 15 March 2009, was born in the U.S. state of California to American parents of Puerto Rican descent.\n\nGallery\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nCurrent Space Demographics, compiled by William Harwood, CBS News Space Consultant, and Rob Navias, NASA.\n\nLists of firsts in space\nSpaceflight timelines",
"This is a list of notable books by young authors and of books written by notable writers in their early years. These books were written, or substantially completed, before the author's twentieth birthday. \n\nAlexandra Adornetto (born 18 April 1994) wrote her debut novel, The Shadow Thief, when she was 13. It was published in 2007. Other books written by her as a teenager are: The Lampo Circus (2008), Von Gobstopper's Arcade (2009), Halo (2010) and Hades (2011).\nMargery Allingham (1904–1966) had her first novel, Blackkerchief Dick, about smugglers in 17th century Essex, published in 1923, when she was 19.\nJorge Amado (1912–2001) had his debut novel, The Country of Carnival, published in 1931, when he was 18.\nPrateek Arora wrote his debut novel Village 1104 at the age of 16. It was published in 2010.\nDaisy Ashford (1881–1972) wrote The Young Visiters while aged nine. This novella was first published in 1919, preserving her juvenile punctuation and spelling. An earlier work, The Life of Father McSwiney, was dictated to her father when she was four. It was published almost a century later in 1983.\nAmelia Atwater-Rhodes (born 1984) had her first novel, In the Forests of the Night, published in 1999. Subsequent novels include Demon in My View (2000), Shattered Mirror (2001), Midnight Predator (2002), Hawksong (2003) and Snakecharm (2004).\nJane Austen (1775–1817) wrote Lady Susan, a short epistolary novel, between 1793 and 1795 when she was aged 18-20.\nRuskin Bond (born 1934) wrote his semi-autobiographical novel The Room on the Roof when he was 17. It was published in 1955.\nMarjorie Bowen (1885–1952) wrote the historical novel The Viper of Milan when she was 16. Published in 1906 after several rejections, it became a bestseller.\nOliver Madox Brown (1855–1874) finished his novel Gabriel Denver in early 1872, when he was 17. It was published the following year.\nPamela Brown (1924–1989) finished her children's novel about an amateur theatre company, The Swish of the Curtain (1941), when she was 16 and later wrote other books about the stage.\nCeleste and Carmel Buckingham wrote The Lost Princess when they were 11 and 9.\nFlavia Bujor (born 8 August 1988) wrote The Prophecy of the Stones (2002) when she was 13.\nLord Byron (1788–1824) published two volumes of poetry in his teens, Fugitive Pieces and Hours of Idleness.\nTaylor Caldwell's The Romance of Atlantis was written when she was 12.\n (1956–1976), Le Don de Vorace, was published in 1974.\nHilda Conkling (1910–1986) had her poems published in Poems by a Little Girl (1920), Shoes of the Wind (1922) and Silverhorn (1924).\nAbraham Cowley (1618–1667), Tragicall History of Piramus and Thisbe (1628), Poetical Blossoms (published 1633).\nMaureen Daly (1921–2006) completed Seventeenth Summer before she was 20. It was published in 1942.\nJuliette Davies (born 2000) wrote the first book in the JJ Halo series when she was eight years old. The series was published the following year.\nSamuel R. Delany (born 1 April 1942) published his The Jewels of Aptor in 1962.\nPatricia Finney's A Shadow of Gulls was published in 1977 when she was 18. Its sequel, The Crow Goddess, was published in 1978.\nBarbara Newhall Follett (1914–1939) wrote her first novel The House Without Windows at the age of eight. The manuscript was destroyed in a house fire and she later retyped her manuscript at the age of 12. The novel was published by Knopf publishing house in January 1927.\nFord Madox Ford (né Hueffer) (1873–1939) published in 1892 two children's stories, The Brown Owl and The Feather, and a novel, The Shifting of the Fire.\nAnne Frank (1929–1945) wrote her diary for two-and-a-half years starting on her 13th birthday. It was published posthumously as Het Achterhuis in 1947 and then in English translation in 1952 as Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. An unabridged translation followed in 1996.\nMiles Franklin wrote My Brilliant Career (1901) when she was a teenager.\nAlec Greven's How to Talk to Girls was published in 2008 when he was nine years old. Subsequently he has published How to Talk to Moms, How to Talk to Dads and How to Talk to Santa.\nFaïza Guène (born 1985) had Kiffe kiffe demain published in 2004, when she was 19. It has since been translated into 22 languages, including English (as Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow).\nSonya Hartnett (born 1968) was thirteen years old when she wrote her first novel, Trouble All the Way, which was published in Australia in 1984.\nAlex and Brett Harris wrote the best-selling book Do Hard Things (2008), a non-fiction book challenging teenagers to \"rebel against low expectations\", at age 19. Two years later came a follow-up book called Start Here (2010).\nGeorgette Heyer (1902–1974) wrote The Black Moth when she was 17 and received a publishing contract when she was 18. It was published just after she turned 19.\nSusan Hill (born 1942), The Enclosure, published in 1961.\nS. E. Hinton (born 1948), The Outsiders, first published in 1967.\nPalle Huld (1912–2010) wrote A Boy Scout Around the World (Jorden Rundt i 44 dage) when he was 15, following a sponsored journey around the world.\nGeorge Vernon Hudson (1867–1946) completed An Elementary Manual of New Zealand Entomology at the end of 1886, when he was 19, but not published until 1892.\nKatharine Hull (1921–1977) and Pamela Whitlock (1920–1982) wrote the children's outdoor adventure novel The Far-Distant Oxus in 1937. It was followed in 1938 by Escape to Persia and in 1939 by Oxus in Summer.\nLeigh Hunt (1784–1859) published Juvenilia; or, a Collection of Poems Written between the ages of Twelve and Sixteen by J. H. L. Hunt, Late of the Grammar School of Christ's Hospital in March 1801.\nKody Keplinger (born 1991) wrote her debut novel The DUFF when she was 17.\nGordon Korman (born 1963), This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall (1978), three sequels, and I Want to Go Home (1981).\nMatthew Gregory Lewis (1775–1818) wrote the Gothic novel The Monk, now regarded as a classic of the genre, before he was twenty. It was published in 1796.\nNina Lugovskaya (1918–1993), a painter, theater director and Gulag survivor, kept a diary in 1932–37, which shows strong social sensitivities. It was found in the Russian State Archives and published 2003. It appeared in English in the same year.\nJoyce Maynard (born 1953) completed Looking Back while she was 19. It was first published in 1973.\nMargaret Mitchell (1900–1949) wrote her novella Lost Laysen at the age of fifteen and gave the two notebooks containing the manuscript to her boyfriend, Henry Love Angel. The novel was published posthumously in 1996.\nBen Okri, the Nigerian poet and novelist, (born 1959) wrote his first book Flowers and Shadows while he was 19.\nAlice Oseman(born 1994) wrote the novel Solitaire when she was 17 and it was published in 2014.\nHelen Oyeyemi (born 1984) completed The Icarus Girl while still 18. First published in 2005.\nChristopher Paolini (born 1983) had Eragon, the first novel of the Inheritance Cycle, first published 2002.\nEmily Pepys (1833–1877), daughter of a bishop, wrote a vivid private journal over six months of 1844–45, aged ten. It was discovered much later and published in 1984.\nAnya Reiss (born 1991) wrote her play Spur of the Moment when she was 17. It was both performed and published in 2010, when she was 18.\nArthur Rimbaud (1854–1891) wrote almost all his prose and poetry while still a teenager, for example Le Soleil était encore chaud (1866), Le Bateau ivre (1871) and Une Saison en Enfer (1873).\nJohn Thomas Romney Robinson (1792–1882) saw his juvenile poems published in 1806, when he was 13.\nFrançoise Sagan (1935–2004) had Bonjour tristesse published in 1954, when she was 18.\nMary Shelley (1797–1851) completed Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus during May 1817, when she was 19. It was first published in the following year.\nMattie Stepanek (1990–2004), an American poet, published seven best-selling books of poetry.\nJohn Steptoe (1950–1989), author and illustrator, began his picture book Stevie at 16. It was published in 1969 in Life.\nAnna Stothard (born 1983) saw her Isabel and Rocco published when she was 19.\nDorothy Straight (born 1958) in 1962 wrote How the World Began, which was published by Pantheon Books in 1964. She holds the Guinness world record for the youngest female published author.\nJalaluddin Al-Suyuti (c. 1445–1505) wrote his first book, Sharh Al-Isti'aadha wal-Basmalah, at the age of 17.\nF. J. Thwaites (1908–1979) wrote his bestselling novel The Broken Melody when he was 19.\nJohn Kennedy Toole (1937–1969) wrote The Neon Bible in 1954 when he was 16. It was not published until 1989.\nAlec Waugh (1898–1981) wrote his novel about school life, The Loom of Youth, after leaving school. It was published in 1917.\nCatherine Webb (born 1986) had five young adult books published before she was 20: Mirror Dreams (2002), Mirror Wakes (2003), Waywalkers (2003), Timekeepers (2004) and The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle (February 2006).\nNancy Yi Fan (born 1993) published her debut Swordbird when she was 12. Other books she published as a teenager include Sword Quest (2008) and Sword Mountain (2012).\nKat Zhang (born 1991) was 20 when she sold, in a three-book deal, her entire Hybrid Chronicles trilogy. The first book, What's Left of Me, was published 2012.\n\nSee also \nLists of books\n\nReferences \n\nBooks Written By Children and Teenagers\nbooks\nChildren And Teenagers, Written By\nChi"
]
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[
"Robert Schumann",
"Biography",
"Where was he born?",
"Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony,",
"When was he born",
"I don't know."
]
| C_021a941b0ca84f27a6c2fe522c928a28_1 | Who were his parents | 3 | Who were Robert Schumann's parents? | Robert Schumann | Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony, the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (nee Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music - undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist. Schumann began receiving general musical and piano instruction at the age of seven from Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music and worked at creating musical compositions himself, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody, - ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait." At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene. Schumann's interest in music was sparked by seeing a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged the boy's musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Neither his mother nor his guardian thereafter encouraged a career in music. In 1828 Schumann left school, and after a tour during which he met Heinrich Heine in Munich, he went to Leipzig to study law (to meet the terms of his inheritance). In 1829 his law studies continued in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg. CANNOTANSWER | the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (nee Schnabel) and August Schumann. | Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured him that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.
In 1840, Schumann married Clara Wieck, after a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Friedrich, who opposed the marriage. A lifelong partnership in music began, as Clara herself was an established pianist and music prodigy. Clara and Robert also maintained a close relationship with German composer Johannes Brahms.
Until 1840, Schumann wrote exclusively for the piano. Later, he composed piano and orchestral works, and many Lieder (songs for voice and piano). He composed four symphonies, one opera, and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. His best-known works include Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in C. Schumann was known for infusing his music with characters through motifs, as well as references to works of literature. These characters bled into his editorial writing in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a Leipzig-based publication that he co-founded.
Schumann suffered from a mental disorder that first manifested in 1833 as a severe melancholic depressive episode—which recurred several times alternating with phases of "exaltation" and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic items. What is now thought to have been a combination of bipolar disorder and perhaps mercury poisoning led to "manic" and "depressive" periods in Schumann's compositional productivity. After a suicide attempt in 1854, Schumann was admitted at his own request to a mental asylum in Endenich (now in Bonn). Diagnosed with psychotic melancholia, he died of pneumonia two years later at the age of 46, without recovering from his mental illness.
Biography
Early life
Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony (today Central Germany), the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (née Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music—undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist.
At age seven, Schumann began studying general music and piano with Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music, and worked on his own compositions, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody,—ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait."
At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene.
Schumann's interest in music was sparked by attending a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged his musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Thereafter, neither his mother nor his guardian encouraged him to pursue a music career. In 1828, Schumann left high school, and after a trip during which he met the poet Heinrich Heine in Munich, he left to study law at the University of Leipzig under family pressure. But in Leipzig Schumann instead focused on improvisation, song composition, and writing novels. He also began to seriously study piano with Friedrich Wieck, a well-known piano teacher. In 1829, he continued his law studies in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg.
1830–1834
During Eastertide 1830, he heard the Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer Niccolò Paganini play in Frankfurt. In July he wrote to his mother, "My whole life has been a struggle between Poetry and Prose, or call it Music and Law." With her permission, by Christmas he was back in Leipzig, at age 20 taking piano lessons from his old master Friedrich Wieck, who assured him that he would be a successful concert pianist after a few years' study with him. During his studies with Wieck, some stories claim that Schumann permanently injured a finger on his right hand. Wieck claimed that Schumann damaged his finger by using a mechanical device that held back one finger while he exercised the others—which was supposed to strengthen the weakest fingers. Clara Schumann discredited the story, saying the disability was not due to a mechanical device, and Robert Schumann himself referred to it as "an affliction of the whole hand." Some argue that, as the disability appeared to have been chronic and have affected the hand, and not just a finger, it was not likely caused by a finger strengthening device. In 2012, neurologists discussed Schumann's symptoms at a conference called "Musicians With Dystonia."
Schumann abandoned the idea of a concert career and devoted himself instead to composition. To this end he began a study of music theory under Heinrich Dorn, a German composer six years his senior and, at that time, conductor of the Leipzig Opera.
Papillons
Schumann's fusion of literary ideas with musical ones—known as program music—may have first taken shape in Papillons, Op. 2 (Butterflies), a musical portrayal of events in Jean Paul's novel Flegeljahre. In a letter from Leipzig dated April 1832, Schumann bids his brothers, "Read the last scene in Jean Paul's Flegeljahre as soon as possible, because the Papillons are intended as a musical representation of that masquerade." This inspiration is foreshadowed to some extent in his first written criticism—an 1831 essay on Frédéric Chopin's variations on a theme from Mozart's Don Giovanni, published in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. In it, Schumann creates imaginary characters who discuss Chopin's work: Florestan (the embodiment of Schumann's passionate, voluble side) and Eusebius (his dreamy, introspective side)—the counterparts of Vult and Walt in Flegeljahre. They call on a third, Meister Raro, for his opinion. Raro may represent either the composer himself, Wieck's daughter Clara, or the combination of the two (Clara + Robert).
In the winter of 1832, at age 22, Schumann visited relatives in Zwickau and Schneeberg, where he performed the first movement of his Symphony in G minor (without opus number, known as the "Zwickauer"). In Zwickau, the music was performed at a concert given by Clara Wieck, who was then just 13 years old. On this occasion Clara played bravura Variations by Henri Herz, a composer whom Schumann was already deriding as a philistine. Schumann's mother said to Clara, "You must marry my Robert one day." The Symphony in G minor was not published during Schumann's lifetime but has been played and recorded in recent times.
The 1833 deaths of Schumann's brother Julius and his sister-in-law Rosalie in the worldwide cholera pandemic brought on a severe depressive episode.
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
By spring 1834, Schumann had sufficiently recovered to inaugurate Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik ("New Journal for Music"), first published on 3 April 1834. In his writings, Schumann created a fictional music society based on people in his life, called the Davidsbündler, named after the biblical King David who fought against the Philistines. Schumann published most of his critical writings in the journal, and often lambasted the popular taste for flashy technical displays from figures whom Schumann perceived as inferior composers, or "philistines". Schumann campaigned to revive interest in major composers of the past, including Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. He also promoted the work of some contemporary composers, including Chopin (about whom Schumann famously wrote, "Hats off, Gentlemen! A genius!") and Hector Berlioz, whom he praised for creating music of substance. On the other hand, Schumann disparaged the school of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. Among Schumann's associates at this time were composers Norbert Burgmüller and Ludwig Schuncke (to whom Schumann dedicated his Toccata in C).
Carnaval
Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834) is one of Schumann's most characteristic piano works. Schumann begins nearly every section of Carnaval with a musical cryptogram, the musical notes signified in German by the letters that spell Asch (A, E-flat, C, and B, or alternatively A-flat, C, and B; in German these are A, Es, C and H, and As, C and H respectively), the Bohemian town in which Ernestine was born, and the notes are also the musical letters in Schumann's own name. Eusebius and Florestan, the imaginary figures appearing so often in his critical writings, also appear, alongside brilliant imitations of Chopin and Paganini. To each of these characters he devotes a section of Carnaval. The work comes to a close with a march of the Davidsbündler—the league of King David's men against the Philistines—in which may be heard the clear accents of truth in contest with the dull clamour of falsehood embodied in a quotation from the seventeenth century Grandfather's Dance. The march, a step nearly always in duple meter, is here in 3/4 time (triple meter). The work ends in joy and a degree of mock-triumph. In Carnaval, Schumann went further than in Papillons, by conceiving the story as well as the musical representation (and also displaying a maturation of compositional resource).
Relationships
During the summer of 1834 Schumann became engaged to 16-year-old Ernestine von Fricken, the adopted daughter of a rich Bohemian-born noble. In August 1835, he learned that Ernestine was born illegitimate, which meant that she would have no dowry. Fearful that her limited means would force him to earn his living like a "day-labourer," Schumann completely broke with her toward the end of the year. He felt a growing attraction to 15-year-old Clara Wieck. They made mutual declarations of love in December in Zwickau, where Clara appeared in concert. His budding romance with Clara was disrupted when her father learned of their trysts during the Christmas holidays. He summarily forbade them further meetings, and ordered all their correspondence burnt.
1835–1839
On 3 October 1835, Schumann met Felix Mendelssohn at Wieck's house in Leipzig, and his enthusiastic appreciation of that artist was shown with the same generous freedom that distinguished his acknowledgement of the greatness of Chopin and other colleagues, and later prompted him to publicly pronounce the then-unknown Johannes Brahms a genius.
In 1837 Schumann published his Symphonic Studies, a complex set of étude-like variations written in 1834–1835, which demanded a finished piano technique. These variations were based on a theme by the adoptive father of Ernestine von Fricken. The work—described as "one of the peaks of the piano literature, lofty in conception and faultless in workmanship" [Hutcheson]—was dedicated to the young English composer William Sterndale Bennett, for whom Schumann had had a high regard when they worked together in Leipzig.
The Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, (also published in 1837 despite the low opus number) literally "Dances of the League of David", is an embodiment of the struggle between enlightened Romanticism and musical philistinism. Schumann credited the two sides of his character with the composition of the work (the more passionate numbers are signed F. (Florestan) and the more dreamy signed E. (Eusebius)). The work begins with the "motto of C. W." (Clara Wieck) denoting her support for the ideals of the Davidsbund. The Bund was a music society of Schumann's imagination, members of which were kindred spirits (as he saw them) such as Chopin, Paganini and Clara, as well as the personalized Florestan and Eusebius.
Kinderszenen, Op. 15, completed in 1838 and a favourite of Schumann's piano works, depicts the innocence and playfulness of childhood. The "Träumerei" in F major, No. 7 of the set, is one of the most famous piano pieces ever written, and has been performed in myriad forms and transcriptions. It has been the favourite encore of several great pianists, including Vladimir Horowitz. Melodic and deceptively simple, the piece is "complex" in its harmonic structure.
Kreisleriana, Op. 16 (1838), considered one of Schumann's greatest works, carried his fantasy and emotional range deeper. Johannes Kreisler was a fictional musician created by poet E. T. A. Hoffmann, and characterized as a "romantic brought into contact with reality." Schumann used the figure to express "fantastic and mad" emotional states. According to Hutcheson ("The Literature of the Piano"), this work is "among the finest efforts of Schumann's genius. He never surpassed the searching beauty of the slow movements (Nos. 2, 4, 6) or the urgent passion of others (Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7) […] To appreciate it a high level of aesthetic intelligence is required […] This is no facile music, there is severity alike in its beauty and its passion."
The Fantasie in C, Op. 17, composed in the summer of 1836, is a work of passion and deep pathos, imbued with the spirit of the late Beethoven. Schumann intended to use proceeds from sales of the work toward the construction of a monument to Beethoven, who had died in 1827. The first movement of the Fantasie contains a musical quote from Beethoven's song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (at the Adagio coda, taken from the last song of the cycle). The original titles of the movements were Ruins, Triumphal Arch, and The Starry Crown. According to Franz Liszt, who played the work for Schumann and to whom it was dedicated, the Fantasie was apt to be played too heavily, and should have a dreamier (träumerisch) character than vigorous German pianists tended to impart. Liszt also said: "It is a noble work, worthy of Beethoven, whose career, by the way, it is supposed to represent". Again, according to Hutcheson: "No words can describe the Phantasie, no quotations set forth the majesty of its genius. It must suffice to say that it is Schumann's greatest work in large form for piano solo."
After a visit to Vienna, during which he discovered Franz Schubert's previously unknown Symphony No. 9 in C, in 1839 Schumann wrote the Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Carnival Prank from Vienna). Most of the joke is in the central section of the first movement, which makes a thinly veiled reference to La Marseillaise. (Vienna had banned the song due to harsh memories of Napoleon's invasion.) The festive mood does not preclude moments of melancholic introspection in the Intermezzo.
1840–1849
From 1832 to 1839, Schumann wrote almost exclusively for piano, but in 1840 alone he wrote at least 138 songs. Indeed, 1840 (the Liederjahr or year of song) is highly significant in Schumann's musical legacy, despite his earlier deriding of works for piano and voice as inferior.
After a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Schumann married Clara Wieck in the in Leipzig-Schönefeld, on 12 September 1840, the day before her 21st birthday. Had they waited another day, they would no longer have required her father's consent. Their marriage supported a remarkable business partnership, with Clara acting as an inspiration, critic, and confidante to her husband. Despite her delicate appearance, she was an extremely strong-willed and energetic woman, who kept up a demanding schedule of concert tours in between bearing several children. Two years after their marriage, Friedrich Wieck at last reconciled himself with the couple, eager to see his grandchildren.
Prior to the legal case and subsequent marriage, the lovers exchanged love letters and rendezvoused in secret. Robert often waited for hours in a cafe in a nearby city just to see Clara for a few minutes after one of her concerts. The strain of this long courtship and its consummation may have led to this great outpouring of Lieder (vocal songs with piano accompaniment). This is evident in Widmung, for example, where he uses the melody from Schubert's Ave Maria in the postlude in homage to Clara. Schumann's biographers attribute the sweetness, doubt, and despair of these songs to the emotions aroused by his love for Clara and the uncertainties of their future together.
Robert and Clara had eight children, Emil (1846–1847), who died at 1 year; Marie (1841–1929); Elise (1843–1928); Julie (1845–1872); Ludwig (1848–1899); Ferdinand (1849–1891); Eugenie (1851–1938); and Felix (1854–1879).
His chief song-cycles in this period were settings of the Liederkreis of Joseph von Eichendorff, Op. 39 (depicting a series of moods relating to or inspired by nature); the Frauenliebe und -leben of Chamisso, Op. 42 (relating the tale of a woman's marriage, childbirth and widowhood); the Dichterliebe of Heine, Op. 48 (depicting a lover rejected, but coming to terms with his painful loss through renunciation and forgiveness); and Myrthen, a collection of songs, including poems by Goethe, Rückert, Heine, Byron, Burns and Moore. The songs Belsatzar, Op. 57 and Die beiden Grenadiere, Op. 49, both to Heine's words, show Schumann at his best as a ballad writer, although the dramatic ballad is less congenial to him than the introspective lyric. The Op. 35, 40 and 98a sets (words by Justinus Kerner, Chamisso and Goethe respectively), although less well known, also contain songs of lyric and dramatic quality.
In 1841 he wrote two of his four symphonies, No. 1 in B-flat, Op. 38, Spring and No. 4 in D minor (the latter a pioneering work in "cyclic form", was performed that year but published only much later after revision and extensive re-orchestration as Op. 120). He devoted 1842 to composing chamber music, including the Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44, now one of his best known and most admired works; the Piano Quartet and three string quartets. In 1843 he wrote Paradise and the Peri, his first attempt at concerted vocal music, an oratorio style work based on Lalla-Rookh by Thomas Moore. The main role of Peri in the world premiere was performed by Schumann's family friend, soprano Livia Frege. After this, his compositions were not confined to any one form during any particular period.
The stage in his life when he was deeply engaged in setting Goethe's Faust to music (1844–53) was a turbulent one for his health. He spent the first half of 1844 with Clara on tour in Russia, and his depression grew worse as he felt inferior to Clara as a musician. On returning to Germany, he abandoned his editorial work and left Leipzig for Dresden, where he suffered from persistent "nervous prostration". As soon as he began to work, he was seized with fits of shivering and an apprehension of death, experiencing an abhorrence of high places, all metal instruments (even keys), and drugs. Schumann's diaries also state that he suffered perpetually from imagining that he had the note A5 sounding in his ears.
His state of unease and neurasthenia is reflected in his Symphony in C, numbered second but third in order of composition, in which the composer explores states of exhaustion, obsession, and depression, culminating in Beethovenian spiritual triumph. Also published in 1845 was his Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, originally conceived and performed as a one-movement Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra in 1841. It is one of the most popular and oft-recorded of all piano concertos; according to Hutcheson "Schumann achieved a masterly work and we inherited the finest piano concerto since Mozart and Beethoven".
In 1846, he felt he had recovered. In the winter, the Schumanns revisited Vienna, traveling to Prague and Berlin in the spring of 1847 and in the summer to Zwickau, where he was received with enthusiasm. This pleased him, since until that time he was famous in only Dresden and Leipzig.
His only opera, Genoveva, Op. 81, premiered in Spring 1850. In it, Schumann attempted to abolish recitative, which he regarded as an interruption to the musical flow (an influence on Richard Wagner; Schumann's consistently flowing melody can be seen as a forerunner to Wagner's Melos). The subject of Genoveva—based on Ludwig Tieck and Christian Friedrich Hebbel's plays—was not seen an ideal choice. The text is often considered to lack dramatic qualities; the work has not remained in the repertoire. As early as 1842 the possibilities of German opera had been keenly realized by Schumann, who wrote, "Do you know my prayer as an artist, night and morning? It is called 'German Opera.' Here is a real field for enterprise ... something simple, profound, German". And in his notebook of suggestions for the text of operas are found amongst others: Nibelungen, Lohengrin and Till Eulenspiegel.
The music to Byron's Manfred was written in 1849, the overture of which is one of Schumann's most frequently performed orchestral works. The insurrection of Dresden caused Schumann to move to Kreischa, a little village a few miles outside the city. In August 1849, on the occasion of the centenary of Goethe's birth, completed scenes of Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust were performed in Dresden, Leipzig and Weimar. Liszt gave him assistance and encouragement. The rest of the work was written later in 1849, and the overture (which Schumann described as "one of the sturdiest of [his] creations") in 1853.
After 1850
From 1850 to 1854, Schumann composed in a wide variety of genres. Critics have disputed the quality of his work at this time; a widely held view has been that his music showed signs of mental breakdown and creative decay. More recently, critics have suggested that the changes in style may be explained by "lucid experimentation".
In 1850, Schumann succeeded Ferdinand Hiller as musical director at Düsseldorf, but he was a poor conductor and quickly aroused the opposition of the musicians. According to Harold C. Schonberg, in his 1967 The Great Conductors: "The great composer was impossible on the platform ... There is something heartrending about poor Schumann's epochal inefficiency as a conductor." His contract was eventually terminated. By the end of that year he completed his Symphony No. 3, "Rhenish" (a work containing five movements and whose 4th movement is apparently intended to represent an episcopal coronation ceremony). In 1851 he revised what would be published as his fourth symphony. From 1851 to 1853 he visited Switzerland, Belgium and Leipzig.
On 30 September 1853, the 20-year-old composer Johannes Brahms arrived unannounced at the door of the Schumanns carrying a letter of introduction from violinist Joseph Joachim. (Schumann was not at home, and would not meet Brahms until the next day.) Brahms amazed Clara and Robert with his music, stayed with them for several weeks, and became a close family friend. (He later worked closely with Clara to popularize Schumann's compositions during her long widowhood.)
During this time Schumann, Brahms and Schumann's pupil Albert Dietrich collaborated on the composition of the F-A-E Sonata for Joachim; Schumann also published an article, "Neue Bahnen" ("New Paths") in the Neue Zeitschrift (his first article in many years), hailing the unknown young Brahms from Hamburg, a man who had published nothing, as "the Chosen One" who "was destined to give ideal expression to the times." It was an extraordinary way to present Brahms to the musical world, setting up great expectations that he did not fulfill for many years. In January 1854, Schumann went to Hanover, where he heard a performance of his Paradise and the Peri organized by Joachim and Brahms. Two years later at Schumann's request, the work received its first English performance conducted by William Sterndale Bennett.
Schumann returned to Düsseldorf and began to edit his complete works and make an anthology on the subject of music. He suffered a renewal of the symptoms that had threatened him earlier. Besides the single note sounding in his ear (possibly evidence of tinnitus,) he imagined that voices sounded in his ear and he heard angelic music. One night he suddenly left his bed, having dreamt or imagined that a ghost (purportedly the spirit of either Schubert or Mendelssohn) had dictated a "spirit theme" to him. The theme was one he had used several times before: in his Second String Quartet, again in his Lieder-Album für die Jugend, and finally in the slow movement of his Violin Concerto. In the days leading up to his suicide attempt, Schumann wrote five variations on this theme for the piano, his last completed work, today known as the Geistervariationen (Ghost Variations). Brahms published it in a supplementary volume to the complete edition of Schumann's piano music. In 1861 Brahms published his Variations for Piano Four Hands, Op. 23, based on this theme.
Final illness and death
In late February 1854, Schumann's symptoms increased, the angelic visions sometimes being replaced by demonic ones. He warned Clara that he feared he might do her harm. On 27 February, he attempted suicide by throwing himself from a bridge into the Rhine River (his elder sister Emilie had committed suicide in 1825, possibly by drowning herself). Rescued by boatmen and taken home, he asked to be taken to an asylum for the insane. He entered Dr. Franz Richarz's sanatorium in Endenich, a quarter of Bonn, and remained there until he died on 29 July 1856 at the age of 46. During his confinement, he was not allowed to see Clara, although Brahms was free to visit him. Clara finally visited him two days before his death. He appeared to recognize her, but was able to speak only a few words.
Given his reported symptoms, one modern view is that he died from syphilis, which he could have contracted during his student days, and which could have remained latent during most of his marriage. According to studies by the musicologist and literary scholar Eric Sams, Schumann's symptoms during his terminal illness and death appear consistent with those of mercury poisoning; mercury was a common treatment for syphilis and other conditions. Another possibility is that his neurological problems were a result of an intracranial mass. A report by Janisch and Nauhaus on Schumann's autopsy indicates that he had a "gelatinous" tumor at the base of the brain; it may have represented a colloid cyst, a craniopharyngioma, a chordoma, or a chordoid meningioma. In particular, meningiomas are known to produce musical auditory hallucinations such as Schumann reported. It has also been hypothesised that he suffered from schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder; bipolar type, or bipolar disorder and bipolar II disorder. His medical records from this illness were released in 1991, and suggest a "progressive paralysis", a term used for neurosyphilis at the time, although a diagnostic test for Treponema pallidum did not become available till 1906.
Schumann heard a persistent A-note at the end of his life. It was a form of tinnitus, or perhaps an auditory hallucination related to his major depressive episode. At times, he had musical hallucinations that were longer than just the single A, but his diaries include comments about hearing that annoying single note.
After Robert's death, Clara continued her career as a concert pianist, which supported the family. From mid-career on, she mainly performed music by leading composers. A hired cook and housekeeper tended to the children while she traveled. In 1856, she first visited England. The critics received Robert's music coolly, with Henry Fothergill Chorley being particularly harsh. She returned to London in 1865 and made regular appearances there in later years, often performing chamber music with the violinist Joseph Joachim and others. She became the authoritative editor of her husband's works for Breitkopf & Härtel. It was rumoured that she and Brahms destroyed many of Schumann's later works, which they thought were tainted by his madness, but only the Five Pieces for Cello and Piano are known to have been destroyed. Most of Schumann's late works, particularly the Violin Concerto, the Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra and the Violin Sonata No. 3, all from 1853, have entered the repertoire.
Legacy
Schumann had considerable influence in the nineteenth century and beyond, despite his adoption of more conservative modes of composition after his marriage. He left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Partly through his protégé Brahms, Schumann's ideals and musical vocabulary became widely disseminated. Composer Sir Edward Elgar called Schumann "my ideal."
Schumann has often been confused with Austrian composer Franz Schubert; one well-known example occurred in 1956, when East Germany issued a pair of postage stamps featuring Schumann's picture against an open score that featured Schubert's music. The stamps were soon replaced by a pair featuring music written by Schumann.
Instruments
One of the best known instruments that Robert Schumann played on was the grand piano by Conrad Graf, a present from Graf on the occasion of Robert and Clara’s marriage in 1839. This instrument stood in Schumann’s workroom in Düsseldorf and was later given by Clara Schumann to Johannes Brahms. After changing a few lodgings, it was received by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and can be seen at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Compositions
List of compositions by Robert Schumann
:Category:Compositions by Robert Schumann
Media portrayals
Dreaming (1944) is a UFA movie starring Mathias Wieman as Schumann, Hilde Krahl as Clara Wieck, Ullrich Haupt as Johannes Brahms, and Emil Lohkamp as Franz Liszt.
Song of Love (1947) is an MGM film starring Paul Henreid as Schumann, Katharine Hepburn as Clara Wieck, Robert Walker as Johannes Brahms, and Henry Daniell as Franz Liszt.
Peter Schamoni's 1983 movie Frühlingssinfonie (Spring Symphony) tells the story of Schumann and Wieck's romance, against her father's opposition. Robert was played by Herbert Grönemeyer, Clara by Nastassja Kinski, and Clara's father by Rolf Hoppe. The role of Niccolò Paganini was played by the violinist Gidon Kremer. The score was written by Grönemeyer and conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.
The Andrew Crumey novel Mobius Dick has a chapter depicting Schumann at Endenich.
Seinfeld: Robert Schumann is mentioned in a 1991 episode of Seinfeld called "The Jacket".
Frasier: The troubled Dresden premiere of the Second Symphony is mentioned in a 1998 episode of Frasier "Frasier's Curse".
Geliebte Clara ("Beloved Clara") was a 2008 Franco-German-Hungarian film about the lives of Clara and Robert.
Longing is a 2000 biographical novel by American author J. D. Landis.
Notes
References
Bibliography
Books and encyclopedias
The author argues that the composer was mentally normal all his life, until the sudden onset of insanity near the end resulting from tertiary syphilis
Articles
Websites
Works by Schumann
External links
Musical Rules at Home and in Life – text by Robert Schumann
Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig – edition of letters written by Robert and Clara Schumann
The city of Robert Schumann
(texts)
(audio and video)
1810 births
1856 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century male conductors (music)
19th-century conductors (music)
19th-century German composers
19th-century German journalists
19th-century German male writers
Composers for piano
Composers for pipe organ
German Romantic composers
German conductors (music)
German opera composers
German male classical composers
German male conductors (music)
German music critics
German male journalists
Male opera composers
Classical music critics
Musicians from Leipzig
Musicians from Düsseldorf
People from the Kingdom of Saxony
People from Zwickau
Pupils of Friedrich Wieck
Leipzig University alumni
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig faculty
People with bipolar disorder
Angelic visionaries
Heinrich Heine
Composers for pedal piano
Musicians with dystonia
German magazine founders
Deaths in mental institutions | false | [
"The Extraordinary Tale of Nicholas Pierce is a 2011 adventure novel written by Alexander DeLuca. It follows the journey of a university teacher Nicholas Pierce, who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder as he searches for his biological parents, traveling across states in the United States of America. He travels with a friend, who is an eccentric barista in a cafe in upstate New York, named Sergei Tarasov.\n\nPlot\nNicholas Pierce suffers from OCD. He is also missing the memory of the first five years of his life. Raised by adoptive parents, one day he receives a mysterious box from an \"Uncle Nathan\". Curious, he sets off on a journey to find his biological parents with a Russian friend, Sergei Tarasov. On the trip, they meet several people, face money problems and different challenges. They also pick up a hitchhiker, Jessica, who later turns out to be a criminal.\n\nFinally, Nicholas finds his grandparents, who direct him to his biological parents. When he meets them, he finds out that his vaguely registered biological 'parents' were actually neighbors of his real parents who had died in an accident. The mysterious box that he had received is destroyed. He finds out that it contained photographs from his early life.\n\n2011 American novels\nNovels about obsessive–compulsive disorder",
"Bomba and the Jungle Girl is a 1952 adventure film directed by Ford Beebe and starring Johnny Sheffield. It is the eighth film (of 12) in the Bomba, the Jungle Boy film series.\n\nPlot\nBomba decides to find out who his parents were. He starts with Cody Casson's diary and follows the trail to a native village. An ancient blind woman tells him his parents, along the village's true ruler, were murdered by the current chieftain and his daughter. With the aid of an inspector and his daughter, Bomba battles the usurpers in the cave where his parents were buried.\n\nCast\nJohnny Sheffield\nKaren Sharpe\nWalter Sande\nSuzette Harbin\nMartin Wilkins\nMorris Buchanan\nLeonard Mudie\nDon Blackman.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1952 films\nAmerican films\nAmerican adventure films\nFilms directed by Ford Beebe\nFilms produced by Walter Mirisch\nMonogram Pictures films\n1952 adventure films\nAmerican black-and-white films"
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| C_021a941b0ca84f27a6c2fe522c928a28_1 | What was his childhood like | 4 | What was Robert Schumann's childhood like? | Robert Schumann | Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony, the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (nee Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music - undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist. Schumann began receiving general musical and piano instruction at the age of seven from Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music and worked at creating musical compositions himself, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody, - ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait." At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene. Schumann's interest in music was sparked by seeing a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged the boy's musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Neither his mother nor his guardian thereafter encouraged a career in music. In 1828 Schumann left school, and after a tour during which he met Heinrich Heine in Munich, he went to Leipzig to study law (to meet the terms of his inheritance). In 1829 his law studies continued in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg. CANNOTANSWER | Schumann began receiving general musical and piano instruction at the age of seven from Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. | Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured him that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.
In 1840, Schumann married Clara Wieck, after a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Friedrich, who opposed the marriage. A lifelong partnership in music began, as Clara herself was an established pianist and music prodigy. Clara and Robert also maintained a close relationship with German composer Johannes Brahms.
Until 1840, Schumann wrote exclusively for the piano. Later, he composed piano and orchestral works, and many Lieder (songs for voice and piano). He composed four symphonies, one opera, and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. His best-known works include Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in C. Schumann was known for infusing his music with characters through motifs, as well as references to works of literature. These characters bled into his editorial writing in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a Leipzig-based publication that he co-founded.
Schumann suffered from a mental disorder that first manifested in 1833 as a severe melancholic depressive episode—which recurred several times alternating with phases of "exaltation" and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic items. What is now thought to have been a combination of bipolar disorder and perhaps mercury poisoning led to "manic" and "depressive" periods in Schumann's compositional productivity. After a suicide attempt in 1854, Schumann was admitted at his own request to a mental asylum in Endenich (now in Bonn). Diagnosed with psychotic melancholia, he died of pneumonia two years later at the age of 46, without recovering from his mental illness.
Biography
Early life
Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony (today Central Germany), the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (née Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music—undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist.
At age seven, Schumann began studying general music and piano with Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music, and worked on his own compositions, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody,—ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait."
At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene.
Schumann's interest in music was sparked by attending a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged his musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Thereafter, neither his mother nor his guardian encouraged him to pursue a music career. In 1828, Schumann left high school, and after a trip during which he met the poet Heinrich Heine in Munich, he left to study law at the University of Leipzig under family pressure. But in Leipzig Schumann instead focused on improvisation, song composition, and writing novels. He also began to seriously study piano with Friedrich Wieck, a well-known piano teacher. In 1829, he continued his law studies in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg.
1830–1834
During Eastertide 1830, he heard the Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer Niccolò Paganini play in Frankfurt. In July he wrote to his mother, "My whole life has been a struggle between Poetry and Prose, or call it Music and Law." With her permission, by Christmas he was back in Leipzig, at age 20 taking piano lessons from his old master Friedrich Wieck, who assured him that he would be a successful concert pianist after a few years' study with him. During his studies with Wieck, some stories claim that Schumann permanently injured a finger on his right hand. Wieck claimed that Schumann damaged his finger by using a mechanical device that held back one finger while he exercised the others—which was supposed to strengthen the weakest fingers. Clara Schumann discredited the story, saying the disability was not due to a mechanical device, and Robert Schumann himself referred to it as "an affliction of the whole hand." Some argue that, as the disability appeared to have been chronic and have affected the hand, and not just a finger, it was not likely caused by a finger strengthening device. In 2012, neurologists discussed Schumann's symptoms at a conference called "Musicians With Dystonia."
Schumann abandoned the idea of a concert career and devoted himself instead to composition. To this end he began a study of music theory under Heinrich Dorn, a German composer six years his senior and, at that time, conductor of the Leipzig Opera.
Papillons
Schumann's fusion of literary ideas with musical ones—known as program music—may have first taken shape in Papillons, Op. 2 (Butterflies), a musical portrayal of events in Jean Paul's novel Flegeljahre. In a letter from Leipzig dated April 1832, Schumann bids his brothers, "Read the last scene in Jean Paul's Flegeljahre as soon as possible, because the Papillons are intended as a musical representation of that masquerade." This inspiration is foreshadowed to some extent in his first written criticism—an 1831 essay on Frédéric Chopin's variations on a theme from Mozart's Don Giovanni, published in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. In it, Schumann creates imaginary characters who discuss Chopin's work: Florestan (the embodiment of Schumann's passionate, voluble side) and Eusebius (his dreamy, introspective side)—the counterparts of Vult and Walt in Flegeljahre. They call on a third, Meister Raro, for his opinion. Raro may represent either the composer himself, Wieck's daughter Clara, or the combination of the two (Clara + Robert).
In the winter of 1832, at age 22, Schumann visited relatives in Zwickau and Schneeberg, where he performed the first movement of his Symphony in G minor (without opus number, known as the "Zwickauer"). In Zwickau, the music was performed at a concert given by Clara Wieck, who was then just 13 years old. On this occasion Clara played bravura Variations by Henri Herz, a composer whom Schumann was already deriding as a philistine. Schumann's mother said to Clara, "You must marry my Robert one day." The Symphony in G minor was not published during Schumann's lifetime but has been played and recorded in recent times.
The 1833 deaths of Schumann's brother Julius and his sister-in-law Rosalie in the worldwide cholera pandemic brought on a severe depressive episode.
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
By spring 1834, Schumann had sufficiently recovered to inaugurate Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik ("New Journal for Music"), first published on 3 April 1834. In his writings, Schumann created a fictional music society based on people in his life, called the Davidsbündler, named after the biblical King David who fought against the Philistines. Schumann published most of his critical writings in the journal, and often lambasted the popular taste for flashy technical displays from figures whom Schumann perceived as inferior composers, or "philistines". Schumann campaigned to revive interest in major composers of the past, including Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. He also promoted the work of some contemporary composers, including Chopin (about whom Schumann famously wrote, "Hats off, Gentlemen! A genius!") and Hector Berlioz, whom he praised for creating music of substance. On the other hand, Schumann disparaged the school of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. Among Schumann's associates at this time were composers Norbert Burgmüller and Ludwig Schuncke (to whom Schumann dedicated his Toccata in C).
Carnaval
Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834) is one of Schumann's most characteristic piano works. Schumann begins nearly every section of Carnaval with a musical cryptogram, the musical notes signified in German by the letters that spell Asch (A, E-flat, C, and B, or alternatively A-flat, C, and B; in German these are A, Es, C and H, and As, C and H respectively), the Bohemian town in which Ernestine was born, and the notes are also the musical letters in Schumann's own name. Eusebius and Florestan, the imaginary figures appearing so often in his critical writings, also appear, alongside brilliant imitations of Chopin and Paganini. To each of these characters he devotes a section of Carnaval. The work comes to a close with a march of the Davidsbündler—the league of King David's men against the Philistines—in which may be heard the clear accents of truth in contest with the dull clamour of falsehood embodied in a quotation from the seventeenth century Grandfather's Dance. The march, a step nearly always in duple meter, is here in 3/4 time (triple meter). The work ends in joy and a degree of mock-triumph. In Carnaval, Schumann went further than in Papillons, by conceiving the story as well as the musical representation (and also displaying a maturation of compositional resource).
Relationships
During the summer of 1834 Schumann became engaged to 16-year-old Ernestine von Fricken, the adopted daughter of a rich Bohemian-born noble. In August 1835, he learned that Ernestine was born illegitimate, which meant that she would have no dowry. Fearful that her limited means would force him to earn his living like a "day-labourer," Schumann completely broke with her toward the end of the year. He felt a growing attraction to 15-year-old Clara Wieck. They made mutual declarations of love in December in Zwickau, where Clara appeared in concert. His budding romance with Clara was disrupted when her father learned of their trysts during the Christmas holidays. He summarily forbade them further meetings, and ordered all their correspondence burnt.
1835–1839
On 3 October 1835, Schumann met Felix Mendelssohn at Wieck's house in Leipzig, and his enthusiastic appreciation of that artist was shown with the same generous freedom that distinguished his acknowledgement of the greatness of Chopin and other colleagues, and later prompted him to publicly pronounce the then-unknown Johannes Brahms a genius.
In 1837 Schumann published his Symphonic Studies, a complex set of étude-like variations written in 1834–1835, which demanded a finished piano technique. These variations were based on a theme by the adoptive father of Ernestine von Fricken. The work—described as "one of the peaks of the piano literature, lofty in conception and faultless in workmanship" [Hutcheson]—was dedicated to the young English composer William Sterndale Bennett, for whom Schumann had had a high regard when they worked together in Leipzig.
The Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, (also published in 1837 despite the low opus number) literally "Dances of the League of David", is an embodiment of the struggle between enlightened Romanticism and musical philistinism. Schumann credited the two sides of his character with the composition of the work (the more passionate numbers are signed F. (Florestan) and the more dreamy signed E. (Eusebius)). The work begins with the "motto of C. W." (Clara Wieck) denoting her support for the ideals of the Davidsbund. The Bund was a music society of Schumann's imagination, members of which were kindred spirits (as he saw them) such as Chopin, Paganini and Clara, as well as the personalized Florestan and Eusebius.
Kinderszenen, Op. 15, completed in 1838 and a favourite of Schumann's piano works, depicts the innocence and playfulness of childhood. The "Träumerei" in F major, No. 7 of the set, is one of the most famous piano pieces ever written, and has been performed in myriad forms and transcriptions. It has been the favourite encore of several great pianists, including Vladimir Horowitz. Melodic and deceptively simple, the piece is "complex" in its harmonic structure.
Kreisleriana, Op. 16 (1838), considered one of Schumann's greatest works, carried his fantasy and emotional range deeper. Johannes Kreisler was a fictional musician created by poet E. T. A. Hoffmann, and characterized as a "romantic brought into contact with reality." Schumann used the figure to express "fantastic and mad" emotional states. According to Hutcheson ("The Literature of the Piano"), this work is "among the finest efforts of Schumann's genius. He never surpassed the searching beauty of the slow movements (Nos. 2, 4, 6) or the urgent passion of others (Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7) […] To appreciate it a high level of aesthetic intelligence is required […] This is no facile music, there is severity alike in its beauty and its passion."
The Fantasie in C, Op. 17, composed in the summer of 1836, is a work of passion and deep pathos, imbued with the spirit of the late Beethoven. Schumann intended to use proceeds from sales of the work toward the construction of a monument to Beethoven, who had died in 1827. The first movement of the Fantasie contains a musical quote from Beethoven's song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (at the Adagio coda, taken from the last song of the cycle). The original titles of the movements were Ruins, Triumphal Arch, and The Starry Crown. According to Franz Liszt, who played the work for Schumann and to whom it was dedicated, the Fantasie was apt to be played too heavily, and should have a dreamier (träumerisch) character than vigorous German pianists tended to impart. Liszt also said: "It is a noble work, worthy of Beethoven, whose career, by the way, it is supposed to represent". Again, according to Hutcheson: "No words can describe the Phantasie, no quotations set forth the majesty of its genius. It must suffice to say that it is Schumann's greatest work in large form for piano solo."
After a visit to Vienna, during which he discovered Franz Schubert's previously unknown Symphony No. 9 in C, in 1839 Schumann wrote the Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Carnival Prank from Vienna). Most of the joke is in the central section of the first movement, which makes a thinly veiled reference to La Marseillaise. (Vienna had banned the song due to harsh memories of Napoleon's invasion.) The festive mood does not preclude moments of melancholic introspection in the Intermezzo.
1840–1849
From 1832 to 1839, Schumann wrote almost exclusively for piano, but in 1840 alone he wrote at least 138 songs. Indeed, 1840 (the Liederjahr or year of song) is highly significant in Schumann's musical legacy, despite his earlier deriding of works for piano and voice as inferior.
After a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Schumann married Clara Wieck in the in Leipzig-Schönefeld, on 12 September 1840, the day before her 21st birthday. Had they waited another day, they would no longer have required her father's consent. Their marriage supported a remarkable business partnership, with Clara acting as an inspiration, critic, and confidante to her husband. Despite her delicate appearance, she was an extremely strong-willed and energetic woman, who kept up a demanding schedule of concert tours in between bearing several children. Two years after their marriage, Friedrich Wieck at last reconciled himself with the couple, eager to see his grandchildren.
Prior to the legal case and subsequent marriage, the lovers exchanged love letters and rendezvoused in secret. Robert often waited for hours in a cafe in a nearby city just to see Clara for a few minutes after one of her concerts. The strain of this long courtship and its consummation may have led to this great outpouring of Lieder (vocal songs with piano accompaniment). This is evident in Widmung, for example, where he uses the melody from Schubert's Ave Maria in the postlude in homage to Clara. Schumann's biographers attribute the sweetness, doubt, and despair of these songs to the emotions aroused by his love for Clara and the uncertainties of their future together.
Robert and Clara had eight children, Emil (1846–1847), who died at 1 year; Marie (1841–1929); Elise (1843–1928); Julie (1845–1872); Ludwig (1848–1899); Ferdinand (1849–1891); Eugenie (1851–1938); and Felix (1854–1879).
His chief song-cycles in this period were settings of the Liederkreis of Joseph von Eichendorff, Op. 39 (depicting a series of moods relating to or inspired by nature); the Frauenliebe und -leben of Chamisso, Op. 42 (relating the tale of a woman's marriage, childbirth and widowhood); the Dichterliebe of Heine, Op. 48 (depicting a lover rejected, but coming to terms with his painful loss through renunciation and forgiveness); and Myrthen, a collection of songs, including poems by Goethe, Rückert, Heine, Byron, Burns and Moore. The songs Belsatzar, Op. 57 and Die beiden Grenadiere, Op. 49, both to Heine's words, show Schumann at his best as a ballad writer, although the dramatic ballad is less congenial to him than the introspective lyric. The Op. 35, 40 and 98a sets (words by Justinus Kerner, Chamisso and Goethe respectively), although less well known, also contain songs of lyric and dramatic quality.
In 1841 he wrote two of his four symphonies, No. 1 in B-flat, Op. 38, Spring and No. 4 in D minor (the latter a pioneering work in "cyclic form", was performed that year but published only much later after revision and extensive re-orchestration as Op. 120). He devoted 1842 to composing chamber music, including the Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44, now one of his best known and most admired works; the Piano Quartet and three string quartets. In 1843 he wrote Paradise and the Peri, his first attempt at concerted vocal music, an oratorio style work based on Lalla-Rookh by Thomas Moore. The main role of Peri in the world premiere was performed by Schumann's family friend, soprano Livia Frege. After this, his compositions were not confined to any one form during any particular period.
The stage in his life when he was deeply engaged in setting Goethe's Faust to music (1844–53) was a turbulent one for his health. He spent the first half of 1844 with Clara on tour in Russia, and his depression grew worse as he felt inferior to Clara as a musician. On returning to Germany, he abandoned his editorial work and left Leipzig for Dresden, where he suffered from persistent "nervous prostration". As soon as he began to work, he was seized with fits of shivering and an apprehension of death, experiencing an abhorrence of high places, all metal instruments (even keys), and drugs. Schumann's diaries also state that he suffered perpetually from imagining that he had the note A5 sounding in his ears.
His state of unease and neurasthenia is reflected in his Symphony in C, numbered second but third in order of composition, in which the composer explores states of exhaustion, obsession, and depression, culminating in Beethovenian spiritual triumph. Also published in 1845 was his Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, originally conceived and performed as a one-movement Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra in 1841. It is one of the most popular and oft-recorded of all piano concertos; according to Hutcheson "Schumann achieved a masterly work and we inherited the finest piano concerto since Mozart and Beethoven".
In 1846, he felt he had recovered. In the winter, the Schumanns revisited Vienna, traveling to Prague and Berlin in the spring of 1847 and in the summer to Zwickau, where he was received with enthusiasm. This pleased him, since until that time he was famous in only Dresden and Leipzig.
His only opera, Genoveva, Op. 81, premiered in Spring 1850. In it, Schumann attempted to abolish recitative, which he regarded as an interruption to the musical flow (an influence on Richard Wagner; Schumann's consistently flowing melody can be seen as a forerunner to Wagner's Melos). The subject of Genoveva—based on Ludwig Tieck and Christian Friedrich Hebbel's plays—was not seen an ideal choice. The text is often considered to lack dramatic qualities; the work has not remained in the repertoire. As early as 1842 the possibilities of German opera had been keenly realized by Schumann, who wrote, "Do you know my prayer as an artist, night and morning? It is called 'German Opera.' Here is a real field for enterprise ... something simple, profound, German". And in his notebook of suggestions for the text of operas are found amongst others: Nibelungen, Lohengrin and Till Eulenspiegel.
The music to Byron's Manfred was written in 1849, the overture of which is one of Schumann's most frequently performed orchestral works. The insurrection of Dresden caused Schumann to move to Kreischa, a little village a few miles outside the city. In August 1849, on the occasion of the centenary of Goethe's birth, completed scenes of Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust were performed in Dresden, Leipzig and Weimar. Liszt gave him assistance and encouragement. The rest of the work was written later in 1849, and the overture (which Schumann described as "one of the sturdiest of [his] creations") in 1853.
After 1850
From 1850 to 1854, Schumann composed in a wide variety of genres. Critics have disputed the quality of his work at this time; a widely held view has been that his music showed signs of mental breakdown and creative decay. More recently, critics have suggested that the changes in style may be explained by "lucid experimentation".
In 1850, Schumann succeeded Ferdinand Hiller as musical director at Düsseldorf, but he was a poor conductor and quickly aroused the opposition of the musicians. According to Harold C. Schonberg, in his 1967 The Great Conductors: "The great composer was impossible on the platform ... There is something heartrending about poor Schumann's epochal inefficiency as a conductor." His contract was eventually terminated. By the end of that year he completed his Symphony No. 3, "Rhenish" (a work containing five movements and whose 4th movement is apparently intended to represent an episcopal coronation ceremony). In 1851 he revised what would be published as his fourth symphony. From 1851 to 1853 he visited Switzerland, Belgium and Leipzig.
On 30 September 1853, the 20-year-old composer Johannes Brahms arrived unannounced at the door of the Schumanns carrying a letter of introduction from violinist Joseph Joachim. (Schumann was not at home, and would not meet Brahms until the next day.) Brahms amazed Clara and Robert with his music, stayed with them for several weeks, and became a close family friend. (He later worked closely with Clara to popularize Schumann's compositions during her long widowhood.)
During this time Schumann, Brahms and Schumann's pupil Albert Dietrich collaborated on the composition of the F-A-E Sonata for Joachim; Schumann also published an article, "Neue Bahnen" ("New Paths") in the Neue Zeitschrift (his first article in many years), hailing the unknown young Brahms from Hamburg, a man who had published nothing, as "the Chosen One" who "was destined to give ideal expression to the times." It was an extraordinary way to present Brahms to the musical world, setting up great expectations that he did not fulfill for many years. In January 1854, Schumann went to Hanover, where he heard a performance of his Paradise and the Peri organized by Joachim and Brahms. Two years later at Schumann's request, the work received its first English performance conducted by William Sterndale Bennett.
Schumann returned to Düsseldorf and began to edit his complete works and make an anthology on the subject of music. He suffered a renewal of the symptoms that had threatened him earlier. Besides the single note sounding in his ear (possibly evidence of tinnitus,) he imagined that voices sounded in his ear and he heard angelic music. One night he suddenly left his bed, having dreamt or imagined that a ghost (purportedly the spirit of either Schubert or Mendelssohn) had dictated a "spirit theme" to him. The theme was one he had used several times before: in his Second String Quartet, again in his Lieder-Album für die Jugend, and finally in the slow movement of his Violin Concerto. In the days leading up to his suicide attempt, Schumann wrote five variations on this theme for the piano, his last completed work, today known as the Geistervariationen (Ghost Variations). Brahms published it in a supplementary volume to the complete edition of Schumann's piano music. In 1861 Brahms published his Variations for Piano Four Hands, Op. 23, based on this theme.
Final illness and death
In late February 1854, Schumann's symptoms increased, the angelic visions sometimes being replaced by demonic ones. He warned Clara that he feared he might do her harm. On 27 February, he attempted suicide by throwing himself from a bridge into the Rhine River (his elder sister Emilie had committed suicide in 1825, possibly by drowning herself). Rescued by boatmen and taken home, he asked to be taken to an asylum for the insane. He entered Dr. Franz Richarz's sanatorium in Endenich, a quarter of Bonn, and remained there until he died on 29 July 1856 at the age of 46. During his confinement, he was not allowed to see Clara, although Brahms was free to visit him. Clara finally visited him two days before his death. He appeared to recognize her, but was able to speak only a few words.
Given his reported symptoms, one modern view is that he died from syphilis, which he could have contracted during his student days, and which could have remained latent during most of his marriage. According to studies by the musicologist and literary scholar Eric Sams, Schumann's symptoms during his terminal illness and death appear consistent with those of mercury poisoning; mercury was a common treatment for syphilis and other conditions. Another possibility is that his neurological problems were a result of an intracranial mass. A report by Janisch and Nauhaus on Schumann's autopsy indicates that he had a "gelatinous" tumor at the base of the brain; it may have represented a colloid cyst, a craniopharyngioma, a chordoma, or a chordoid meningioma. In particular, meningiomas are known to produce musical auditory hallucinations such as Schumann reported. It has also been hypothesised that he suffered from schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder; bipolar type, or bipolar disorder and bipolar II disorder. His medical records from this illness were released in 1991, and suggest a "progressive paralysis", a term used for neurosyphilis at the time, although a diagnostic test for Treponema pallidum did not become available till 1906.
Schumann heard a persistent A-note at the end of his life. It was a form of tinnitus, or perhaps an auditory hallucination related to his major depressive episode. At times, he had musical hallucinations that were longer than just the single A, but his diaries include comments about hearing that annoying single note.
After Robert's death, Clara continued her career as a concert pianist, which supported the family. From mid-career on, she mainly performed music by leading composers. A hired cook and housekeeper tended to the children while she traveled. In 1856, she first visited England. The critics received Robert's music coolly, with Henry Fothergill Chorley being particularly harsh. She returned to London in 1865 and made regular appearances there in later years, often performing chamber music with the violinist Joseph Joachim and others. She became the authoritative editor of her husband's works for Breitkopf & Härtel. It was rumoured that she and Brahms destroyed many of Schumann's later works, which they thought were tainted by his madness, but only the Five Pieces for Cello and Piano are known to have been destroyed. Most of Schumann's late works, particularly the Violin Concerto, the Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra and the Violin Sonata No. 3, all from 1853, have entered the repertoire.
Legacy
Schumann had considerable influence in the nineteenth century and beyond, despite his adoption of more conservative modes of composition after his marriage. He left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Partly through his protégé Brahms, Schumann's ideals and musical vocabulary became widely disseminated. Composer Sir Edward Elgar called Schumann "my ideal."
Schumann has often been confused with Austrian composer Franz Schubert; one well-known example occurred in 1956, when East Germany issued a pair of postage stamps featuring Schumann's picture against an open score that featured Schubert's music. The stamps were soon replaced by a pair featuring music written by Schumann.
Instruments
One of the best known instruments that Robert Schumann played on was the grand piano by Conrad Graf, a present from Graf on the occasion of Robert and Clara’s marriage in 1839. This instrument stood in Schumann’s workroom in Düsseldorf and was later given by Clara Schumann to Johannes Brahms. After changing a few lodgings, it was received by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and can be seen at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Compositions
List of compositions by Robert Schumann
:Category:Compositions by Robert Schumann
Media portrayals
Dreaming (1944) is a UFA movie starring Mathias Wieman as Schumann, Hilde Krahl as Clara Wieck, Ullrich Haupt as Johannes Brahms, and Emil Lohkamp as Franz Liszt.
Song of Love (1947) is an MGM film starring Paul Henreid as Schumann, Katharine Hepburn as Clara Wieck, Robert Walker as Johannes Brahms, and Henry Daniell as Franz Liszt.
Peter Schamoni's 1983 movie Frühlingssinfonie (Spring Symphony) tells the story of Schumann and Wieck's romance, against her father's opposition. Robert was played by Herbert Grönemeyer, Clara by Nastassja Kinski, and Clara's father by Rolf Hoppe. The role of Niccolò Paganini was played by the violinist Gidon Kremer. The score was written by Grönemeyer and conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.
The Andrew Crumey novel Mobius Dick has a chapter depicting Schumann at Endenich.
Seinfeld: Robert Schumann is mentioned in a 1991 episode of Seinfeld called "The Jacket".
Frasier: The troubled Dresden premiere of the Second Symphony is mentioned in a 1998 episode of Frasier "Frasier's Curse".
Geliebte Clara ("Beloved Clara") was a 2008 Franco-German-Hungarian film about the lives of Clara and Robert.
Longing is a 2000 biographical novel by American author J. D. Landis.
Notes
References
Bibliography
Books and encyclopedias
The author argues that the composer was mentally normal all his life, until the sudden onset of insanity near the end resulting from tertiary syphilis
Articles
Websites
Works by Schumann
External links
Musical Rules at Home and in Life – text by Robert Schumann
Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig – edition of letters written by Robert and Clara Schumann
The city of Robert Schumann
(texts)
(audio and video)
1810 births
1856 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century male conductors (music)
19th-century conductors (music)
19th-century German composers
19th-century German journalists
19th-century German male writers
Composers for piano
Composers for pipe organ
German Romantic composers
German conductors (music)
German opera composers
German male classical composers
German male conductors (music)
German music critics
German male journalists
Male opera composers
Classical music critics
Musicians from Leipzig
Musicians from Düsseldorf
People from the Kingdom of Saxony
People from Zwickau
Pupils of Friedrich Wieck
Leipzig University alumni
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig faculty
People with bipolar disorder
Angelic visionaries
Heinrich Heine
Composers for pedal piano
Musicians with dystonia
German magazine founders
Deaths in mental institutions | false | [
"Antonín Máša (22 July 1935 – 4 October 2001) was a Czech film director and screenwriter. His movie Hotel for Strangers competed in Cannes Film Festival.\n\nLife\nMáša was born in Višňová on 22 July 1935. He was a childhood friend with Pavel Juráček. They both went to study screenwriting at Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.\n\nFilmography\n\nAs screenwriter\n A Place in the Group (1964)\n Courage for Every Day (1965)\n Holiday for a Dog (1980)\n What’s the Matter With You, Doctor? (1984)\n\nAs director\n Searching (1965)\n Hotel for Strangers (1967)\n Looking Back (1968)\n Rodeo (1972)\n Proč nevěřit na zázraky (1977)\n Silence of the Larks (1989)\n Were We Really Like This? (1990)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1935 births\n2001 deaths\nCzech film directors\nCzech screenwriters\nPeople from Příbram District\n20th-century screenwriters",
"Medieval Children is a book on the history of childhood written by English historian Nicholas Orme in 2001. It covers aspects of English children throughout the Middle Ages. The book addresses what is considered Philippe Ariès's central thesis in Centuries of Childhood, that there was no medieval understanding of childhood as a phase, an idea that critics have said Orme refutes successfully.\n\nSynopsis \n\n \n\nThe book uses a wide range of sources to refute Philippe Ariès's Centuries of Childhood famous theses of the medieval nonexistence of \"childhood\" as an idea and of apathetic medieval parenting. Orme states that childhood was a phase distinct from the rest of life, \"medieval children were ourselves, five hundred or a thousand years ago\" with parents who genuinely cherished and grieved for their children, similar to modern parents. The book's refutation of Ariès is diffuse, broaching his thesis but not other aspects of Centuries of Childhood. Orme uses examples from the English Middle Ages where Ariès uses the French. Orme's source materials include primers, journals, coroners' records, and shoes.\n\nOrme shows childhood to be expensive, with clothing like bibs and swaddlebands alongside books and community expenses. Children were breastfed and given special shoes to wear and items to chew. They would dress up, accidentally die while playing, and hurt animals.\n\nReception \n\nCritics Stephen Metcalf and Benjamin Schwarz separately agreed that the book successfully dismantled Ariès's thesis, its primary goal. The Atlantics Benjamin Schwarz called the book \"a model of accessible scholarly history\" and lauded its illustrations for an academic work. Slates Stephen Metcalf praised the book for its scholarship and utility, but criticized the book's timing and lack of imagination. He adds that Orme's language is \"phlegmatic and common-sensical\" where Ariès was \"oracular and tendentious\", which was used to make the era appear familiar or alien, respectively. The Economist criticized the exclusion of females from the book.\n\nReferences \n\nHistory books about England\n2001 non-fiction books\nHistory books about the Middle Ages\nHistory of childhood"
]
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"When was he born",
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| C_021a941b0ca84f27a6c2fe522c928a28_1 | Did he play any other instrumenst | 5 | In addition to playing piano, did Robert Schumann play any other instruments? | Robert Schumann | Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony, the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (nee Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music - undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist. Schumann began receiving general musical and piano instruction at the age of seven from Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music and worked at creating musical compositions himself, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody, - ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait." At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene. Schumann's interest in music was sparked by seeing a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged the boy's musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Neither his mother nor his guardian thereafter encouraged a career in music. In 1828 Schumann left school, and after a tour during which he met Heinrich Heine in Munich, he went to Leipzig to study law (to meet the terms of his inheritance). In 1829 his law studies continued in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured him that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.
In 1840, Schumann married Clara Wieck, after a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Friedrich, who opposed the marriage. A lifelong partnership in music began, as Clara herself was an established pianist and music prodigy. Clara and Robert also maintained a close relationship with German composer Johannes Brahms.
Until 1840, Schumann wrote exclusively for the piano. Later, he composed piano and orchestral works, and many Lieder (songs for voice and piano). He composed four symphonies, one opera, and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. His best-known works include Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in C. Schumann was known for infusing his music with characters through motifs, as well as references to works of literature. These characters bled into his editorial writing in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a Leipzig-based publication that he co-founded.
Schumann suffered from a mental disorder that first manifested in 1833 as a severe melancholic depressive episode—which recurred several times alternating with phases of "exaltation" and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic items. What is now thought to have been a combination of bipolar disorder and perhaps mercury poisoning led to "manic" and "depressive" periods in Schumann's compositional productivity. After a suicide attempt in 1854, Schumann was admitted at his own request to a mental asylum in Endenich (now in Bonn). Diagnosed with psychotic melancholia, he died of pneumonia two years later at the age of 46, without recovering from his mental illness.
Biography
Early life
Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony (today Central Germany), the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (née Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music—undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist.
At age seven, Schumann began studying general music and piano with Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music, and worked on his own compositions, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody,—ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait."
At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene.
Schumann's interest in music was sparked by attending a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged his musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Thereafter, neither his mother nor his guardian encouraged him to pursue a music career. In 1828, Schumann left high school, and after a trip during which he met the poet Heinrich Heine in Munich, he left to study law at the University of Leipzig under family pressure. But in Leipzig Schumann instead focused on improvisation, song composition, and writing novels. He also began to seriously study piano with Friedrich Wieck, a well-known piano teacher. In 1829, he continued his law studies in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg.
1830–1834
During Eastertide 1830, he heard the Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer Niccolò Paganini play in Frankfurt. In July he wrote to his mother, "My whole life has been a struggle between Poetry and Prose, or call it Music and Law." With her permission, by Christmas he was back in Leipzig, at age 20 taking piano lessons from his old master Friedrich Wieck, who assured him that he would be a successful concert pianist after a few years' study with him. During his studies with Wieck, some stories claim that Schumann permanently injured a finger on his right hand. Wieck claimed that Schumann damaged his finger by using a mechanical device that held back one finger while he exercised the others—which was supposed to strengthen the weakest fingers. Clara Schumann discredited the story, saying the disability was not due to a mechanical device, and Robert Schumann himself referred to it as "an affliction of the whole hand." Some argue that, as the disability appeared to have been chronic and have affected the hand, and not just a finger, it was not likely caused by a finger strengthening device. In 2012, neurologists discussed Schumann's symptoms at a conference called "Musicians With Dystonia."
Schumann abandoned the idea of a concert career and devoted himself instead to composition. To this end he began a study of music theory under Heinrich Dorn, a German composer six years his senior and, at that time, conductor of the Leipzig Opera.
Papillons
Schumann's fusion of literary ideas with musical ones—known as program music—may have first taken shape in Papillons, Op. 2 (Butterflies), a musical portrayal of events in Jean Paul's novel Flegeljahre. In a letter from Leipzig dated April 1832, Schumann bids his brothers, "Read the last scene in Jean Paul's Flegeljahre as soon as possible, because the Papillons are intended as a musical representation of that masquerade." This inspiration is foreshadowed to some extent in his first written criticism—an 1831 essay on Frédéric Chopin's variations on a theme from Mozart's Don Giovanni, published in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. In it, Schumann creates imaginary characters who discuss Chopin's work: Florestan (the embodiment of Schumann's passionate, voluble side) and Eusebius (his dreamy, introspective side)—the counterparts of Vult and Walt in Flegeljahre. They call on a third, Meister Raro, for his opinion. Raro may represent either the composer himself, Wieck's daughter Clara, or the combination of the two (Clara + Robert).
In the winter of 1832, at age 22, Schumann visited relatives in Zwickau and Schneeberg, where he performed the first movement of his Symphony in G minor (without opus number, known as the "Zwickauer"). In Zwickau, the music was performed at a concert given by Clara Wieck, who was then just 13 years old. On this occasion Clara played bravura Variations by Henri Herz, a composer whom Schumann was already deriding as a philistine. Schumann's mother said to Clara, "You must marry my Robert one day." The Symphony in G minor was not published during Schumann's lifetime but has been played and recorded in recent times.
The 1833 deaths of Schumann's brother Julius and his sister-in-law Rosalie in the worldwide cholera pandemic brought on a severe depressive episode.
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
By spring 1834, Schumann had sufficiently recovered to inaugurate Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik ("New Journal for Music"), first published on 3 April 1834. In his writings, Schumann created a fictional music society based on people in his life, called the Davidsbündler, named after the biblical King David who fought against the Philistines. Schumann published most of his critical writings in the journal, and often lambasted the popular taste for flashy technical displays from figures whom Schumann perceived as inferior composers, or "philistines". Schumann campaigned to revive interest in major composers of the past, including Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. He also promoted the work of some contemporary composers, including Chopin (about whom Schumann famously wrote, "Hats off, Gentlemen! A genius!") and Hector Berlioz, whom he praised for creating music of substance. On the other hand, Schumann disparaged the school of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. Among Schumann's associates at this time were composers Norbert Burgmüller and Ludwig Schuncke (to whom Schumann dedicated his Toccata in C).
Carnaval
Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834) is one of Schumann's most characteristic piano works. Schumann begins nearly every section of Carnaval with a musical cryptogram, the musical notes signified in German by the letters that spell Asch (A, E-flat, C, and B, or alternatively A-flat, C, and B; in German these are A, Es, C and H, and As, C and H respectively), the Bohemian town in which Ernestine was born, and the notes are also the musical letters in Schumann's own name. Eusebius and Florestan, the imaginary figures appearing so often in his critical writings, also appear, alongside brilliant imitations of Chopin and Paganini. To each of these characters he devotes a section of Carnaval. The work comes to a close with a march of the Davidsbündler—the league of King David's men against the Philistines—in which may be heard the clear accents of truth in contest with the dull clamour of falsehood embodied in a quotation from the seventeenth century Grandfather's Dance. The march, a step nearly always in duple meter, is here in 3/4 time (triple meter). The work ends in joy and a degree of mock-triumph. In Carnaval, Schumann went further than in Papillons, by conceiving the story as well as the musical representation (and also displaying a maturation of compositional resource).
Relationships
During the summer of 1834 Schumann became engaged to 16-year-old Ernestine von Fricken, the adopted daughter of a rich Bohemian-born noble. In August 1835, he learned that Ernestine was born illegitimate, which meant that she would have no dowry. Fearful that her limited means would force him to earn his living like a "day-labourer," Schumann completely broke with her toward the end of the year. He felt a growing attraction to 15-year-old Clara Wieck. They made mutual declarations of love in December in Zwickau, where Clara appeared in concert. His budding romance with Clara was disrupted when her father learned of their trysts during the Christmas holidays. He summarily forbade them further meetings, and ordered all their correspondence burnt.
1835–1839
On 3 October 1835, Schumann met Felix Mendelssohn at Wieck's house in Leipzig, and his enthusiastic appreciation of that artist was shown with the same generous freedom that distinguished his acknowledgement of the greatness of Chopin and other colleagues, and later prompted him to publicly pronounce the then-unknown Johannes Brahms a genius.
In 1837 Schumann published his Symphonic Studies, a complex set of étude-like variations written in 1834–1835, which demanded a finished piano technique. These variations were based on a theme by the adoptive father of Ernestine von Fricken. The work—described as "one of the peaks of the piano literature, lofty in conception and faultless in workmanship" [Hutcheson]—was dedicated to the young English composer William Sterndale Bennett, for whom Schumann had had a high regard when they worked together in Leipzig.
The Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, (also published in 1837 despite the low opus number) literally "Dances of the League of David", is an embodiment of the struggle between enlightened Romanticism and musical philistinism. Schumann credited the two sides of his character with the composition of the work (the more passionate numbers are signed F. (Florestan) and the more dreamy signed E. (Eusebius)). The work begins with the "motto of C. W." (Clara Wieck) denoting her support for the ideals of the Davidsbund. The Bund was a music society of Schumann's imagination, members of which were kindred spirits (as he saw them) such as Chopin, Paganini and Clara, as well as the personalized Florestan and Eusebius.
Kinderszenen, Op. 15, completed in 1838 and a favourite of Schumann's piano works, depicts the innocence and playfulness of childhood. The "Träumerei" in F major, No. 7 of the set, is one of the most famous piano pieces ever written, and has been performed in myriad forms and transcriptions. It has been the favourite encore of several great pianists, including Vladimir Horowitz. Melodic and deceptively simple, the piece is "complex" in its harmonic structure.
Kreisleriana, Op. 16 (1838), considered one of Schumann's greatest works, carried his fantasy and emotional range deeper. Johannes Kreisler was a fictional musician created by poet E. T. A. Hoffmann, and characterized as a "romantic brought into contact with reality." Schumann used the figure to express "fantastic and mad" emotional states. According to Hutcheson ("The Literature of the Piano"), this work is "among the finest efforts of Schumann's genius. He never surpassed the searching beauty of the slow movements (Nos. 2, 4, 6) or the urgent passion of others (Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7) […] To appreciate it a high level of aesthetic intelligence is required […] This is no facile music, there is severity alike in its beauty and its passion."
The Fantasie in C, Op. 17, composed in the summer of 1836, is a work of passion and deep pathos, imbued with the spirit of the late Beethoven. Schumann intended to use proceeds from sales of the work toward the construction of a monument to Beethoven, who had died in 1827. The first movement of the Fantasie contains a musical quote from Beethoven's song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (at the Adagio coda, taken from the last song of the cycle). The original titles of the movements were Ruins, Triumphal Arch, and The Starry Crown. According to Franz Liszt, who played the work for Schumann and to whom it was dedicated, the Fantasie was apt to be played too heavily, and should have a dreamier (träumerisch) character than vigorous German pianists tended to impart. Liszt also said: "It is a noble work, worthy of Beethoven, whose career, by the way, it is supposed to represent". Again, according to Hutcheson: "No words can describe the Phantasie, no quotations set forth the majesty of its genius. It must suffice to say that it is Schumann's greatest work in large form for piano solo."
After a visit to Vienna, during which he discovered Franz Schubert's previously unknown Symphony No. 9 in C, in 1839 Schumann wrote the Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Carnival Prank from Vienna). Most of the joke is in the central section of the first movement, which makes a thinly veiled reference to La Marseillaise. (Vienna had banned the song due to harsh memories of Napoleon's invasion.) The festive mood does not preclude moments of melancholic introspection in the Intermezzo.
1840–1849
From 1832 to 1839, Schumann wrote almost exclusively for piano, but in 1840 alone he wrote at least 138 songs. Indeed, 1840 (the Liederjahr or year of song) is highly significant in Schumann's musical legacy, despite his earlier deriding of works for piano and voice as inferior.
After a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Schumann married Clara Wieck in the in Leipzig-Schönefeld, on 12 September 1840, the day before her 21st birthday. Had they waited another day, they would no longer have required her father's consent. Their marriage supported a remarkable business partnership, with Clara acting as an inspiration, critic, and confidante to her husband. Despite her delicate appearance, she was an extremely strong-willed and energetic woman, who kept up a demanding schedule of concert tours in between bearing several children. Two years after their marriage, Friedrich Wieck at last reconciled himself with the couple, eager to see his grandchildren.
Prior to the legal case and subsequent marriage, the lovers exchanged love letters and rendezvoused in secret. Robert often waited for hours in a cafe in a nearby city just to see Clara for a few minutes after one of her concerts. The strain of this long courtship and its consummation may have led to this great outpouring of Lieder (vocal songs with piano accompaniment). This is evident in Widmung, for example, where he uses the melody from Schubert's Ave Maria in the postlude in homage to Clara. Schumann's biographers attribute the sweetness, doubt, and despair of these songs to the emotions aroused by his love for Clara and the uncertainties of their future together.
Robert and Clara had eight children, Emil (1846–1847), who died at 1 year; Marie (1841–1929); Elise (1843–1928); Julie (1845–1872); Ludwig (1848–1899); Ferdinand (1849–1891); Eugenie (1851–1938); and Felix (1854–1879).
His chief song-cycles in this period were settings of the Liederkreis of Joseph von Eichendorff, Op. 39 (depicting a series of moods relating to or inspired by nature); the Frauenliebe und -leben of Chamisso, Op. 42 (relating the tale of a woman's marriage, childbirth and widowhood); the Dichterliebe of Heine, Op. 48 (depicting a lover rejected, but coming to terms with his painful loss through renunciation and forgiveness); and Myrthen, a collection of songs, including poems by Goethe, Rückert, Heine, Byron, Burns and Moore. The songs Belsatzar, Op. 57 and Die beiden Grenadiere, Op. 49, both to Heine's words, show Schumann at his best as a ballad writer, although the dramatic ballad is less congenial to him than the introspective lyric. The Op. 35, 40 and 98a sets (words by Justinus Kerner, Chamisso and Goethe respectively), although less well known, also contain songs of lyric and dramatic quality.
In 1841 he wrote two of his four symphonies, No. 1 in B-flat, Op. 38, Spring and No. 4 in D minor (the latter a pioneering work in "cyclic form", was performed that year but published only much later after revision and extensive re-orchestration as Op. 120). He devoted 1842 to composing chamber music, including the Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44, now one of his best known and most admired works; the Piano Quartet and three string quartets. In 1843 he wrote Paradise and the Peri, his first attempt at concerted vocal music, an oratorio style work based on Lalla-Rookh by Thomas Moore. The main role of Peri in the world premiere was performed by Schumann's family friend, soprano Livia Frege. After this, his compositions were not confined to any one form during any particular period.
The stage in his life when he was deeply engaged in setting Goethe's Faust to music (1844–53) was a turbulent one for his health. He spent the first half of 1844 with Clara on tour in Russia, and his depression grew worse as he felt inferior to Clara as a musician. On returning to Germany, he abandoned his editorial work and left Leipzig for Dresden, where he suffered from persistent "nervous prostration". As soon as he began to work, he was seized with fits of shivering and an apprehension of death, experiencing an abhorrence of high places, all metal instruments (even keys), and drugs. Schumann's diaries also state that he suffered perpetually from imagining that he had the note A5 sounding in his ears.
His state of unease and neurasthenia is reflected in his Symphony in C, numbered second but third in order of composition, in which the composer explores states of exhaustion, obsession, and depression, culminating in Beethovenian spiritual triumph. Also published in 1845 was his Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, originally conceived and performed as a one-movement Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra in 1841. It is one of the most popular and oft-recorded of all piano concertos; according to Hutcheson "Schumann achieved a masterly work and we inherited the finest piano concerto since Mozart and Beethoven".
In 1846, he felt he had recovered. In the winter, the Schumanns revisited Vienna, traveling to Prague and Berlin in the spring of 1847 and in the summer to Zwickau, where he was received with enthusiasm. This pleased him, since until that time he was famous in only Dresden and Leipzig.
His only opera, Genoveva, Op. 81, premiered in Spring 1850. In it, Schumann attempted to abolish recitative, which he regarded as an interruption to the musical flow (an influence on Richard Wagner; Schumann's consistently flowing melody can be seen as a forerunner to Wagner's Melos). The subject of Genoveva—based on Ludwig Tieck and Christian Friedrich Hebbel's plays—was not seen an ideal choice. The text is often considered to lack dramatic qualities; the work has not remained in the repertoire. As early as 1842 the possibilities of German opera had been keenly realized by Schumann, who wrote, "Do you know my prayer as an artist, night and morning? It is called 'German Opera.' Here is a real field for enterprise ... something simple, profound, German". And in his notebook of suggestions for the text of operas are found amongst others: Nibelungen, Lohengrin and Till Eulenspiegel.
The music to Byron's Manfred was written in 1849, the overture of which is one of Schumann's most frequently performed orchestral works. The insurrection of Dresden caused Schumann to move to Kreischa, a little village a few miles outside the city. In August 1849, on the occasion of the centenary of Goethe's birth, completed scenes of Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust were performed in Dresden, Leipzig and Weimar. Liszt gave him assistance and encouragement. The rest of the work was written later in 1849, and the overture (which Schumann described as "one of the sturdiest of [his] creations") in 1853.
After 1850
From 1850 to 1854, Schumann composed in a wide variety of genres. Critics have disputed the quality of his work at this time; a widely held view has been that his music showed signs of mental breakdown and creative decay. More recently, critics have suggested that the changes in style may be explained by "lucid experimentation".
In 1850, Schumann succeeded Ferdinand Hiller as musical director at Düsseldorf, but he was a poor conductor and quickly aroused the opposition of the musicians. According to Harold C. Schonberg, in his 1967 The Great Conductors: "The great composer was impossible on the platform ... There is something heartrending about poor Schumann's epochal inefficiency as a conductor." His contract was eventually terminated. By the end of that year he completed his Symphony No. 3, "Rhenish" (a work containing five movements and whose 4th movement is apparently intended to represent an episcopal coronation ceremony). In 1851 he revised what would be published as his fourth symphony. From 1851 to 1853 he visited Switzerland, Belgium and Leipzig.
On 30 September 1853, the 20-year-old composer Johannes Brahms arrived unannounced at the door of the Schumanns carrying a letter of introduction from violinist Joseph Joachim. (Schumann was not at home, and would not meet Brahms until the next day.) Brahms amazed Clara and Robert with his music, stayed with them for several weeks, and became a close family friend. (He later worked closely with Clara to popularize Schumann's compositions during her long widowhood.)
During this time Schumann, Brahms and Schumann's pupil Albert Dietrich collaborated on the composition of the F-A-E Sonata for Joachim; Schumann also published an article, "Neue Bahnen" ("New Paths") in the Neue Zeitschrift (his first article in many years), hailing the unknown young Brahms from Hamburg, a man who had published nothing, as "the Chosen One" who "was destined to give ideal expression to the times." It was an extraordinary way to present Brahms to the musical world, setting up great expectations that he did not fulfill for many years. In January 1854, Schumann went to Hanover, where he heard a performance of his Paradise and the Peri organized by Joachim and Brahms. Two years later at Schumann's request, the work received its first English performance conducted by William Sterndale Bennett.
Schumann returned to Düsseldorf and began to edit his complete works and make an anthology on the subject of music. He suffered a renewal of the symptoms that had threatened him earlier. Besides the single note sounding in his ear (possibly evidence of tinnitus,) he imagined that voices sounded in his ear and he heard angelic music. One night he suddenly left his bed, having dreamt or imagined that a ghost (purportedly the spirit of either Schubert or Mendelssohn) had dictated a "spirit theme" to him. The theme was one he had used several times before: in his Second String Quartet, again in his Lieder-Album für die Jugend, and finally in the slow movement of his Violin Concerto. In the days leading up to his suicide attempt, Schumann wrote five variations on this theme for the piano, his last completed work, today known as the Geistervariationen (Ghost Variations). Brahms published it in a supplementary volume to the complete edition of Schumann's piano music. In 1861 Brahms published his Variations for Piano Four Hands, Op. 23, based on this theme.
Final illness and death
In late February 1854, Schumann's symptoms increased, the angelic visions sometimes being replaced by demonic ones. He warned Clara that he feared he might do her harm. On 27 February, he attempted suicide by throwing himself from a bridge into the Rhine River (his elder sister Emilie had committed suicide in 1825, possibly by drowning herself). Rescued by boatmen and taken home, he asked to be taken to an asylum for the insane. He entered Dr. Franz Richarz's sanatorium in Endenich, a quarter of Bonn, and remained there until he died on 29 July 1856 at the age of 46. During his confinement, he was not allowed to see Clara, although Brahms was free to visit him. Clara finally visited him two days before his death. He appeared to recognize her, but was able to speak only a few words.
Given his reported symptoms, one modern view is that he died from syphilis, which he could have contracted during his student days, and which could have remained latent during most of his marriage. According to studies by the musicologist and literary scholar Eric Sams, Schumann's symptoms during his terminal illness and death appear consistent with those of mercury poisoning; mercury was a common treatment for syphilis and other conditions. Another possibility is that his neurological problems were a result of an intracranial mass. A report by Janisch and Nauhaus on Schumann's autopsy indicates that he had a "gelatinous" tumor at the base of the brain; it may have represented a colloid cyst, a craniopharyngioma, a chordoma, or a chordoid meningioma. In particular, meningiomas are known to produce musical auditory hallucinations such as Schumann reported. It has also been hypothesised that he suffered from schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder; bipolar type, or bipolar disorder and bipolar II disorder. His medical records from this illness were released in 1991, and suggest a "progressive paralysis", a term used for neurosyphilis at the time, although a diagnostic test for Treponema pallidum did not become available till 1906.
Schumann heard a persistent A-note at the end of his life. It was a form of tinnitus, or perhaps an auditory hallucination related to his major depressive episode. At times, he had musical hallucinations that were longer than just the single A, but his diaries include comments about hearing that annoying single note.
After Robert's death, Clara continued her career as a concert pianist, which supported the family. From mid-career on, she mainly performed music by leading composers. A hired cook and housekeeper tended to the children while she traveled. In 1856, she first visited England. The critics received Robert's music coolly, with Henry Fothergill Chorley being particularly harsh. She returned to London in 1865 and made regular appearances there in later years, often performing chamber music with the violinist Joseph Joachim and others. She became the authoritative editor of her husband's works for Breitkopf & Härtel. It was rumoured that she and Brahms destroyed many of Schumann's later works, which they thought were tainted by his madness, but only the Five Pieces for Cello and Piano are known to have been destroyed. Most of Schumann's late works, particularly the Violin Concerto, the Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra and the Violin Sonata No. 3, all from 1853, have entered the repertoire.
Legacy
Schumann had considerable influence in the nineteenth century and beyond, despite his adoption of more conservative modes of composition after his marriage. He left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Partly through his protégé Brahms, Schumann's ideals and musical vocabulary became widely disseminated. Composer Sir Edward Elgar called Schumann "my ideal."
Schumann has often been confused with Austrian composer Franz Schubert; one well-known example occurred in 1956, when East Germany issued a pair of postage stamps featuring Schumann's picture against an open score that featured Schubert's music. The stamps were soon replaced by a pair featuring music written by Schumann.
Instruments
One of the best known instruments that Robert Schumann played on was the grand piano by Conrad Graf, a present from Graf on the occasion of Robert and Clara’s marriage in 1839. This instrument stood in Schumann’s workroom in Düsseldorf and was later given by Clara Schumann to Johannes Brahms. After changing a few lodgings, it was received by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and can be seen at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Compositions
List of compositions by Robert Schumann
:Category:Compositions by Robert Schumann
Media portrayals
Dreaming (1944) is a UFA movie starring Mathias Wieman as Schumann, Hilde Krahl as Clara Wieck, Ullrich Haupt as Johannes Brahms, and Emil Lohkamp as Franz Liszt.
Song of Love (1947) is an MGM film starring Paul Henreid as Schumann, Katharine Hepburn as Clara Wieck, Robert Walker as Johannes Brahms, and Henry Daniell as Franz Liszt.
Peter Schamoni's 1983 movie Frühlingssinfonie (Spring Symphony) tells the story of Schumann and Wieck's romance, against her father's opposition. Robert was played by Herbert Grönemeyer, Clara by Nastassja Kinski, and Clara's father by Rolf Hoppe. The role of Niccolò Paganini was played by the violinist Gidon Kremer. The score was written by Grönemeyer and conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.
The Andrew Crumey novel Mobius Dick has a chapter depicting Schumann at Endenich.
Seinfeld: Robert Schumann is mentioned in a 1991 episode of Seinfeld called "The Jacket".
Frasier: The troubled Dresden premiere of the Second Symphony is mentioned in a 1998 episode of Frasier "Frasier's Curse".
Geliebte Clara ("Beloved Clara") was a 2008 Franco-German-Hungarian film about the lives of Clara and Robert.
Longing is a 2000 biographical novel by American author J. D. Landis.
Notes
References
Bibliography
Books and encyclopedias
The author argues that the composer was mentally normal all his life, until the sudden onset of insanity near the end resulting from tertiary syphilis
Articles
Websites
Works by Schumann
External links
Musical Rules at Home and in Life – text by Robert Schumann
Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig – edition of letters written by Robert and Clara Schumann
The city of Robert Schumann
(texts)
(audio and video)
1810 births
1856 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century male conductors (music)
19th-century conductors (music)
19th-century German composers
19th-century German journalists
19th-century German male writers
Composers for piano
Composers for pipe organ
German Romantic composers
German conductors (music)
German opera composers
German male classical composers
German male conductors (music)
German music critics
German male journalists
Male opera composers
Classical music critics
Musicians from Leipzig
Musicians from Düsseldorf
People from the Kingdom of Saxony
People from Zwickau
Pupils of Friedrich Wieck
Leipzig University alumni
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig faculty
People with bipolar disorder
Angelic visionaries
Heinrich Heine
Composers for pedal piano
Musicians with dystonia
German magazine founders
Deaths in mental institutions | false | [
"The 1919–20 Michigan College of Mines Huskies men's ice hockey season was the inaugural season of play for the program.\n\nSeason\nAfter World War I college hockey began to expand west from its heartland in New England. Michigan College of Mines was one of two schools in the midwest to begin play in the 1919–20 season (the other being Notre Dame). Due to the lack of collegiate opponents, MCM didn't play any other colleges during their first season, nor did they play any home games as the school did not own or lease any of the local rinks.\n\nRoster\n\nStandings\n\nSchedule and Results\n\n|-\n!colspan=12 style=\";\" | Regular Season\n\nReferences\n\nMichigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey seasons\nMichigan College of Mines Huskies \nMichigan College of Mines Huskies \n1920 in sports in Michigan",
"Troy Warden Andrew (born December 12, 1979) is a former American football center who played one season for the Miami Dolphins in 2001.\n\nEarly life\nTroy Andrew was born in Tamuning, Guam on December 12, 1979. He went to high school at Klein (TX).\n\nCollege\nHe went to college at Duke.\n\nProfessional career\n\nMiami Dolphins\n\nAndrew was signed as a undrafted free agent by the Miami Dolphins on April 26, 2001. He played 8 games that season. He wore number 65 for the Dolphins. He was released on September 9, 2002. \n\nHouston Texans\n\nThe next day after being cut he was claimed off waivers by the Houston Texans. But he did not make the roster and was cut 4 days later. He did not play in any games for the Texans.\n\nMiami Dolphins (Second Stint)\n\nTroy was then signed to the Miami Dolphins practice squad three days after being cut by the Texans. He was on the practice squad all year and did not play in any games. In the offseason he played for the Barcelona Dragons. In 2002 he was cut before the season started.\n\nBarcelona Dragons\n\nDuring the offseason of 2002, he was the starting center the full season for the Barcelona Dragons. He played all ten games and started them.\n\nCleveland Browns\n\nOn November 26, 2003, he was signed to the Cleveland Browns practice squad. He did not play in any games for the Browns. On January 5, 2004, he was released.\n\nBerlin Thunder\n\nDuring the 2004 offseason, he was the starting center for the Berlin Thunder. He played in all the games as the Berlin Thunder won World Bowl XII against the Frankfurt Galaxy.\n\nSan Diego Chargers\n\nOn June 18, 2004, he was signed by the San Diego Chargers. However, he did not make the roster and was cut on August 31. In his career he played in 8 games, all in 2001. He was not signed and did not play for any other teams after he was released by the Chargers.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nReview A Chat With Football Player Troy Andrew\nTroy Andrew Stats\nTroy Andrew Stats, News and Video - C\n\nMiami Dolphins players\nAmerican football centers\n1977 births\nDuke Blue Devils football players\nLiving people"
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"Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony,",
"When was he born",
"I don't know.",
"Who were his parents",
"the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (nee Schnabel) and August Schumann.",
"What was his childhood like",
"Schumann began receiving general musical and piano instruction at the age of seven from Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school.",
"Did he play any other instrumenst",
"I don't know."
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| C_021a941b0ca84f27a6c2fe522c928a28_1 | What else did he do in childhood? | 6 | Together with music, what else did Robert Schumann do in childhood? | Robert Schumann | Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony, the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (nee Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music - undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist. Schumann began receiving general musical and piano instruction at the age of seven from Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music and worked at creating musical compositions himself, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody, - ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait." At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene. Schumann's interest in music was sparked by seeing a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged the boy's musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Neither his mother nor his guardian thereafter encouraged a career in music. In 1828 Schumann left school, and after a tour during which he met Heinrich Heine in Munich, he went to Leipzig to study law (to meet the terms of his inheritance). In 1829 his law studies continued in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg. CANNOTANSWER | Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. | Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured him that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.
In 1840, Schumann married Clara Wieck, after a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Friedrich, who opposed the marriage. A lifelong partnership in music began, as Clara herself was an established pianist and music prodigy. Clara and Robert also maintained a close relationship with German composer Johannes Brahms.
Until 1840, Schumann wrote exclusively for the piano. Later, he composed piano and orchestral works, and many Lieder (songs for voice and piano). He composed four symphonies, one opera, and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. His best-known works include Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in C. Schumann was known for infusing his music with characters through motifs, as well as references to works of literature. These characters bled into his editorial writing in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a Leipzig-based publication that he co-founded.
Schumann suffered from a mental disorder that first manifested in 1833 as a severe melancholic depressive episode—which recurred several times alternating with phases of "exaltation" and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic items. What is now thought to have been a combination of bipolar disorder and perhaps mercury poisoning led to "manic" and "depressive" periods in Schumann's compositional productivity. After a suicide attempt in 1854, Schumann was admitted at his own request to a mental asylum in Endenich (now in Bonn). Diagnosed with psychotic melancholia, he died of pneumonia two years later at the age of 46, without recovering from his mental illness.
Biography
Early life
Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony (today Central Germany), the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (née Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music—undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist.
At age seven, Schumann began studying general music and piano with Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music, and worked on his own compositions, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody,—ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait."
At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene.
Schumann's interest in music was sparked by attending a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged his musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Thereafter, neither his mother nor his guardian encouraged him to pursue a music career. In 1828, Schumann left high school, and after a trip during which he met the poet Heinrich Heine in Munich, he left to study law at the University of Leipzig under family pressure. But in Leipzig Schumann instead focused on improvisation, song composition, and writing novels. He also began to seriously study piano with Friedrich Wieck, a well-known piano teacher. In 1829, he continued his law studies in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg.
1830–1834
During Eastertide 1830, he heard the Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer Niccolò Paganini play in Frankfurt. In July he wrote to his mother, "My whole life has been a struggle between Poetry and Prose, or call it Music and Law." With her permission, by Christmas he was back in Leipzig, at age 20 taking piano lessons from his old master Friedrich Wieck, who assured him that he would be a successful concert pianist after a few years' study with him. During his studies with Wieck, some stories claim that Schumann permanently injured a finger on his right hand. Wieck claimed that Schumann damaged his finger by using a mechanical device that held back one finger while he exercised the others—which was supposed to strengthen the weakest fingers. Clara Schumann discredited the story, saying the disability was not due to a mechanical device, and Robert Schumann himself referred to it as "an affliction of the whole hand." Some argue that, as the disability appeared to have been chronic and have affected the hand, and not just a finger, it was not likely caused by a finger strengthening device. In 2012, neurologists discussed Schumann's symptoms at a conference called "Musicians With Dystonia."
Schumann abandoned the idea of a concert career and devoted himself instead to composition. To this end he began a study of music theory under Heinrich Dorn, a German composer six years his senior and, at that time, conductor of the Leipzig Opera.
Papillons
Schumann's fusion of literary ideas with musical ones—known as program music—may have first taken shape in Papillons, Op. 2 (Butterflies), a musical portrayal of events in Jean Paul's novel Flegeljahre. In a letter from Leipzig dated April 1832, Schumann bids his brothers, "Read the last scene in Jean Paul's Flegeljahre as soon as possible, because the Papillons are intended as a musical representation of that masquerade." This inspiration is foreshadowed to some extent in his first written criticism—an 1831 essay on Frédéric Chopin's variations on a theme from Mozart's Don Giovanni, published in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. In it, Schumann creates imaginary characters who discuss Chopin's work: Florestan (the embodiment of Schumann's passionate, voluble side) and Eusebius (his dreamy, introspective side)—the counterparts of Vult and Walt in Flegeljahre. They call on a third, Meister Raro, for his opinion. Raro may represent either the composer himself, Wieck's daughter Clara, or the combination of the two (Clara + Robert).
In the winter of 1832, at age 22, Schumann visited relatives in Zwickau and Schneeberg, where he performed the first movement of his Symphony in G minor (without opus number, known as the "Zwickauer"). In Zwickau, the music was performed at a concert given by Clara Wieck, who was then just 13 years old. On this occasion Clara played bravura Variations by Henri Herz, a composer whom Schumann was already deriding as a philistine. Schumann's mother said to Clara, "You must marry my Robert one day." The Symphony in G minor was not published during Schumann's lifetime but has been played and recorded in recent times.
The 1833 deaths of Schumann's brother Julius and his sister-in-law Rosalie in the worldwide cholera pandemic brought on a severe depressive episode.
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
By spring 1834, Schumann had sufficiently recovered to inaugurate Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik ("New Journal for Music"), first published on 3 April 1834. In his writings, Schumann created a fictional music society based on people in his life, called the Davidsbündler, named after the biblical King David who fought against the Philistines. Schumann published most of his critical writings in the journal, and often lambasted the popular taste for flashy technical displays from figures whom Schumann perceived as inferior composers, or "philistines". Schumann campaigned to revive interest in major composers of the past, including Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. He also promoted the work of some contemporary composers, including Chopin (about whom Schumann famously wrote, "Hats off, Gentlemen! A genius!") and Hector Berlioz, whom he praised for creating music of substance. On the other hand, Schumann disparaged the school of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. Among Schumann's associates at this time were composers Norbert Burgmüller and Ludwig Schuncke (to whom Schumann dedicated his Toccata in C).
Carnaval
Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834) is one of Schumann's most characteristic piano works. Schumann begins nearly every section of Carnaval with a musical cryptogram, the musical notes signified in German by the letters that spell Asch (A, E-flat, C, and B, or alternatively A-flat, C, and B; in German these are A, Es, C and H, and As, C and H respectively), the Bohemian town in which Ernestine was born, and the notes are also the musical letters in Schumann's own name. Eusebius and Florestan, the imaginary figures appearing so often in his critical writings, also appear, alongside brilliant imitations of Chopin and Paganini. To each of these characters he devotes a section of Carnaval. The work comes to a close with a march of the Davidsbündler—the league of King David's men against the Philistines—in which may be heard the clear accents of truth in contest with the dull clamour of falsehood embodied in a quotation from the seventeenth century Grandfather's Dance. The march, a step nearly always in duple meter, is here in 3/4 time (triple meter). The work ends in joy and a degree of mock-triumph. In Carnaval, Schumann went further than in Papillons, by conceiving the story as well as the musical representation (and also displaying a maturation of compositional resource).
Relationships
During the summer of 1834 Schumann became engaged to 16-year-old Ernestine von Fricken, the adopted daughter of a rich Bohemian-born noble. In August 1835, he learned that Ernestine was born illegitimate, which meant that she would have no dowry. Fearful that her limited means would force him to earn his living like a "day-labourer," Schumann completely broke with her toward the end of the year. He felt a growing attraction to 15-year-old Clara Wieck. They made mutual declarations of love in December in Zwickau, where Clara appeared in concert. His budding romance with Clara was disrupted when her father learned of their trysts during the Christmas holidays. He summarily forbade them further meetings, and ordered all their correspondence burnt.
1835–1839
On 3 October 1835, Schumann met Felix Mendelssohn at Wieck's house in Leipzig, and his enthusiastic appreciation of that artist was shown with the same generous freedom that distinguished his acknowledgement of the greatness of Chopin and other colleagues, and later prompted him to publicly pronounce the then-unknown Johannes Brahms a genius.
In 1837 Schumann published his Symphonic Studies, a complex set of étude-like variations written in 1834–1835, which demanded a finished piano technique. These variations were based on a theme by the adoptive father of Ernestine von Fricken. The work—described as "one of the peaks of the piano literature, lofty in conception and faultless in workmanship" [Hutcheson]—was dedicated to the young English composer William Sterndale Bennett, for whom Schumann had had a high regard when they worked together in Leipzig.
The Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, (also published in 1837 despite the low opus number) literally "Dances of the League of David", is an embodiment of the struggle between enlightened Romanticism and musical philistinism. Schumann credited the two sides of his character with the composition of the work (the more passionate numbers are signed F. (Florestan) and the more dreamy signed E. (Eusebius)). The work begins with the "motto of C. W." (Clara Wieck) denoting her support for the ideals of the Davidsbund. The Bund was a music society of Schumann's imagination, members of which were kindred spirits (as he saw them) such as Chopin, Paganini and Clara, as well as the personalized Florestan and Eusebius.
Kinderszenen, Op. 15, completed in 1838 and a favourite of Schumann's piano works, depicts the innocence and playfulness of childhood. The "Träumerei" in F major, No. 7 of the set, is one of the most famous piano pieces ever written, and has been performed in myriad forms and transcriptions. It has been the favourite encore of several great pianists, including Vladimir Horowitz. Melodic and deceptively simple, the piece is "complex" in its harmonic structure.
Kreisleriana, Op. 16 (1838), considered one of Schumann's greatest works, carried his fantasy and emotional range deeper. Johannes Kreisler was a fictional musician created by poet E. T. A. Hoffmann, and characterized as a "romantic brought into contact with reality." Schumann used the figure to express "fantastic and mad" emotional states. According to Hutcheson ("The Literature of the Piano"), this work is "among the finest efforts of Schumann's genius. He never surpassed the searching beauty of the slow movements (Nos. 2, 4, 6) or the urgent passion of others (Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7) […] To appreciate it a high level of aesthetic intelligence is required […] This is no facile music, there is severity alike in its beauty and its passion."
The Fantasie in C, Op. 17, composed in the summer of 1836, is a work of passion and deep pathos, imbued with the spirit of the late Beethoven. Schumann intended to use proceeds from sales of the work toward the construction of a monument to Beethoven, who had died in 1827. The first movement of the Fantasie contains a musical quote from Beethoven's song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (at the Adagio coda, taken from the last song of the cycle). The original titles of the movements were Ruins, Triumphal Arch, and The Starry Crown. According to Franz Liszt, who played the work for Schumann and to whom it was dedicated, the Fantasie was apt to be played too heavily, and should have a dreamier (träumerisch) character than vigorous German pianists tended to impart. Liszt also said: "It is a noble work, worthy of Beethoven, whose career, by the way, it is supposed to represent". Again, according to Hutcheson: "No words can describe the Phantasie, no quotations set forth the majesty of its genius. It must suffice to say that it is Schumann's greatest work in large form for piano solo."
After a visit to Vienna, during which he discovered Franz Schubert's previously unknown Symphony No. 9 in C, in 1839 Schumann wrote the Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Carnival Prank from Vienna). Most of the joke is in the central section of the first movement, which makes a thinly veiled reference to La Marseillaise. (Vienna had banned the song due to harsh memories of Napoleon's invasion.) The festive mood does not preclude moments of melancholic introspection in the Intermezzo.
1840–1849
From 1832 to 1839, Schumann wrote almost exclusively for piano, but in 1840 alone he wrote at least 138 songs. Indeed, 1840 (the Liederjahr or year of song) is highly significant in Schumann's musical legacy, despite his earlier deriding of works for piano and voice as inferior.
After a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Schumann married Clara Wieck in the in Leipzig-Schönefeld, on 12 September 1840, the day before her 21st birthday. Had they waited another day, they would no longer have required her father's consent. Their marriage supported a remarkable business partnership, with Clara acting as an inspiration, critic, and confidante to her husband. Despite her delicate appearance, she was an extremely strong-willed and energetic woman, who kept up a demanding schedule of concert tours in between bearing several children. Two years after their marriage, Friedrich Wieck at last reconciled himself with the couple, eager to see his grandchildren.
Prior to the legal case and subsequent marriage, the lovers exchanged love letters and rendezvoused in secret. Robert often waited for hours in a cafe in a nearby city just to see Clara for a few minutes after one of her concerts. The strain of this long courtship and its consummation may have led to this great outpouring of Lieder (vocal songs with piano accompaniment). This is evident in Widmung, for example, where he uses the melody from Schubert's Ave Maria in the postlude in homage to Clara. Schumann's biographers attribute the sweetness, doubt, and despair of these songs to the emotions aroused by his love for Clara and the uncertainties of their future together.
Robert and Clara had eight children, Emil (1846–1847), who died at 1 year; Marie (1841–1929); Elise (1843–1928); Julie (1845–1872); Ludwig (1848–1899); Ferdinand (1849–1891); Eugenie (1851–1938); and Felix (1854–1879).
His chief song-cycles in this period were settings of the Liederkreis of Joseph von Eichendorff, Op. 39 (depicting a series of moods relating to or inspired by nature); the Frauenliebe und -leben of Chamisso, Op. 42 (relating the tale of a woman's marriage, childbirth and widowhood); the Dichterliebe of Heine, Op. 48 (depicting a lover rejected, but coming to terms with his painful loss through renunciation and forgiveness); and Myrthen, a collection of songs, including poems by Goethe, Rückert, Heine, Byron, Burns and Moore. The songs Belsatzar, Op. 57 and Die beiden Grenadiere, Op. 49, both to Heine's words, show Schumann at his best as a ballad writer, although the dramatic ballad is less congenial to him than the introspective lyric. The Op. 35, 40 and 98a sets (words by Justinus Kerner, Chamisso and Goethe respectively), although less well known, also contain songs of lyric and dramatic quality.
In 1841 he wrote two of his four symphonies, No. 1 in B-flat, Op. 38, Spring and No. 4 in D minor (the latter a pioneering work in "cyclic form", was performed that year but published only much later after revision and extensive re-orchestration as Op. 120). He devoted 1842 to composing chamber music, including the Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44, now one of his best known and most admired works; the Piano Quartet and three string quartets. In 1843 he wrote Paradise and the Peri, his first attempt at concerted vocal music, an oratorio style work based on Lalla-Rookh by Thomas Moore. The main role of Peri in the world premiere was performed by Schumann's family friend, soprano Livia Frege. After this, his compositions were not confined to any one form during any particular period.
The stage in his life when he was deeply engaged in setting Goethe's Faust to music (1844–53) was a turbulent one for his health. He spent the first half of 1844 with Clara on tour in Russia, and his depression grew worse as he felt inferior to Clara as a musician. On returning to Germany, he abandoned his editorial work and left Leipzig for Dresden, where he suffered from persistent "nervous prostration". As soon as he began to work, he was seized with fits of shivering and an apprehension of death, experiencing an abhorrence of high places, all metal instruments (even keys), and drugs. Schumann's diaries also state that he suffered perpetually from imagining that he had the note A5 sounding in his ears.
His state of unease and neurasthenia is reflected in his Symphony in C, numbered second but third in order of composition, in which the composer explores states of exhaustion, obsession, and depression, culminating in Beethovenian spiritual triumph. Also published in 1845 was his Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, originally conceived and performed as a one-movement Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra in 1841. It is one of the most popular and oft-recorded of all piano concertos; according to Hutcheson "Schumann achieved a masterly work and we inherited the finest piano concerto since Mozart and Beethoven".
In 1846, he felt he had recovered. In the winter, the Schumanns revisited Vienna, traveling to Prague and Berlin in the spring of 1847 and in the summer to Zwickau, where he was received with enthusiasm. This pleased him, since until that time he was famous in only Dresden and Leipzig.
His only opera, Genoveva, Op. 81, premiered in Spring 1850. In it, Schumann attempted to abolish recitative, which he regarded as an interruption to the musical flow (an influence on Richard Wagner; Schumann's consistently flowing melody can be seen as a forerunner to Wagner's Melos). The subject of Genoveva—based on Ludwig Tieck and Christian Friedrich Hebbel's plays—was not seen an ideal choice. The text is often considered to lack dramatic qualities; the work has not remained in the repertoire. As early as 1842 the possibilities of German opera had been keenly realized by Schumann, who wrote, "Do you know my prayer as an artist, night and morning? It is called 'German Opera.' Here is a real field for enterprise ... something simple, profound, German". And in his notebook of suggestions for the text of operas are found amongst others: Nibelungen, Lohengrin and Till Eulenspiegel.
The music to Byron's Manfred was written in 1849, the overture of which is one of Schumann's most frequently performed orchestral works. The insurrection of Dresden caused Schumann to move to Kreischa, a little village a few miles outside the city. In August 1849, on the occasion of the centenary of Goethe's birth, completed scenes of Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust were performed in Dresden, Leipzig and Weimar. Liszt gave him assistance and encouragement. The rest of the work was written later in 1849, and the overture (which Schumann described as "one of the sturdiest of [his] creations") in 1853.
After 1850
From 1850 to 1854, Schumann composed in a wide variety of genres. Critics have disputed the quality of his work at this time; a widely held view has been that his music showed signs of mental breakdown and creative decay. More recently, critics have suggested that the changes in style may be explained by "lucid experimentation".
In 1850, Schumann succeeded Ferdinand Hiller as musical director at Düsseldorf, but he was a poor conductor and quickly aroused the opposition of the musicians. According to Harold C. Schonberg, in his 1967 The Great Conductors: "The great composer was impossible on the platform ... There is something heartrending about poor Schumann's epochal inefficiency as a conductor." His contract was eventually terminated. By the end of that year he completed his Symphony No. 3, "Rhenish" (a work containing five movements and whose 4th movement is apparently intended to represent an episcopal coronation ceremony). In 1851 he revised what would be published as his fourth symphony. From 1851 to 1853 he visited Switzerland, Belgium and Leipzig.
On 30 September 1853, the 20-year-old composer Johannes Brahms arrived unannounced at the door of the Schumanns carrying a letter of introduction from violinist Joseph Joachim. (Schumann was not at home, and would not meet Brahms until the next day.) Brahms amazed Clara and Robert with his music, stayed with them for several weeks, and became a close family friend. (He later worked closely with Clara to popularize Schumann's compositions during her long widowhood.)
During this time Schumann, Brahms and Schumann's pupil Albert Dietrich collaborated on the composition of the F-A-E Sonata for Joachim; Schumann also published an article, "Neue Bahnen" ("New Paths") in the Neue Zeitschrift (his first article in many years), hailing the unknown young Brahms from Hamburg, a man who had published nothing, as "the Chosen One" who "was destined to give ideal expression to the times." It was an extraordinary way to present Brahms to the musical world, setting up great expectations that he did not fulfill for many years. In January 1854, Schumann went to Hanover, where he heard a performance of his Paradise and the Peri organized by Joachim and Brahms. Two years later at Schumann's request, the work received its first English performance conducted by William Sterndale Bennett.
Schumann returned to Düsseldorf and began to edit his complete works and make an anthology on the subject of music. He suffered a renewal of the symptoms that had threatened him earlier. Besides the single note sounding in his ear (possibly evidence of tinnitus,) he imagined that voices sounded in his ear and he heard angelic music. One night he suddenly left his bed, having dreamt or imagined that a ghost (purportedly the spirit of either Schubert or Mendelssohn) had dictated a "spirit theme" to him. The theme was one he had used several times before: in his Second String Quartet, again in his Lieder-Album für die Jugend, and finally in the slow movement of his Violin Concerto. In the days leading up to his suicide attempt, Schumann wrote five variations on this theme for the piano, his last completed work, today known as the Geistervariationen (Ghost Variations). Brahms published it in a supplementary volume to the complete edition of Schumann's piano music. In 1861 Brahms published his Variations for Piano Four Hands, Op. 23, based on this theme.
Final illness and death
In late February 1854, Schumann's symptoms increased, the angelic visions sometimes being replaced by demonic ones. He warned Clara that he feared he might do her harm. On 27 February, he attempted suicide by throwing himself from a bridge into the Rhine River (his elder sister Emilie had committed suicide in 1825, possibly by drowning herself). Rescued by boatmen and taken home, he asked to be taken to an asylum for the insane. He entered Dr. Franz Richarz's sanatorium in Endenich, a quarter of Bonn, and remained there until he died on 29 July 1856 at the age of 46. During his confinement, he was not allowed to see Clara, although Brahms was free to visit him. Clara finally visited him two days before his death. He appeared to recognize her, but was able to speak only a few words.
Given his reported symptoms, one modern view is that he died from syphilis, which he could have contracted during his student days, and which could have remained latent during most of his marriage. According to studies by the musicologist and literary scholar Eric Sams, Schumann's symptoms during his terminal illness and death appear consistent with those of mercury poisoning; mercury was a common treatment for syphilis and other conditions. Another possibility is that his neurological problems were a result of an intracranial mass. A report by Janisch and Nauhaus on Schumann's autopsy indicates that he had a "gelatinous" tumor at the base of the brain; it may have represented a colloid cyst, a craniopharyngioma, a chordoma, or a chordoid meningioma. In particular, meningiomas are known to produce musical auditory hallucinations such as Schumann reported. It has also been hypothesised that he suffered from schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder; bipolar type, or bipolar disorder and bipolar II disorder. His medical records from this illness were released in 1991, and suggest a "progressive paralysis", a term used for neurosyphilis at the time, although a diagnostic test for Treponema pallidum did not become available till 1906.
Schumann heard a persistent A-note at the end of his life. It was a form of tinnitus, or perhaps an auditory hallucination related to his major depressive episode. At times, he had musical hallucinations that were longer than just the single A, but his diaries include comments about hearing that annoying single note.
After Robert's death, Clara continued her career as a concert pianist, which supported the family. From mid-career on, she mainly performed music by leading composers. A hired cook and housekeeper tended to the children while she traveled. In 1856, she first visited England. The critics received Robert's music coolly, with Henry Fothergill Chorley being particularly harsh. She returned to London in 1865 and made regular appearances there in later years, often performing chamber music with the violinist Joseph Joachim and others. She became the authoritative editor of her husband's works for Breitkopf & Härtel. It was rumoured that she and Brahms destroyed many of Schumann's later works, which they thought were tainted by his madness, but only the Five Pieces for Cello and Piano are known to have been destroyed. Most of Schumann's late works, particularly the Violin Concerto, the Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra and the Violin Sonata No. 3, all from 1853, have entered the repertoire.
Legacy
Schumann had considerable influence in the nineteenth century and beyond, despite his adoption of more conservative modes of composition after his marriage. He left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Partly through his protégé Brahms, Schumann's ideals and musical vocabulary became widely disseminated. Composer Sir Edward Elgar called Schumann "my ideal."
Schumann has often been confused with Austrian composer Franz Schubert; one well-known example occurred in 1956, when East Germany issued a pair of postage stamps featuring Schumann's picture against an open score that featured Schubert's music. The stamps were soon replaced by a pair featuring music written by Schumann.
Instruments
One of the best known instruments that Robert Schumann played on was the grand piano by Conrad Graf, a present from Graf on the occasion of Robert and Clara’s marriage in 1839. This instrument stood in Schumann’s workroom in Düsseldorf and was later given by Clara Schumann to Johannes Brahms. After changing a few lodgings, it was received by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and can be seen at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Compositions
List of compositions by Robert Schumann
:Category:Compositions by Robert Schumann
Media portrayals
Dreaming (1944) is a UFA movie starring Mathias Wieman as Schumann, Hilde Krahl as Clara Wieck, Ullrich Haupt as Johannes Brahms, and Emil Lohkamp as Franz Liszt.
Song of Love (1947) is an MGM film starring Paul Henreid as Schumann, Katharine Hepburn as Clara Wieck, Robert Walker as Johannes Brahms, and Henry Daniell as Franz Liszt.
Peter Schamoni's 1983 movie Frühlingssinfonie (Spring Symphony) tells the story of Schumann and Wieck's romance, against her father's opposition. Robert was played by Herbert Grönemeyer, Clara by Nastassja Kinski, and Clara's father by Rolf Hoppe. The role of Niccolò Paganini was played by the violinist Gidon Kremer. The score was written by Grönemeyer and conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.
The Andrew Crumey novel Mobius Dick has a chapter depicting Schumann at Endenich.
Seinfeld: Robert Schumann is mentioned in a 1991 episode of Seinfeld called "The Jacket".
Frasier: The troubled Dresden premiere of the Second Symphony is mentioned in a 1998 episode of Frasier "Frasier's Curse".
Geliebte Clara ("Beloved Clara") was a 2008 Franco-German-Hungarian film about the lives of Clara and Robert.
Longing is a 2000 biographical novel by American author J. D. Landis.
Notes
References
Bibliography
Books and encyclopedias
The author argues that the composer was mentally normal all his life, until the sudden onset of insanity near the end resulting from tertiary syphilis
Articles
Websites
Works by Schumann
External links
Musical Rules at Home and in Life – text by Robert Schumann
Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig – edition of letters written by Robert and Clara Schumann
The city of Robert Schumann
(texts)
(audio and video)
1810 births
1856 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century male conductors (music)
19th-century conductors (music)
19th-century German composers
19th-century German journalists
19th-century German male writers
Composers for piano
Composers for pipe organ
German Romantic composers
German conductors (music)
German opera composers
German male classical composers
German male conductors (music)
German music critics
German male journalists
Male opera composers
Classical music critics
Musicians from Leipzig
Musicians from Düsseldorf
People from the Kingdom of Saxony
People from Zwickau
Pupils of Friedrich Wieck
Leipzig University alumni
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig faculty
People with bipolar disorder
Angelic visionaries
Heinrich Heine
Composers for pedal piano
Musicians with dystonia
German magazine founders
Deaths in mental institutions | true | [
"Robert Paul Smith (April 16, 1915 – January 30, 1977) was an American author, most famous for his classic evocation of childhood, Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing.\n\nBiography\nRobert Paul Smith was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Mount Vernon, NY, and graduated from Columbia College in 1936. He worked as a writer for CBS Radio and wrote four novels: So It Doesn't Whistle (1946) (1941, according to Avon Publishing Co., Inc., reprint edition ... Plus Blood in Their Veins copyright 1952); The Journey, (1943); Because of My Love (1946); The Time and the Place (1951).\n\nThe Tender Trap, a play by Smith and Dobie Gillis creator Max Shulman, opened in 1954 with Robert Preston in the leading role. It was later made into a movie starring Frank Sinatra and Debbie Reynolds. A classic example of the \"battle-of-the-sexes\" comedy, it revolves around the mutual envy of a bachelor living in New York City and a settled family man living in the New York suburbs.\n\nWhere Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing is a nostalgic evocation of the inner life of childhood. It advocates the value of privacy to children; the importance of unstructured time; the joys of boredom; and the virtues of freedom from adult supervision. He opens by saying \"The thing is, I don't understand what kids do with themselves any more.\" He contrasts the overstructured, overscheduled, oversupervised suburban life of the child in the suburban 1950's with reminiscences of his own childhood. He concludes \"I guess what I am saying is that people who don't have nightmares don't have dreams. If you will excuse me, I have an appointment with myself to sit on the front steps and watch some grass growing.\"\n\nTranslations from the English (1958) collects a series of articles originally published in Good Housekeeping magazine. The first, \"Translations from the Children,\" may be the earliest known example of the genre of humor that consists of a series of translations from what is said (e.g. \"I don't know why. He just hit me\") into what is meant (e.g. \"He hit his brother.\")\n\nHow to Do Nothing With Nobody All Alone By Yourself (1958) is a how-to book, illustrated by Robert Paul Smith's wife Elinor Goulding Smith. It gives step-by-step directions on how to: play mumbly-peg; build a spool tank; make polly-noses; construct an indoor boomerang, etc. It was republished in 2010 by Tin House Books.\n\nList of works\n\nEssays and humor\nWhere Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing (1957)\nTranslations from the English (1958) \nCrank: A Book of Lamentations, Exhortations, Mixed Memories and Desires, All Hard Or Chewy Centers, No Creams(1962)\nHow to Grow Up in One Piece (1963)\nGot to Stop Draggin’ that Little Red Wagon Around (1969)\nRobert Paul Smith’s Lost & Found (1973)\n\nFor children\nJack Mack, illus. Erik Blegvad (1960)\nWhen I Am Big, illus. Lillian Hoban (1965)\nNothingatall, Nothingatall, Nothingatall, illus. Allan E. Cober (1965)\nHow To Do Nothing With No One All Alone By Yourself, illus Elinor Goulding Smith (1958) Republished by Tin House Books (2010)\n\nNovels\nSo It Doesn't Whistle (1941) \nThe Journey (1943) \nBecause of My Love (1946) \nThe Time and the Place (1952)\nWhere He Went: Three Novels (1958)\n\nTheatre\nThe Tender Trap, by Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith (first Broadway performance, 1954; Random House edition, 1955)\n\nVerse\nThe Man with the Gold-headed Cane (1943)\n…and Another Thing (1959)\n\nExternal links\n\n1915 births\n1977 deaths\n20th-century American novelists\nAmerican children's writers\nAmerican humorists\nAmerican instructional writers\nAmerican male novelists\n20th-century American dramatists and playwrights\nAmerican male dramatists and playwrights\n20th-century American male writers\n20th-century American non-fiction writers\nAmerican male non-fiction writers\nColumbia College (New York) alumni",
"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"
]
|
[
"Robert Schumann",
"Biography",
"Where was he born?",
"Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony,",
"When was he born",
"I don't know.",
"Who were his parents",
"the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (nee Schnabel) and August Schumann.",
"What was his childhood like",
"Schumann began receiving general musical and piano instruction at the age of seven from Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school.",
"Did he play any other instrumenst",
"I don't know.",
"What else did he do in childhood?",
"Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age."
]
| C_021a941b0ca84f27a6c2fe522c928a28_1 | Did people think he had talent as a child | 7 | Did people think Robert Schumann had talent as a child? | Robert Schumann | Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony, the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (nee Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music - undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist. Schumann began receiving general musical and piano instruction at the age of seven from Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music and worked at creating musical compositions himself, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody, - ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait." At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene. Schumann's interest in music was sparked by seeing a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged the boy's musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Neither his mother nor his guardian thereafter encouraged a career in music. In 1828 Schumann left school, and after a tour during which he met Heinrich Heine in Munich, he went to Leipzig to study law (to meet the terms of his inheritance). In 1829 his law studies continued in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg. CANNOTANSWER | "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody, | Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured him that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.
In 1840, Schumann married Clara Wieck, after a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Friedrich, who opposed the marriage. A lifelong partnership in music began, as Clara herself was an established pianist and music prodigy. Clara and Robert also maintained a close relationship with German composer Johannes Brahms.
Until 1840, Schumann wrote exclusively for the piano. Later, he composed piano and orchestral works, and many Lieder (songs for voice and piano). He composed four symphonies, one opera, and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. His best-known works include Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in C. Schumann was known for infusing his music with characters through motifs, as well as references to works of literature. These characters bled into his editorial writing in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a Leipzig-based publication that he co-founded.
Schumann suffered from a mental disorder that first manifested in 1833 as a severe melancholic depressive episode—which recurred several times alternating with phases of "exaltation" and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic items. What is now thought to have been a combination of bipolar disorder and perhaps mercury poisoning led to "manic" and "depressive" periods in Schumann's compositional productivity. After a suicide attempt in 1854, Schumann was admitted at his own request to a mental asylum in Endenich (now in Bonn). Diagnosed with psychotic melancholia, he died of pneumonia two years later at the age of 46, without recovering from his mental illness.
Biography
Early life
Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony (today Central Germany), the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (née Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music—undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist.
At age seven, Schumann began studying general music and piano with Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music, and worked on his own compositions, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody,—ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait."
At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene.
Schumann's interest in music was sparked by attending a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged his musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Thereafter, neither his mother nor his guardian encouraged him to pursue a music career. In 1828, Schumann left high school, and after a trip during which he met the poet Heinrich Heine in Munich, he left to study law at the University of Leipzig under family pressure. But in Leipzig Schumann instead focused on improvisation, song composition, and writing novels. He also began to seriously study piano with Friedrich Wieck, a well-known piano teacher. In 1829, he continued his law studies in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg.
1830–1834
During Eastertide 1830, he heard the Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer Niccolò Paganini play in Frankfurt. In July he wrote to his mother, "My whole life has been a struggle between Poetry and Prose, or call it Music and Law." With her permission, by Christmas he was back in Leipzig, at age 20 taking piano lessons from his old master Friedrich Wieck, who assured him that he would be a successful concert pianist after a few years' study with him. During his studies with Wieck, some stories claim that Schumann permanently injured a finger on his right hand. Wieck claimed that Schumann damaged his finger by using a mechanical device that held back one finger while he exercised the others—which was supposed to strengthen the weakest fingers. Clara Schumann discredited the story, saying the disability was not due to a mechanical device, and Robert Schumann himself referred to it as "an affliction of the whole hand." Some argue that, as the disability appeared to have been chronic and have affected the hand, and not just a finger, it was not likely caused by a finger strengthening device. In 2012, neurologists discussed Schumann's symptoms at a conference called "Musicians With Dystonia."
Schumann abandoned the idea of a concert career and devoted himself instead to composition. To this end he began a study of music theory under Heinrich Dorn, a German composer six years his senior and, at that time, conductor of the Leipzig Opera.
Papillons
Schumann's fusion of literary ideas with musical ones—known as program music—may have first taken shape in Papillons, Op. 2 (Butterflies), a musical portrayal of events in Jean Paul's novel Flegeljahre. In a letter from Leipzig dated April 1832, Schumann bids his brothers, "Read the last scene in Jean Paul's Flegeljahre as soon as possible, because the Papillons are intended as a musical representation of that masquerade." This inspiration is foreshadowed to some extent in his first written criticism—an 1831 essay on Frédéric Chopin's variations on a theme from Mozart's Don Giovanni, published in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. In it, Schumann creates imaginary characters who discuss Chopin's work: Florestan (the embodiment of Schumann's passionate, voluble side) and Eusebius (his dreamy, introspective side)—the counterparts of Vult and Walt in Flegeljahre. They call on a third, Meister Raro, for his opinion. Raro may represent either the composer himself, Wieck's daughter Clara, or the combination of the two (Clara + Robert).
In the winter of 1832, at age 22, Schumann visited relatives in Zwickau and Schneeberg, where he performed the first movement of his Symphony in G minor (without opus number, known as the "Zwickauer"). In Zwickau, the music was performed at a concert given by Clara Wieck, who was then just 13 years old. On this occasion Clara played bravura Variations by Henri Herz, a composer whom Schumann was already deriding as a philistine. Schumann's mother said to Clara, "You must marry my Robert one day." The Symphony in G minor was not published during Schumann's lifetime but has been played and recorded in recent times.
The 1833 deaths of Schumann's brother Julius and his sister-in-law Rosalie in the worldwide cholera pandemic brought on a severe depressive episode.
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
By spring 1834, Schumann had sufficiently recovered to inaugurate Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik ("New Journal for Music"), first published on 3 April 1834. In his writings, Schumann created a fictional music society based on people in his life, called the Davidsbündler, named after the biblical King David who fought against the Philistines. Schumann published most of his critical writings in the journal, and often lambasted the popular taste for flashy technical displays from figures whom Schumann perceived as inferior composers, or "philistines". Schumann campaigned to revive interest in major composers of the past, including Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. He also promoted the work of some contemporary composers, including Chopin (about whom Schumann famously wrote, "Hats off, Gentlemen! A genius!") and Hector Berlioz, whom he praised for creating music of substance. On the other hand, Schumann disparaged the school of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. Among Schumann's associates at this time were composers Norbert Burgmüller and Ludwig Schuncke (to whom Schumann dedicated his Toccata in C).
Carnaval
Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834) is one of Schumann's most characteristic piano works. Schumann begins nearly every section of Carnaval with a musical cryptogram, the musical notes signified in German by the letters that spell Asch (A, E-flat, C, and B, or alternatively A-flat, C, and B; in German these are A, Es, C and H, and As, C and H respectively), the Bohemian town in which Ernestine was born, and the notes are also the musical letters in Schumann's own name. Eusebius and Florestan, the imaginary figures appearing so often in his critical writings, also appear, alongside brilliant imitations of Chopin and Paganini. To each of these characters he devotes a section of Carnaval. The work comes to a close with a march of the Davidsbündler—the league of King David's men against the Philistines—in which may be heard the clear accents of truth in contest with the dull clamour of falsehood embodied in a quotation from the seventeenth century Grandfather's Dance. The march, a step nearly always in duple meter, is here in 3/4 time (triple meter). The work ends in joy and a degree of mock-triumph. In Carnaval, Schumann went further than in Papillons, by conceiving the story as well as the musical representation (and also displaying a maturation of compositional resource).
Relationships
During the summer of 1834 Schumann became engaged to 16-year-old Ernestine von Fricken, the adopted daughter of a rich Bohemian-born noble. In August 1835, he learned that Ernestine was born illegitimate, which meant that she would have no dowry. Fearful that her limited means would force him to earn his living like a "day-labourer," Schumann completely broke with her toward the end of the year. He felt a growing attraction to 15-year-old Clara Wieck. They made mutual declarations of love in December in Zwickau, where Clara appeared in concert. His budding romance with Clara was disrupted when her father learned of their trysts during the Christmas holidays. He summarily forbade them further meetings, and ordered all their correspondence burnt.
1835–1839
On 3 October 1835, Schumann met Felix Mendelssohn at Wieck's house in Leipzig, and his enthusiastic appreciation of that artist was shown with the same generous freedom that distinguished his acknowledgement of the greatness of Chopin and other colleagues, and later prompted him to publicly pronounce the then-unknown Johannes Brahms a genius.
In 1837 Schumann published his Symphonic Studies, a complex set of étude-like variations written in 1834–1835, which demanded a finished piano technique. These variations were based on a theme by the adoptive father of Ernestine von Fricken. The work—described as "one of the peaks of the piano literature, lofty in conception and faultless in workmanship" [Hutcheson]—was dedicated to the young English composer William Sterndale Bennett, for whom Schumann had had a high regard when they worked together in Leipzig.
The Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, (also published in 1837 despite the low opus number) literally "Dances of the League of David", is an embodiment of the struggle between enlightened Romanticism and musical philistinism. Schumann credited the two sides of his character with the composition of the work (the more passionate numbers are signed F. (Florestan) and the more dreamy signed E. (Eusebius)). The work begins with the "motto of C. W." (Clara Wieck) denoting her support for the ideals of the Davidsbund. The Bund was a music society of Schumann's imagination, members of which were kindred spirits (as he saw them) such as Chopin, Paganini and Clara, as well as the personalized Florestan and Eusebius.
Kinderszenen, Op. 15, completed in 1838 and a favourite of Schumann's piano works, depicts the innocence and playfulness of childhood. The "Träumerei" in F major, No. 7 of the set, is one of the most famous piano pieces ever written, and has been performed in myriad forms and transcriptions. It has been the favourite encore of several great pianists, including Vladimir Horowitz. Melodic and deceptively simple, the piece is "complex" in its harmonic structure.
Kreisleriana, Op. 16 (1838), considered one of Schumann's greatest works, carried his fantasy and emotional range deeper. Johannes Kreisler was a fictional musician created by poet E. T. A. Hoffmann, and characterized as a "romantic brought into contact with reality." Schumann used the figure to express "fantastic and mad" emotional states. According to Hutcheson ("The Literature of the Piano"), this work is "among the finest efforts of Schumann's genius. He never surpassed the searching beauty of the slow movements (Nos. 2, 4, 6) or the urgent passion of others (Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7) […] To appreciate it a high level of aesthetic intelligence is required […] This is no facile music, there is severity alike in its beauty and its passion."
The Fantasie in C, Op. 17, composed in the summer of 1836, is a work of passion and deep pathos, imbued with the spirit of the late Beethoven. Schumann intended to use proceeds from sales of the work toward the construction of a monument to Beethoven, who had died in 1827. The first movement of the Fantasie contains a musical quote from Beethoven's song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (at the Adagio coda, taken from the last song of the cycle). The original titles of the movements were Ruins, Triumphal Arch, and The Starry Crown. According to Franz Liszt, who played the work for Schumann and to whom it was dedicated, the Fantasie was apt to be played too heavily, and should have a dreamier (träumerisch) character than vigorous German pianists tended to impart. Liszt also said: "It is a noble work, worthy of Beethoven, whose career, by the way, it is supposed to represent". Again, according to Hutcheson: "No words can describe the Phantasie, no quotations set forth the majesty of its genius. It must suffice to say that it is Schumann's greatest work in large form for piano solo."
After a visit to Vienna, during which he discovered Franz Schubert's previously unknown Symphony No. 9 in C, in 1839 Schumann wrote the Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Carnival Prank from Vienna). Most of the joke is in the central section of the first movement, which makes a thinly veiled reference to La Marseillaise. (Vienna had banned the song due to harsh memories of Napoleon's invasion.) The festive mood does not preclude moments of melancholic introspection in the Intermezzo.
1840–1849
From 1832 to 1839, Schumann wrote almost exclusively for piano, but in 1840 alone he wrote at least 138 songs. Indeed, 1840 (the Liederjahr or year of song) is highly significant in Schumann's musical legacy, despite his earlier deriding of works for piano and voice as inferior.
After a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Schumann married Clara Wieck in the in Leipzig-Schönefeld, on 12 September 1840, the day before her 21st birthday. Had they waited another day, they would no longer have required her father's consent. Their marriage supported a remarkable business partnership, with Clara acting as an inspiration, critic, and confidante to her husband. Despite her delicate appearance, she was an extremely strong-willed and energetic woman, who kept up a demanding schedule of concert tours in between bearing several children. Two years after their marriage, Friedrich Wieck at last reconciled himself with the couple, eager to see his grandchildren.
Prior to the legal case and subsequent marriage, the lovers exchanged love letters and rendezvoused in secret. Robert often waited for hours in a cafe in a nearby city just to see Clara for a few minutes after one of her concerts. The strain of this long courtship and its consummation may have led to this great outpouring of Lieder (vocal songs with piano accompaniment). This is evident in Widmung, for example, where he uses the melody from Schubert's Ave Maria in the postlude in homage to Clara. Schumann's biographers attribute the sweetness, doubt, and despair of these songs to the emotions aroused by his love for Clara and the uncertainties of their future together.
Robert and Clara had eight children, Emil (1846–1847), who died at 1 year; Marie (1841–1929); Elise (1843–1928); Julie (1845–1872); Ludwig (1848–1899); Ferdinand (1849–1891); Eugenie (1851–1938); and Felix (1854–1879).
His chief song-cycles in this period were settings of the Liederkreis of Joseph von Eichendorff, Op. 39 (depicting a series of moods relating to or inspired by nature); the Frauenliebe und -leben of Chamisso, Op. 42 (relating the tale of a woman's marriage, childbirth and widowhood); the Dichterliebe of Heine, Op. 48 (depicting a lover rejected, but coming to terms with his painful loss through renunciation and forgiveness); and Myrthen, a collection of songs, including poems by Goethe, Rückert, Heine, Byron, Burns and Moore. The songs Belsatzar, Op. 57 and Die beiden Grenadiere, Op. 49, both to Heine's words, show Schumann at his best as a ballad writer, although the dramatic ballad is less congenial to him than the introspective lyric. The Op. 35, 40 and 98a sets (words by Justinus Kerner, Chamisso and Goethe respectively), although less well known, also contain songs of lyric and dramatic quality.
In 1841 he wrote two of his four symphonies, No. 1 in B-flat, Op. 38, Spring and No. 4 in D minor (the latter a pioneering work in "cyclic form", was performed that year but published only much later after revision and extensive re-orchestration as Op. 120). He devoted 1842 to composing chamber music, including the Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44, now one of his best known and most admired works; the Piano Quartet and three string quartets. In 1843 he wrote Paradise and the Peri, his first attempt at concerted vocal music, an oratorio style work based on Lalla-Rookh by Thomas Moore. The main role of Peri in the world premiere was performed by Schumann's family friend, soprano Livia Frege. After this, his compositions were not confined to any one form during any particular period.
The stage in his life when he was deeply engaged in setting Goethe's Faust to music (1844–53) was a turbulent one for his health. He spent the first half of 1844 with Clara on tour in Russia, and his depression grew worse as he felt inferior to Clara as a musician. On returning to Germany, he abandoned his editorial work and left Leipzig for Dresden, where he suffered from persistent "nervous prostration". As soon as he began to work, he was seized with fits of shivering and an apprehension of death, experiencing an abhorrence of high places, all metal instruments (even keys), and drugs. Schumann's diaries also state that he suffered perpetually from imagining that he had the note A5 sounding in his ears.
His state of unease and neurasthenia is reflected in his Symphony in C, numbered second but third in order of composition, in which the composer explores states of exhaustion, obsession, and depression, culminating in Beethovenian spiritual triumph. Also published in 1845 was his Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, originally conceived and performed as a one-movement Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra in 1841. It is one of the most popular and oft-recorded of all piano concertos; according to Hutcheson "Schumann achieved a masterly work and we inherited the finest piano concerto since Mozart and Beethoven".
In 1846, he felt he had recovered. In the winter, the Schumanns revisited Vienna, traveling to Prague and Berlin in the spring of 1847 and in the summer to Zwickau, where he was received with enthusiasm. This pleased him, since until that time he was famous in only Dresden and Leipzig.
His only opera, Genoveva, Op. 81, premiered in Spring 1850. In it, Schumann attempted to abolish recitative, which he regarded as an interruption to the musical flow (an influence on Richard Wagner; Schumann's consistently flowing melody can be seen as a forerunner to Wagner's Melos). The subject of Genoveva—based on Ludwig Tieck and Christian Friedrich Hebbel's plays—was not seen an ideal choice. The text is often considered to lack dramatic qualities; the work has not remained in the repertoire. As early as 1842 the possibilities of German opera had been keenly realized by Schumann, who wrote, "Do you know my prayer as an artist, night and morning? It is called 'German Opera.' Here is a real field for enterprise ... something simple, profound, German". And in his notebook of suggestions for the text of operas are found amongst others: Nibelungen, Lohengrin and Till Eulenspiegel.
The music to Byron's Manfred was written in 1849, the overture of which is one of Schumann's most frequently performed orchestral works. The insurrection of Dresden caused Schumann to move to Kreischa, a little village a few miles outside the city. In August 1849, on the occasion of the centenary of Goethe's birth, completed scenes of Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust were performed in Dresden, Leipzig and Weimar. Liszt gave him assistance and encouragement. The rest of the work was written later in 1849, and the overture (which Schumann described as "one of the sturdiest of [his] creations") in 1853.
After 1850
From 1850 to 1854, Schumann composed in a wide variety of genres. Critics have disputed the quality of his work at this time; a widely held view has been that his music showed signs of mental breakdown and creative decay. More recently, critics have suggested that the changes in style may be explained by "lucid experimentation".
In 1850, Schumann succeeded Ferdinand Hiller as musical director at Düsseldorf, but he was a poor conductor and quickly aroused the opposition of the musicians. According to Harold C. Schonberg, in his 1967 The Great Conductors: "The great composer was impossible on the platform ... There is something heartrending about poor Schumann's epochal inefficiency as a conductor." His contract was eventually terminated. By the end of that year he completed his Symphony No. 3, "Rhenish" (a work containing five movements and whose 4th movement is apparently intended to represent an episcopal coronation ceremony). In 1851 he revised what would be published as his fourth symphony. From 1851 to 1853 he visited Switzerland, Belgium and Leipzig.
On 30 September 1853, the 20-year-old composer Johannes Brahms arrived unannounced at the door of the Schumanns carrying a letter of introduction from violinist Joseph Joachim. (Schumann was not at home, and would not meet Brahms until the next day.) Brahms amazed Clara and Robert with his music, stayed with them for several weeks, and became a close family friend. (He later worked closely with Clara to popularize Schumann's compositions during her long widowhood.)
During this time Schumann, Brahms and Schumann's pupil Albert Dietrich collaborated on the composition of the F-A-E Sonata for Joachim; Schumann also published an article, "Neue Bahnen" ("New Paths") in the Neue Zeitschrift (his first article in many years), hailing the unknown young Brahms from Hamburg, a man who had published nothing, as "the Chosen One" who "was destined to give ideal expression to the times." It was an extraordinary way to present Brahms to the musical world, setting up great expectations that he did not fulfill for many years. In January 1854, Schumann went to Hanover, where he heard a performance of his Paradise and the Peri organized by Joachim and Brahms. Two years later at Schumann's request, the work received its first English performance conducted by William Sterndale Bennett.
Schumann returned to Düsseldorf and began to edit his complete works and make an anthology on the subject of music. He suffered a renewal of the symptoms that had threatened him earlier. Besides the single note sounding in his ear (possibly evidence of tinnitus,) he imagined that voices sounded in his ear and he heard angelic music. One night he suddenly left his bed, having dreamt or imagined that a ghost (purportedly the spirit of either Schubert or Mendelssohn) had dictated a "spirit theme" to him. The theme was one he had used several times before: in his Second String Quartet, again in his Lieder-Album für die Jugend, and finally in the slow movement of his Violin Concerto. In the days leading up to his suicide attempt, Schumann wrote five variations on this theme for the piano, his last completed work, today known as the Geistervariationen (Ghost Variations). Brahms published it in a supplementary volume to the complete edition of Schumann's piano music. In 1861 Brahms published his Variations for Piano Four Hands, Op. 23, based on this theme.
Final illness and death
In late February 1854, Schumann's symptoms increased, the angelic visions sometimes being replaced by demonic ones. He warned Clara that he feared he might do her harm. On 27 February, he attempted suicide by throwing himself from a bridge into the Rhine River (his elder sister Emilie had committed suicide in 1825, possibly by drowning herself). Rescued by boatmen and taken home, he asked to be taken to an asylum for the insane. He entered Dr. Franz Richarz's sanatorium in Endenich, a quarter of Bonn, and remained there until he died on 29 July 1856 at the age of 46. During his confinement, he was not allowed to see Clara, although Brahms was free to visit him. Clara finally visited him two days before his death. He appeared to recognize her, but was able to speak only a few words.
Given his reported symptoms, one modern view is that he died from syphilis, which he could have contracted during his student days, and which could have remained latent during most of his marriage. According to studies by the musicologist and literary scholar Eric Sams, Schumann's symptoms during his terminal illness and death appear consistent with those of mercury poisoning; mercury was a common treatment for syphilis and other conditions. Another possibility is that his neurological problems were a result of an intracranial mass. A report by Janisch and Nauhaus on Schumann's autopsy indicates that he had a "gelatinous" tumor at the base of the brain; it may have represented a colloid cyst, a craniopharyngioma, a chordoma, or a chordoid meningioma. In particular, meningiomas are known to produce musical auditory hallucinations such as Schumann reported. It has also been hypothesised that he suffered from schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder; bipolar type, or bipolar disorder and bipolar II disorder. His medical records from this illness were released in 1991, and suggest a "progressive paralysis", a term used for neurosyphilis at the time, although a diagnostic test for Treponema pallidum did not become available till 1906.
Schumann heard a persistent A-note at the end of his life. It was a form of tinnitus, or perhaps an auditory hallucination related to his major depressive episode. At times, he had musical hallucinations that were longer than just the single A, but his diaries include comments about hearing that annoying single note.
After Robert's death, Clara continued her career as a concert pianist, which supported the family. From mid-career on, she mainly performed music by leading composers. A hired cook and housekeeper tended to the children while she traveled. In 1856, she first visited England. The critics received Robert's music coolly, with Henry Fothergill Chorley being particularly harsh. She returned to London in 1865 and made regular appearances there in later years, often performing chamber music with the violinist Joseph Joachim and others. She became the authoritative editor of her husband's works for Breitkopf & Härtel. It was rumoured that she and Brahms destroyed many of Schumann's later works, which they thought were tainted by his madness, but only the Five Pieces for Cello and Piano are known to have been destroyed. Most of Schumann's late works, particularly the Violin Concerto, the Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra and the Violin Sonata No. 3, all from 1853, have entered the repertoire.
Legacy
Schumann had considerable influence in the nineteenth century and beyond, despite his adoption of more conservative modes of composition after his marriage. He left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Partly through his protégé Brahms, Schumann's ideals and musical vocabulary became widely disseminated. Composer Sir Edward Elgar called Schumann "my ideal."
Schumann has often been confused with Austrian composer Franz Schubert; one well-known example occurred in 1956, when East Germany issued a pair of postage stamps featuring Schumann's picture against an open score that featured Schubert's music. The stamps were soon replaced by a pair featuring music written by Schumann.
Instruments
One of the best known instruments that Robert Schumann played on was the grand piano by Conrad Graf, a present from Graf on the occasion of Robert and Clara’s marriage in 1839. This instrument stood in Schumann’s workroom in Düsseldorf and was later given by Clara Schumann to Johannes Brahms. After changing a few lodgings, it was received by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and can be seen at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Compositions
List of compositions by Robert Schumann
:Category:Compositions by Robert Schumann
Media portrayals
Dreaming (1944) is a UFA movie starring Mathias Wieman as Schumann, Hilde Krahl as Clara Wieck, Ullrich Haupt as Johannes Brahms, and Emil Lohkamp as Franz Liszt.
Song of Love (1947) is an MGM film starring Paul Henreid as Schumann, Katharine Hepburn as Clara Wieck, Robert Walker as Johannes Brahms, and Henry Daniell as Franz Liszt.
Peter Schamoni's 1983 movie Frühlingssinfonie (Spring Symphony) tells the story of Schumann and Wieck's romance, against her father's opposition. Robert was played by Herbert Grönemeyer, Clara by Nastassja Kinski, and Clara's father by Rolf Hoppe. The role of Niccolò Paganini was played by the violinist Gidon Kremer. The score was written by Grönemeyer and conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.
The Andrew Crumey novel Mobius Dick has a chapter depicting Schumann at Endenich.
Seinfeld: Robert Schumann is mentioned in a 1991 episode of Seinfeld called "The Jacket".
Frasier: The troubled Dresden premiere of the Second Symphony is mentioned in a 1998 episode of Frasier "Frasier's Curse".
Geliebte Clara ("Beloved Clara") was a 2008 Franco-German-Hungarian film about the lives of Clara and Robert.
Longing is a 2000 biographical novel by American author J. D. Landis.
Notes
References
Bibliography
Books and encyclopedias
The author argues that the composer was mentally normal all his life, until the sudden onset of insanity near the end resulting from tertiary syphilis
Articles
Websites
Works by Schumann
External links
Musical Rules at Home and in Life – text by Robert Schumann
Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig – edition of letters written by Robert and Clara Schumann
The city of Robert Schumann
(texts)
(audio and video)
1810 births
1856 deaths
19th-century classical composers
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Composers for piano
Composers for pipe organ
German Romantic composers
German conductors (music)
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German music critics
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Male opera composers
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Musicians from Leipzig
Musicians from Düsseldorf
People from the Kingdom of Saxony
People from Zwickau
Pupils of Friedrich Wieck
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University of Music and Theatre Leipzig faculty
People with bipolar disorder
Angelic visionaries
Heinrich Heine
Composers for pedal piano
Musicians with dystonia
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Deaths in mental institutions | true | [
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Karaty's unique path allowed him to infuse his work with the spirit of classic Broadway inspirations like Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and trailblazers in the hip-hop and pop culture like Michael Jackson.\n\nDuring college at NYU, Karaty spent his “free” time teaching at the popular Tremaine Dance Conventions where he met friend and collaborator Wade Robson. During his junior year, Karaty made his Broadway debut in the smash hit “Footloose” and soon thereafter began dancing with Britney Spears on the MTV Video Music Awards and The Billboard Awards.\n\nAfter graduating from NYU with a B.A. in Journalism, Karaty decided it was time to make the move to Hollywood where he and Robson continued to collaborate. Their rise was fast and furious and included high-profile projects like Britney Spears’ first Pepsi commercial and the *NSYNC World Tour.\n\nKaraty then branched out on his own, choreographing Jessica Simpson's “Irresistible” and “Little Bit” music videos and serving as Artistic Director for her 2001 World Tour. He also worked with Kylie Minogue on many of her television appearances, as well as a long list of cutting-edge artists like Justin Timberlake and Usher. Although he quickly became known for his work in the pop music genre, Karaty broadened his reach by choreographing ground-breaking commercials for iPod, Best Buy, Mattel, Miller and many more.\n\nKaraty's experience, combined with his gift for comedy, allowed him to move into the film industry where he choreographed “Music and Lyrics,” “Malibu’s Most Wanted,” \"Did You Hear About The Morgans” and Disney's 2011 release, \"Prom.\"\n\nBeyond his role as a Judge on T.V. series around the world, Karaty has his sights set on producing and directing films, television and theater. He is currently in development on several film and television projects and even a Broadway production of his own!\"\n\nWith his wife Natasha, Karaty has two children, a daughter named Quinn, and a son named Daniel.\n\nDan has learned Dutch while working in Belgium and the Netherlands, but never speaks it on TV; therefore no one knows he speaks it.\n\nCareer\nHe made his own Broadway debut in the musical Footloose during his junior year in college. During his senior year, he began dancing with Britney Spears.\n\nKaraty has appeared on the MTV Awards and the Billboard Awards, and was the sole choreographer for the 2002 American Dance Music Awards.\n\nKaraty is currently appearing as a judge on the Canadian and Dutch/Belgian versions of So You Think You Can Dance.\n\nKaraty also appeared on Bravo's fall 2009 series Launch My Line, a reality show that pairs professionals of a specific industry—in Karaty's case, dance/choreography—and experts in fashion design in order to create an apparel line.\n\n Holland's Got Talent (The Netherlands)\n Belgium's Got Talent (Belgium)\n Everybody Dance Now (The Netherlands)\n My Name Is Michael (The Netherlands and Belgium)\n So You Think You Can Dance (Belgium and The Netherlands)\n So You Think You Can Dance (USA)\n So You Think You Can Dance (Canada)\n So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation (Belgium and The Netherlands)\n The Ultimate Dance Battle (Belgium and The Netherlands)\n \"X Factor\"\n\nSelect Credits\n So You Think You Can Dance: Judge/Choreographer – Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, US\n America's Got Talent: Performance Stager/Choreographer\n Holland's Got Talent: Judge\n Everybody Dance Now: Judge\n X Factor: Judge – Holland\n Soof - Actor (\"Jim\") - Millstreet Films\n Prom - Disney\n Did You Hear About The Morgans – Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker\n Music and Lyrics – Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore\n My Name Is Michael: Judge\n Better Off Ted: ABC\n The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Multiple Episodes\n Jessica Simpson: “Irresistible” “Little Bit”, World Tour – Artistic Director\n IPOD: “Jazz” – Dir. Mark Romanek\n Best Buy: Geek Squad Campaign – Dir. Limore Shur\n NSYNC: 2000 VMA's, “Pop Odyssey” World Tour – Co-Director/Choreographer\n Britney Spears: 2000 VMA's, Pepsi with Britney, “Oops I Did It Again” Tour\n Cascada – “Evacuate The Dance Floor”\n Deal or No Deal: NBC\n Malibu's Most Wanted: Jamie Kennedy and Taye Diggs\n Kylie Minogue: VMA's Europe, Multiple Television Projects\n American Dance Music Awards: feat. Diddy, Dirty Vegas, Paul Oakenfold\n The Jamie Kennedy Experiment: WB – Multiple Episodes\n The Mandy Moore Show: MTV\n The Ultimate Dance Battle\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial site\nBiography at the Broadway Dance Center\n\n1976 births\nLiving people\nAmerican choreographers\nAmerican television personalities\nSo You Think You Can Dance choreographers\nPeople from Wyckoff, New Jersey\nSo You Think You Can Dance (Belgian and Dutch TV series)",
"Do I Have to Kill My Child? is a 1976 Australian film.\n\nPlot\nA young mother, Diane, physically abuses her baby.\n\nCast\nJacki Weaver as Dianne\nBrendan Lunney as her husband\nBetty Lucas as her mother\n\nProduction\nDonald Crombie and Anne Deveson had worked together on Who Killed Jenny Langby?. Crombie says Deveson came up with the idea \"because she had a personal interest in child abuse, baby-bashing we should call it, as opposed to sexual abuse... I think with her third child she had felt the impulse to injure the child. She was a young mother with three kids and it was all too much. So being Anne Deveson, she started to explore and discovered there was this hidden syndrome in society. The research that Anne did was quite extraordinary: women admitting that they would literally lock themselves in a room to stop them getting to the kid. Pretty horrific stuff.\"\n\nAnne Deveson said, \"As a child Dianne was emotionally damaged, constantly criticized and frustrated, made to feel inadequate and insecure. She longs for society's and her mother's approval, tries too hard to be perfect. She gets by pretty well until a combination of stresses makes her erupt into violence against her third child.\"\n\nFinance was obtained from Film Australia and Channel 9.\n\nThe Women's Film Fund invested $25,000. The program was sold for $37,000. (Another account says the film was sold for $48,000.)\n\nReception\nThe film was a ratings success. Crombie said, \"I think it rated 40 in Sydney and something similar in Melbourne. It did numbers you only get with Test Matches and one-off big sporting events today! Anne received hugee mail from that one film. She said the people rang in and wrote that they thought they were unique, that they were monsters, and then they realised. So that was an extraordinarily satisfying experience. It really worked.\"\n\nAwards\nJackie Weaver's performance earned her Best Actress at the Logies.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nEnglish-language films\n1976 television films\n1976 films\nAustralian television films\nAustralian films\nAustralian drama films\n1976 drama films"
]
|
[
"Robert Schumann",
"Biography",
"Where was he born?",
"Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony,",
"When was he born",
"I don't know.",
"Who were his parents",
"the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (nee Schnabel) and August Schumann.",
"What was his childhood like",
"Schumann began receiving general musical and piano instruction at the age of seven from Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school.",
"Did he play any other instrumenst",
"I don't know.",
"What else did he do in childhood?",
"Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age.",
"Did people think he had talent as a child",
"\"It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody,"
]
| C_021a941b0ca84f27a6c2fe522c928a28_1 | What else happened as a youth? | 8 | Other than traits in melody, what else happened as a youth? | Robert Schumann | Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony, the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (nee Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music - undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist. Schumann began receiving general musical and piano instruction at the age of seven from Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music and worked at creating musical compositions himself, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody, - ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait." At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene. Schumann's interest in music was sparked by seeing a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged the boy's musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Neither his mother nor his guardian thereafter encouraged a career in music. In 1828 Schumann left school, and after a tour during which he met Heinrich Heine in Munich, he went to Leipzig to study law (to meet the terms of his inheritance). In 1829 his law studies continued in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg. CANNOTANSWER | At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. | Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured him that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.
In 1840, Schumann married Clara Wieck, after a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Friedrich, who opposed the marriage. A lifelong partnership in music began, as Clara herself was an established pianist and music prodigy. Clara and Robert also maintained a close relationship with German composer Johannes Brahms.
Until 1840, Schumann wrote exclusively for the piano. Later, he composed piano and orchestral works, and many Lieder (songs for voice and piano). He composed four symphonies, one opera, and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. His best-known works include Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in C. Schumann was known for infusing his music with characters through motifs, as well as references to works of literature. These characters bled into his editorial writing in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a Leipzig-based publication that he co-founded.
Schumann suffered from a mental disorder that first manifested in 1833 as a severe melancholic depressive episode—which recurred several times alternating with phases of "exaltation" and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic items. What is now thought to have been a combination of bipolar disorder and perhaps mercury poisoning led to "manic" and "depressive" periods in Schumann's compositional productivity. After a suicide attempt in 1854, Schumann was admitted at his own request to a mental asylum in Endenich (now in Bonn). Diagnosed with psychotic melancholia, he died of pneumonia two years later at the age of 46, without recovering from his mental illness.
Biography
Early life
Schumann was born in Zwickau, in the Kingdom of Saxony (today Central Germany), the fifth and last child of Johanna Christiane (née Schnabel) and August Schumann. Schumann began to compose before the age of seven, but his boyhood was spent in the cultivation of literature as much as music—undoubtedly influenced by his father, a bookseller, publisher, and novelist.
At age seven, Schumann began studying general music and piano with Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch, a teacher at the Zwickau high school. The boy immediately developed a love of music, and worked on his own compositions, without the aid of Kuntzsch. Even though he often disregarded the principles of musical composition, he created works regarded as admirable for his age. The Universal Journal of Music 1850 supplement included a biographical sketch of Schumann that noted, "It has been related that Schumann, as a child, possessed rare taste and talent for portraying feelings and characteristic traits in melody,—ay, he could sketch the different dispositions of his intimate friends by certain figures and passages on the piano so exactly and comically that everyone burst into loud laughter at the similitude of the portrait."
At age 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, titled Portraits of Famous Men. While still at school in Zwickau, he read the works of the German poet-philosophers Schiller and Goethe, as well as Byron and the Greek tragedians. His most powerful and permanent literary inspiration was Jean Paul, a German writer whose influence is seen in Schumann's youthful novels Juniusabende, completed in 1826, and Selene.
Schumann's interest in music was sparked by attending a performance of Ignaz Moscheles playing at Karlsbad, and he later developed an interest in the works of Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn. His father, who had encouraged his musical aspirations, died in 1826 when Schumann was 16. Thereafter, neither his mother nor his guardian encouraged him to pursue a music career. In 1828, Schumann left high school, and after a trip during which he met the poet Heinrich Heine in Munich, he left to study law at the University of Leipzig under family pressure. But in Leipzig Schumann instead focused on improvisation, song composition, and writing novels. He also began to seriously study piano with Friedrich Wieck, a well-known piano teacher. In 1829, he continued his law studies in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg.
1830–1834
During Eastertide 1830, he heard the Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer Niccolò Paganini play in Frankfurt. In July he wrote to his mother, "My whole life has been a struggle between Poetry and Prose, or call it Music and Law." With her permission, by Christmas he was back in Leipzig, at age 20 taking piano lessons from his old master Friedrich Wieck, who assured him that he would be a successful concert pianist after a few years' study with him. During his studies with Wieck, some stories claim that Schumann permanently injured a finger on his right hand. Wieck claimed that Schumann damaged his finger by using a mechanical device that held back one finger while he exercised the others—which was supposed to strengthen the weakest fingers. Clara Schumann discredited the story, saying the disability was not due to a mechanical device, and Robert Schumann himself referred to it as "an affliction of the whole hand." Some argue that, as the disability appeared to have been chronic and have affected the hand, and not just a finger, it was not likely caused by a finger strengthening device. In 2012, neurologists discussed Schumann's symptoms at a conference called "Musicians With Dystonia."
Schumann abandoned the idea of a concert career and devoted himself instead to composition. To this end he began a study of music theory under Heinrich Dorn, a German composer six years his senior and, at that time, conductor of the Leipzig Opera.
Papillons
Schumann's fusion of literary ideas with musical ones—known as program music—may have first taken shape in Papillons, Op. 2 (Butterflies), a musical portrayal of events in Jean Paul's novel Flegeljahre. In a letter from Leipzig dated April 1832, Schumann bids his brothers, "Read the last scene in Jean Paul's Flegeljahre as soon as possible, because the Papillons are intended as a musical representation of that masquerade." This inspiration is foreshadowed to some extent in his first written criticism—an 1831 essay on Frédéric Chopin's variations on a theme from Mozart's Don Giovanni, published in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. In it, Schumann creates imaginary characters who discuss Chopin's work: Florestan (the embodiment of Schumann's passionate, voluble side) and Eusebius (his dreamy, introspective side)—the counterparts of Vult and Walt in Flegeljahre. They call on a third, Meister Raro, for his opinion. Raro may represent either the composer himself, Wieck's daughter Clara, or the combination of the two (Clara + Robert).
In the winter of 1832, at age 22, Schumann visited relatives in Zwickau and Schneeberg, where he performed the first movement of his Symphony in G minor (without opus number, known as the "Zwickauer"). In Zwickau, the music was performed at a concert given by Clara Wieck, who was then just 13 years old. On this occasion Clara played bravura Variations by Henri Herz, a composer whom Schumann was already deriding as a philistine. Schumann's mother said to Clara, "You must marry my Robert one day." The Symphony in G minor was not published during Schumann's lifetime but has been played and recorded in recent times.
The 1833 deaths of Schumann's brother Julius and his sister-in-law Rosalie in the worldwide cholera pandemic brought on a severe depressive episode.
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
By spring 1834, Schumann had sufficiently recovered to inaugurate Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik ("New Journal for Music"), first published on 3 April 1834. In his writings, Schumann created a fictional music society based on people in his life, called the Davidsbündler, named after the biblical King David who fought against the Philistines. Schumann published most of his critical writings in the journal, and often lambasted the popular taste for flashy technical displays from figures whom Schumann perceived as inferior composers, or "philistines". Schumann campaigned to revive interest in major composers of the past, including Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber. He also promoted the work of some contemporary composers, including Chopin (about whom Schumann famously wrote, "Hats off, Gentlemen! A genius!") and Hector Berlioz, whom he praised for creating music of substance. On the other hand, Schumann disparaged the school of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. Among Schumann's associates at this time were composers Norbert Burgmüller and Ludwig Schuncke (to whom Schumann dedicated his Toccata in C).
Carnaval
Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834) is one of Schumann's most characteristic piano works. Schumann begins nearly every section of Carnaval with a musical cryptogram, the musical notes signified in German by the letters that spell Asch (A, E-flat, C, and B, or alternatively A-flat, C, and B; in German these are A, Es, C and H, and As, C and H respectively), the Bohemian town in which Ernestine was born, and the notes are also the musical letters in Schumann's own name. Eusebius and Florestan, the imaginary figures appearing so often in his critical writings, also appear, alongside brilliant imitations of Chopin and Paganini. To each of these characters he devotes a section of Carnaval. The work comes to a close with a march of the Davidsbündler—the league of King David's men against the Philistines—in which may be heard the clear accents of truth in contest with the dull clamour of falsehood embodied in a quotation from the seventeenth century Grandfather's Dance. The march, a step nearly always in duple meter, is here in 3/4 time (triple meter). The work ends in joy and a degree of mock-triumph. In Carnaval, Schumann went further than in Papillons, by conceiving the story as well as the musical representation (and also displaying a maturation of compositional resource).
Relationships
During the summer of 1834 Schumann became engaged to 16-year-old Ernestine von Fricken, the adopted daughter of a rich Bohemian-born noble. In August 1835, he learned that Ernestine was born illegitimate, which meant that she would have no dowry. Fearful that her limited means would force him to earn his living like a "day-labourer," Schumann completely broke with her toward the end of the year. He felt a growing attraction to 15-year-old Clara Wieck. They made mutual declarations of love in December in Zwickau, where Clara appeared in concert. His budding romance with Clara was disrupted when her father learned of their trysts during the Christmas holidays. He summarily forbade them further meetings, and ordered all their correspondence burnt.
1835–1839
On 3 October 1835, Schumann met Felix Mendelssohn at Wieck's house in Leipzig, and his enthusiastic appreciation of that artist was shown with the same generous freedom that distinguished his acknowledgement of the greatness of Chopin and other colleagues, and later prompted him to publicly pronounce the then-unknown Johannes Brahms a genius.
In 1837 Schumann published his Symphonic Studies, a complex set of étude-like variations written in 1834–1835, which demanded a finished piano technique. These variations were based on a theme by the adoptive father of Ernestine von Fricken. The work—described as "one of the peaks of the piano literature, lofty in conception and faultless in workmanship" [Hutcheson]—was dedicated to the young English composer William Sterndale Bennett, for whom Schumann had had a high regard when they worked together in Leipzig.
The Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, (also published in 1837 despite the low opus number) literally "Dances of the League of David", is an embodiment of the struggle between enlightened Romanticism and musical philistinism. Schumann credited the two sides of his character with the composition of the work (the more passionate numbers are signed F. (Florestan) and the more dreamy signed E. (Eusebius)). The work begins with the "motto of C. W." (Clara Wieck) denoting her support for the ideals of the Davidsbund. The Bund was a music society of Schumann's imagination, members of which were kindred spirits (as he saw them) such as Chopin, Paganini and Clara, as well as the personalized Florestan and Eusebius.
Kinderszenen, Op. 15, completed in 1838 and a favourite of Schumann's piano works, depicts the innocence and playfulness of childhood. The "Träumerei" in F major, No. 7 of the set, is one of the most famous piano pieces ever written, and has been performed in myriad forms and transcriptions. It has been the favourite encore of several great pianists, including Vladimir Horowitz. Melodic and deceptively simple, the piece is "complex" in its harmonic structure.
Kreisleriana, Op. 16 (1838), considered one of Schumann's greatest works, carried his fantasy and emotional range deeper. Johannes Kreisler was a fictional musician created by poet E. T. A. Hoffmann, and characterized as a "romantic brought into contact with reality." Schumann used the figure to express "fantastic and mad" emotional states. According to Hutcheson ("The Literature of the Piano"), this work is "among the finest efforts of Schumann's genius. He never surpassed the searching beauty of the slow movements (Nos. 2, 4, 6) or the urgent passion of others (Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7) […] To appreciate it a high level of aesthetic intelligence is required […] This is no facile music, there is severity alike in its beauty and its passion."
The Fantasie in C, Op. 17, composed in the summer of 1836, is a work of passion and deep pathos, imbued with the spirit of the late Beethoven. Schumann intended to use proceeds from sales of the work toward the construction of a monument to Beethoven, who had died in 1827. The first movement of the Fantasie contains a musical quote from Beethoven's song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (at the Adagio coda, taken from the last song of the cycle). The original titles of the movements were Ruins, Triumphal Arch, and The Starry Crown. According to Franz Liszt, who played the work for Schumann and to whom it was dedicated, the Fantasie was apt to be played too heavily, and should have a dreamier (träumerisch) character than vigorous German pianists tended to impart. Liszt also said: "It is a noble work, worthy of Beethoven, whose career, by the way, it is supposed to represent". Again, according to Hutcheson: "No words can describe the Phantasie, no quotations set forth the majesty of its genius. It must suffice to say that it is Schumann's greatest work in large form for piano solo."
After a visit to Vienna, during which he discovered Franz Schubert's previously unknown Symphony No. 9 in C, in 1839 Schumann wrote the Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Carnival Prank from Vienna). Most of the joke is in the central section of the first movement, which makes a thinly veiled reference to La Marseillaise. (Vienna had banned the song due to harsh memories of Napoleon's invasion.) The festive mood does not preclude moments of melancholic introspection in the Intermezzo.
1840–1849
From 1832 to 1839, Schumann wrote almost exclusively for piano, but in 1840 alone he wrote at least 138 songs. Indeed, 1840 (the Liederjahr or year of song) is highly significant in Schumann's musical legacy, despite his earlier deriding of works for piano and voice as inferior.
After a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, Schumann married Clara Wieck in the in Leipzig-Schönefeld, on 12 September 1840, the day before her 21st birthday. Had they waited another day, they would no longer have required her father's consent. Their marriage supported a remarkable business partnership, with Clara acting as an inspiration, critic, and confidante to her husband. Despite her delicate appearance, she was an extremely strong-willed and energetic woman, who kept up a demanding schedule of concert tours in between bearing several children. Two years after their marriage, Friedrich Wieck at last reconciled himself with the couple, eager to see his grandchildren.
Prior to the legal case and subsequent marriage, the lovers exchanged love letters and rendezvoused in secret. Robert often waited for hours in a cafe in a nearby city just to see Clara for a few minutes after one of her concerts. The strain of this long courtship and its consummation may have led to this great outpouring of Lieder (vocal songs with piano accompaniment). This is evident in Widmung, for example, where he uses the melody from Schubert's Ave Maria in the postlude in homage to Clara. Schumann's biographers attribute the sweetness, doubt, and despair of these songs to the emotions aroused by his love for Clara and the uncertainties of their future together.
Robert and Clara had eight children, Emil (1846–1847), who died at 1 year; Marie (1841–1929); Elise (1843–1928); Julie (1845–1872); Ludwig (1848–1899); Ferdinand (1849–1891); Eugenie (1851–1938); and Felix (1854–1879).
His chief song-cycles in this period were settings of the Liederkreis of Joseph von Eichendorff, Op. 39 (depicting a series of moods relating to or inspired by nature); the Frauenliebe und -leben of Chamisso, Op. 42 (relating the tale of a woman's marriage, childbirth and widowhood); the Dichterliebe of Heine, Op. 48 (depicting a lover rejected, but coming to terms with his painful loss through renunciation and forgiveness); and Myrthen, a collection of songs, including poems by Goethe, Rückert, Heine, Byron, Burns and Moore. The songs Belsatzar, Op. 57 and Die beiden Grenadiere, Op. 49, both to Heine's words, show Schumann at his best as a ballad writer, although the dramatic ballad is less congenial to him than the introspective lyric. The Op. 35, 40 and 98a sets (words by Justinus Kerner, Chamisso and Goethe respectively), although less well known, also contain songs of lyric and dramatic quality.
In 1841 he wrote two of his four symphonies, No. 1 in B-flat, Op. 38, Spring and No. 4 in D minor (the latter a pioneering work in "cyclic form", was performed that year but published only much later after revision and extensive re-orchestration as Op. 120). He devoted 1842 to composing chamber music, including the Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44, now one of his best known and most admired works; the Piano Quartet and three string quartets. In 1843 he wrote Paradise and the Peri, his first attempt at concerted vocal music, an oratorio style work based on Lalla-Rookh by Thomas Moore. The main role of Peri in the world premiere was performed by Schumann's family friend, soprano Livia Frege. After this, his compositions were not confined to any one form during any particular period.
The stage in his life when he was deeply engaged in setting Goethe's Faust to music (1844–53) was a turbulent one for his health. He spent the first half of 1844 with Clara on tour in Russia, and his depression grew worse as he felt inferior to Clara as a musician. On returning to Germany, he abandoned his editorial work and left Leipzig for Dresden, where he suffered from persistent "nervous prostration". As soon as he began to work, he was seized with fits of shivering and an apprehension of death, experiencing an abhorrence of high places, all metal instruments (even keys), and drugs. Schumann's diaries also state that he suffered perpetually from imagining that he had the note A5 sounding in his ears.
His state of unease and neurasthenia is reflected in his Symphony in C, numbered second but third in order of composition, in which the composer explores states of exhaustion, obsession, and depression, culminating in Beethovenian spiritual triumph. Also published in 1845 was his Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, originally conceived and performed as a one-movement Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra in 1841. It is one of the most popular and oft-recorded of all piano concertos; according to Hutcheson "Schumann achieved a masterly work and we inherited the finest piano concerto since Mozart and Beethoven".
In 1846, he felt he had recovered. In the winter, the Schumanns revisited Vienna, traveling to Prague and Berlin in the spring of 1847 and in the summer to Zwickau, where he was received with enthusiasm. This pleased him, since until that time he was famous in only Dresden and Leipzig.
His only opera, Genoveva, Op. 81, premiered in Spring 1850. In it, Schumann attempted to abolish recitative, which he regarded as an interruption to the musical flow (an influence on Richard Wagner; Schumann's consistently flowing melody can be seen as a forerunner to Wagner's Melos). The subject of Genoveva—based on Ludwig Tieck and Christian Friedrich Hebbel's plays—was not seen an ideal choice. The text is often considered to lack dramatic qualities; the work has not remained in the repertoire. As early as 1842 the possibilities of German opera had been keenly realized by Schumann, who wrote, "Do you know my prayer as an artist, night and morning? It is called 'German Opera.' Here is a real field for enterprise ... something simple, profound, German". And in his notebook of suggestions for the text of operas are found amongst others: Nibelungen, Lohengrin and Till Eulenspiegel.
The music to Byron's Manfred was written in 1849, the overture of which is one of Schumann's most frequently performed orchestral works. The insurrection of Dresden caused Schumann to move to Kreischa, a little village a few miles outside the city. In August 1849, on the occasion of the centenary of Goethe's birth, completed scenes of Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust were performed in Dresden, Leipzig and Weimar. Liszt gave him assistance and encouragement. The rest of the work was written later in 1849, and the overture (which Schumann described as "one of the sturdiest of [his] creations") in 1853.
After 1850
From 1850 to 1854, Schumann composed in a wide variety of genres. Critics have disputed the quality of his work at this time; a widely held view has been that his music showed signs of mental breakdown and creative decay. More recently, critics have suggested that the changes in style may be explained by "lucid experimentation".
In 1850, Schumann succeeded Ferdinand Hiller as musical director at Düsseldorf, but he was a poor conductor and quickly aroused the opposition of the musicians. According to Harold C. Schonberg, in his 1967 The Great Conductors: "The great composer was impossible on the platform ... There is something heartrending about poor Schumann's epochal inefficiency as a conductor." His contract was eventually terminated. By the end of that year he completed his Symphony No. 3, "Rhenish" (a work containing five movements and whose 4th movement is apparently intended to represent an episcopal coronation ceremony). In 1851 he revised what would be published as his fourth symphony. From 1851 to 1853 he visited Switzerland, Belgium and Leipzig.
On 30 September 1853, the 20-year-old composer Johannes Brahms arrived unannounced at the door of the Schumanns carrying a letter of introduction from violinist Joseph Joachim. (Schumann was not at home, and would not meet Brahms until the next day.) Brahms amazed Clara and Robert with his music, stayed with them for several weeks, and became a close family friend. (He later worked closely with Clara to popularize Schumann's compositions during her long widowhood.)
During this time Schumann, Brahms and Schumann's pupil Albert Dietrich collaborated on the composition of the F-A-E Sonata for Joachim; Schumann also published an article, "Neue Bahnen" ("New Paths") in the Neue Zeitschrift (his first article in many years), hailing the unknown young Brahms from Hamburg, a man who had published nothing, as "the Chosen One" who "was destined to give ideal expression to the times." It was an extraordinary way to present Brahms to the musical world, setting up great expectations that he did not fulfill for many years. In January 1854, Schumann went to Hanover, where he heard a performance of his Paradise and the Peri organized by Joachim and Brahms. Two years later at Schumann's request, the work received its first English performance conducted by William Sterndale Bennett.
Schumann returned to Düsseldorf and began to edit his complete works and make an anthology on the subject of music. He suffered a renewal of the symptoms that had threatened him earlier. Besides the single note sounding in his ear (possibly evidence of tinnitus,) he imagined that voices sounded in his ear and he heard angelic music. One night he suddenly left his bed, having dreamt or imagined that a ghost (purportedly the spirit of either Schubert or Mendelssohn) had dictated a "spirit theme" to him. The theme was one he had used several times before: in his Second String Quartet, again in his Lieder-Album für die Jugend, and finally in the slow movement of his Violin Concerto. In the days leading up to his suicide attempt, Schumann wrote five variations on this theme for the piano, his last completed work, today known as the Geistervariationen (Ghost Variations). Brahms published it in a supplementary volume to the complete edition of Schumann's piano music. In 1861 Brahms published his Variations for Piano Four Hands, Op. 23, based on this theme.
Final illness and death
In late February 1854, Schumann's symptoms increased, the angelic visions sometimes being replaced by demonic ones. He warned Clara that he feared he might do her harm. On 27 February, he attempted suicide by throwing himself from a bridge into the Rhine River (his elder sister Emilie had committed suicide in 1825, possibly by drowning herself). Rescued by boatmen and taken home, he asked to be taken to an asylum for the insane. He entered Dr. Franz Richarz's sanatorium in Endenich, a quarter of Bonn, and remained there until he died on 29 July 1856 at the age of 46. During his confinement, he was not allowed to see Clara, although Brahms was free to visit him. Clara finally visited him two days before his death. He appeared to recognize her, but was able to speak only a few words.
Given his reported symptoms, one modern view is that he died from syphilis, which he could have contracted during his student days, and which could have remained latent during most of his marriage. According to studies by the musicologist and literary scholar Eric Sams, Schumann's symptoms during his terminal illness and death appear consistent with those of mercury poisoning; mercury was a common treatment for syphilis and other conditions. Another possibility is that his neurological problems were a result of an intracranial mass. A report by Janisch and Nauhaus on Schumann's autopsy indicates that he had a "gelatinous" tumor at the base of the brain; it may have represented a colloid cyst, a craniopharyngioma, a chordoma, or a chordoid meningioma. In particular, meningiomas are known to produce musical auditory hallucinations such as Schumann reported. It has also been hypothesised that he suffered from schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder; bipolar type, or bipolar disorder and bipolar II disorder. His medical records from this illness were released in 1991, and suggest a "progressive paralysis", a term used for neurosyphilis at the time, although a diagnostic test for Treponema pallidum did not become available till 1906.
Schumann heard a persistent A-note at the end of his life. It was a form of tinnitus, or perhaps an auditory hallucination related to his major depressive episode. At times, he had musical hallucinations that were longer than just the single A, but his diaries include comments about hearing that annoying single note.
After Robert's death, Clara continued her career as a concert pianist, which supported the family. From mid-career on, she mainly performed music by leading composers. A hired cook and housekeeper tended to the children while she traveled. In 1856, she first visited England. The critics received Robert's music coolly, with Henry Fothergill Chorley being particularly harsh. She returned to London in 1865 and made regular appearances there in later years, often performing chamber music with the violinist Joseph Joachim and others. She became the authoritative editor of her husband's works for Breitkopf & Härtel. It was rumoured that she and Brahms destroyed many of Schumann's later works, which they thought were tainted by his madness, but only the Five Pieces for Cello and Piano are known to have been destroyed. Most of Schumann's late works, particularly the Violin Concerto, the Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra and the Violin Sonata No. 3, all from 1853, have entered the repertoire.
Legacy
Schumann had considerable influence in the nineteenth century and beyond, despite his adoption of more conservative modes of composition after his marriage. He left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Partly through his protégé Brahms, Schumann's ideals and musical vocabulary became widely disseminated. Composer Sir Edward Elgar called Schumann "my ideal."
Schumann has often been confused with Austrian composer Franz Schubert; one well-known example occurred in 1956, when East Germany issued a pair of postage stamps featuring Schumann's picture against an open score that featured Schubert's music. The stamps were soon replaced by a pair featuring music written by Schumann.
Instruments
One of the best known instruments that Robert Schumann played on was the grand piano by Conrad Graf, a present from Graf on the occasion of Robert and Clara’s marriage in 1839. This instrument stood in Schumann’s workroom in Düsseldorf and was later given by Clara Schumann to Johannes Brahms. After changing a few lodgings, it was received by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and can be seen at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Compositions
List of compositions by Robert Schumann
:Category:Compositions by Robert Schumann
Media portrayals
Dreaming (1944) is a UFA movie starring Mathias Wieman as Schumann, Hilde Krahl as Clara Wieck, Ullrich Haupt as Johannes Brahms, and Emil Lohkamp as Franz Liszt.
Song of Love (1947) is an MGM film starring Paul Henreid as Schumann, Katharine Hepburn as Clara Wieck, Robert Walker as Johannes Brahms, and Henry Daniell as Franz Liszt.
Peter Schamoni's 1983 movie Frühlingssinfonie (Spring Symphony) tells the story of Schumann and Wieck's romance, against her father's opposition. Robert was played by Herbert Grönemeyer, Clara by Nastassja Kinski, and Clara's father by Rolf Hoppe. The role of Niccolò Paganini was played by the violinist Gidon Kremer. The score was written by Grönemeyer and conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.
The Andrew Crumey novel Mobius Dick has a chapter depicting Schumann at Endenich.
Seinfeld: Robert Schumann is mentioned in a 1991 episode of Seinfeld called "The Jacket".
Frasier: The troubled Dresden premiere of the Second Symphony is mentioned in a 1998 episode of Frasier "Frasier's Curse".
Geliebte Clara ("Beloved Clara") was a 2008 Franco-German-Hungarian film about the lives of Clara and Robert.
Longing is a 2000 biographical novel by American author J. D. Landis.
Notes
References
Bibliography
Books and encyclopedias
The author argues that the composer was mentally normal all his life, until the sudden onset of insanity near the end resulting from tertiary syphilis
Articles
Websites
Works by Schumann
External links
Musical Rules at Home and in Life – text by Robert Schumann
Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig – edition of letters written by Robert and Clara Schumann
The city of Robert Schumann
(texts)
(audio and video)
1810 births
1856 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century male conductors (music)
19th-century conductors (music)
19th-century German composers
19th-century German journalists
19th-century German male writers
Composers for piano
Composers for pipe organ
German Romantic composers
German conductors (music)
German opera composers
German male classical composers
German male conductors (music)
German music critics
German male journalists
Male opera composers
Classical music critics
Musicians from Leipzig
Musicians from Düsseldorf
People from the Kingdom of Saxony
People from Zwickau
Pupils of Friedrich Wieck
Leipzig University alumni
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig faculty
People with bipolar disorder
Angelic visionaries
Heinrich Heine
Composers for pedal piano
Musicians with dystonia
German magazine founders
Deaths in mental institutions | true | [
"Horror-of-personality is a specific sub-category of horror and thriller genres; as opposed to excessive violence or the presence of malevolent supernatural beings, such stories evoke horror and/or suspense through villains who are perfectly human, but possess horrific personalities. They usually focus on Freudian psychology, as well as the cause and effect of profound insanity. Each narrative will either document an unbalanced person's descent into madness, or else follow somebody on the trail of a murderous psychopath. The settings are often deceptively ordinary, such as cheerful suburban homes or shabby hotels. \n\nExamples include the stories of Patricia Highsmith and Edgar Allan Poe, as well as classic films like Psycho and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?\n\nSee also\nPsychological horror\nPsychological thriller\n\nFurther reading\n\nReferences\n\nHorror genres",
"\"What Else Is There?\" is the third single from the Norwegian duo Röyksopp's second album The Understanding. It features the vocals of Karin Dreijer from the Swedish electronica duo The Knife. The album was released in the UK with the help of Astralwerks.\n\nThe single was used in an O2 television advertisement in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia during 2008. It was also used in the 2006 film Cashback and the 2007 film, Meet Bill. Trentemøller's remix of \"What Else is There?\" was featured in an episode of the HBO show Entourage.\n\nThe song was covered by extreme metal band Enslaved as a bonus track for their album E.\n\nThe song was listed as the 375th best song of the 2000s by Pitchfork Media.\n\nOfficial versions\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Album Version) – 5:17\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Radio Edit) – 3:38\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Jacques Lu Cont Radio Mix) – 3:46\n\"What Else Is There?\" (The Emperor Machine Vocal Version) – 8:03\n\"What Else Is There?\" (The Emperor Machine Dub Version) – 7:51\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Thin White Duke Mix) – 8:25\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Thin White Duke Edit) – 4:50\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Thin White Duke Remix) (Radio Edit) – 3:06\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Trentemøller Remix) – 7:42\n\"What Else Is There?\" (Vitalic Remix) – 5:14\n\nResponse\nThe single was officially released on 5 December 2005 in the UK. The single had a limited release on 21 November 2005 to promote the upcoming album. On the UK Singles Chart, it peaked at number 32, while on the UK Dance Chart, it reached number one.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was directed by Martin de Thurah. It features Norwegian model Marianne Schröder who is shown lip-syncing Dreijer's voice. Schröder is depicted as a floating woman traveling across stormy landscapes and within empty houses. Dreijer makes a cameo appearance as a woman wearing an Elizabethan ruff while dining alone at a festive table.\n\nMovie spots\n\nThe song is also featured in the movie Meet Bill as characters played by Jessica Alba and Aaron Eckhart smoke marijuana while listening to it. It is also part of the end credits music of the film Cashback.\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2005 singles\nRöyksopp songs\nAstralwerks singles\nSongs written by Svein Berge\nSongs written by Torbjørn Brundtland\n2004 songs\nSongs written by Roger Greenaway\nSongs written by Olof Dreijer\nSongs written by Karin Dreijer"
]
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[
"Alejandro Jodorowsky",
"Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981-1990)"
]
| C_beba32b7d5a84d95bf24ade3480043d3_1 | What family issues was he facing | 1 | What family issues was Alejandro Jodorowsky facing | Alejandro Jodorowsky | In 1982 Jodorowsky divorced his wife. In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's "The Hands of Orlac". It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors. He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Dominguez D., wrote the screenplay). That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to live in France. In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where once again he met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again. CANNOTANSWER | Jodorowsky divorced his wife. | Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French filmmaker and artist. Since 1948, he has worked as a novelist, screenwriter, a poet, a playwright, an essayist, a film and theater director and producer, an actor, a film editor, a comics writer, a musician and composer, a philosopher, a puppeteer, a mime, a lay psychologist, a draughtsman, a painter, a sculptor, and a spiritual guru.
Best known for his avant-garde films El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973), Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his work which "is filled with violently surreal images and a hybrid blend of mysticism and religious provocation".
Overview
Born to Jewish-Galician parents (Chodorowski) in Tocopilla, Chile, Jodorowsky experienced an unhappy and alienated childhood, and so immersed himself in reading and writing poetry. Dropping out of college, he became involved in theater and in particular mime, working as a clown before founding his own theater troupe, the Teatro Mimico, in 1947. Moving to Paris in the early 1950s, Jodorowsky studied traditional mime under Étienne Decroux, and put his miming skills to use in the silent film Les têtes interverties (1957), directed with Saul Gilbert and Ruth Michelly. From 1960 he divided his time between Paris and Mexico City, in the former becoming a founding member of the anarchistic avant-garde Panic Movement of performance artists. In 1966 he created his first comic strip, Anibal 5, while in 1967 he directed his first feature film, the surrealist Fando y Lis, which caused a huge scandal in Mexico, eventually being banned.
His next film, the acid western El Topo (1970), became a hit on the midnight movie circuit in the United States, considered as the first-ever midnight cult film, and garnered high praise from John Lennon, who convinced former Beatles manager Allen Klein to provide Jodorowsky with $1 million to finance his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain (1973), a surrealist exploration of western esotericism. Disagreements with Klein, however, led to both The Holy Mountain and El Topo failing to gain widespread distribution, although both became classics on the underground film circuit.
After a cancelled attempt at filming Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune, Jodorowsky produced five more films: the family film Tusk (1980); the surrealist horror Santa Sangre (1989); the failed blockbuster The Rainbow Thief (1990); and the first two films in a planned five-film autobiographical series The Dance of Reality (2013) and Endless Poetry (2016). During the same period, he wrote a series of science fiction comic books, most notably The Incal (1980–1989), which has been described as having a claim to be "the best comic book" ever written, and also The Technopriests and Metabarons. He has also written books and regularly lectures on his own spiritual system, which he calls "psychomagic" and "psychoshamanism" and which borrows from his interests in alchemy, the tarot, Zen Buddhism and shamanism. His son Cristóbal has followed his teachings on psychoshamanism; this work is captured in the feature documentary Quantum Men, directed by Carlos Serrano Azcona.
Early life and education
Jodorowsky was born in 1929 in the coastal town of Tocopilla, Chile, to parents who were Jewish immigrants from Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro), Elisavetgrad (now Kropyvnytskyi) and other cities of the Russian Empire (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russian Partition, now Ukraine). His father, Jaime Jodorowsky Groismann (Jakub Chodorowski), was a merchant, who was largely abusive to his wife Sara Felicidad Prullansky Arcavi, and at one time accused her of flirting with a customer. Angered, he subsequently beat and raped her, getting her pregnant, which led to the birth of Alejandro. Because of this brutal conception, Sara both hated her husband and disliked her son, telling him that "I cannot love you" and rarely showing him tenderness. Alejandro also had an elder sister, Raquel Jodorowsky, but disliked her, for he believed that she was selfish, doing "everything to expel me from the family so that she could be the centre of attention." Alongside his dislike for his family, he also held contempt for many of the local people, who viewed him as an outsider because of his status as the son of immigrants, and also for the American mining industrialists who worked locally and treated the Chilean people badly. It was this treatment at the hands of Americans that led to his later condemnation of American imperialism and neo-colonialism in Latin America in several of his films. Nonetheless he liked his local area, and was greatly unhappy when he was forced to leave it at the age of nine years old, something for which he blamed his father. His family subsequently moved to the city of Santiago, Chile.
He immersed himself in reading, and also began writing poetry, having his first poem published when he was sixteen years old, alongside associating with such Chilean poets as Nicanor Parra, Stella Díaz Varín and Enrique Lihn. Becoming interested in the political ideology of anarchism, he began attending college, studying psychology and philosophy, but stayed for only two years. After dropping out, and having an interest in theatre and particularly mime, he took up employment as a clown in a circus and began a career as a theatre director. Meanwhile, in 1947 he founded his own theatrical troupe, the Teatro Mimico, which by 1952 had fifty members, and the following year he wrote his first play, El Minotaura (The Minotaur). Nonetheless, Jodorowsky felt that there was little for him left in Chile, and so that year he moved to Paris.
It was while in Paris that Jodorowsky began studying mime with Étienne Decroux and joined the troupe of one of Decroux's students, Marcel Marceau. It was with Marceau's troupe that he went on a world tour, and wrote several routines for the group, including "The Cage" and "The Mask Maker". After this, he returned to theatre directing, working on the music hall comeback of Maurice Chevalier in Paris. In 1957, Jodorowsky turned his hand to filmmaking, creating Les têtes interverties (The Severed Heads), a 20-minute adaptation of Thomas Mann's novella. It consisted almost entirely of mime, and told the surreal story of a head-swapping merchant who helps a young man find courtship success. Jodorowsky played the lead role. The director Jean Cocteau admired the film, and wrote an introduction for it. It was considered lost until a print of the film was discovered in 2006.
In 1960, Jodorowsky moved to Mexico, where he settled down in Mexico City. Nonetheless, he continued to return occasionally to France, on one occasion visiting the Surrealist artist André Breton, but he was disillusioned in that he felt Breton had become somewhat conservative in his old age. Continuing his interest in surrealism, in 1962 he founded the Panic Movement along with Fernando Arrabal and Roland Topor. The movement aimed to go beyond the conventional surrealist ideas by embracing absurdism. Its members refused to take themselves seriously, while laughing at those critics who did. In 1966 he produced his first comic strip, Anibal 5, which was related to the Panic Movement. The following year he created a new feature film, Fando y Lis, loosely based on a play written by Fernando Arrabal, who was working with Jodorowsky on performance art at the time. Fando y Lis premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, where it instigated a riot amongst those objecting to the film's content, and subsequently it was banned in Mexico.
It was in Mexico City that he encountered Ejo Takata (1928–1997), a Zen Buddhist monk who had studied at the Horyuji and Shofukuji monasteries in Japan before traveling to Mexico via the United States in 1967 to spread Zen. Jodorowsky became a disciple of Takata and offered his own house to be turned into a zendo. Subsequently, Takata attracted other disciples around him, who spent their time in meditation and the study of koans. Eventually, Takata instructed Jodorowsky that he had to learn more about his feminine side, and so he went and befriended the English surrealist Leonora Carrington, who had recently moved to Mexico.
Career
El Topo and The Holy Mountain (1970–1974)
In 1970, Jodorowsky released the film El Topo, which sometimes is known in English as The Mole, which he had both directed and starred in. An acid western, El Topo tells the story of a wandering Mexican bandit and gunslinger, El Topo (played by Jodorowsky), who is on a search for spiritual enlightenment, taking his young son along with him. Along the way, he violently confronts a number of other individuals, before finally being killed and being resurrected to live within a community of deformed people who are trapped inside a mountain cave. Describing the work, he stated that "I ask of film what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs. The difference being that when one creates a psychedelic film, he need not create a film that shows the visions of a person who has taken a pill; rather, he needs to manufacture the pill." Knowing how Fando y Lis had caused such a scandal in Mexico, Jodorowsky decided not to release El Topo there, instead focusing on its release in other countries across the world, including Mexico's northern neighbour, the United States. It was in New York City where the film would play as a "midnight movie" for several months at Ben Barenholtz's Elgin Theater. It attracted the attention of rock musician and countercultural figure John Lennon, who thought very highly of it, and convinced the president of The Beatles' company Apple Corps, Allen Klein, to distribute it in the United States.
Klein agreed to give Jodorowsky $1 million to go toward creating his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain, released in 1973. It has been suggested that The Holy Mountain may have been inspired by René Daumal's Surrealist novel Mount Analogue. The Holy Mountain was another complex, multi-part story that featured a man credited as "The Thief" and equated with Jesus Christ, a mystical alchemist played by Jodorowsky, seven powerful business people representing seven of the planets (Venus and the six planets from Mars to Pluto), a religious training regimen of spiritual rebirth, and a quest to the top of a holy mountain for the secret of immortality. During the completion of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky received spiritual training from Oscar Ichazo of the Arica School, who encouraged him to take LSD and guided him through the subsequent psychedelic experience. Around the same time (2 November 1973), Jodorowsky participated in an isolation tank experiment conducted by John Lilly.
Shortly thereafter, Allen Klein demanded that Jodorowsky create a film adaptation of Pauline Réage's classic novel of female masochism, Story of O. Klein had promised this adaptation to various investors. Jodorowsky, who had discovered feminism during the filming of The Holy Mountain, refused to make the film, going so far as to leave the country to escape directing duties. In retaliation, Allen Klein made El Topo and The Holy Mountain, to which he held the rights, completely unavailable to the public for more than 30 years. Jodorowsky frequently decried Klein's actions in interviews.
Soon after the release of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky gave a talk at the Teatro Julio Castillo, University of Mexico on the subject of koans (despite the fact that he initially had been booked on the condition that his talk would be about cinematography), at which Ejo Takata appeared. After the talk, Takata gave Jodorowsky his kyosaku, believing that his former student had mastered the art of understanding koans.
Dune and Tusk (1975–1980)
In December 1974, a French consortium led by Jean-Paul Gibon purchased the film rights to Frank Herbert's epic 1965 science fiction novel Dune and asked Jodorowsky to direct a film version. Jodorowsky planned to cast the Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, in what would have been his only speaking role as a film actor, in the role of Emperor Shaddam IV. Dalí agreed when Jodorowsky offered to pay him a fee of $100,000 per hour. He also planned to cast Orson Welles as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen; Welles only agreed when Jodorowsky offered to get his favourite gourmet chef to prepare his meals for him throughout the filming. The book's protagonist, Paul Atreides, was to be played by Jodorowsky's son, Brontis Jodorowsky. The music would be composed by Pink Floyd and Magma. Jodorowsky set up a pre-production unit in Paris consisting of Chris Foss, a British artist who designed covers for science fiction publications, Jean Giraud (Moebius), a French illustrator who created and also wrote and drew for Métal Hurlant magazine, and H. R. Giger. Frank Herbert travelled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2 million of the $9.5 million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled). Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship. The production for the film collapsed when no film studio could be found willing to fund the movie to Jodorowsky's terms. The aborted production was chronicled in the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune. Subsequently, the rights for filming were sold to Dino de Laurentiis, who employed the American filmmaker David Lynch to direct, creating the film Dune in 1984. The documentary does not include any original film footage of what was to be Jodorowsky's Dune but does make extraordinary claims as to the influence this unmade film had on other actual science fiction films, such as Star Wars, Alien, Terminator, Flash Gordon, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
After the collapse of the Dune project, Jodorowsky completely changed course and, in 1980, premiered his children's fable Tusk, shot in India. Taken from Reginald Campbell's novel Poo Lorn of the Elephants, the film explores the soul-mate relationship between a young British woman living in India and a highly prized elephant. The film exhibited little of the director's outlandish visual style and was never given wide release.
Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981–1990)
In 1982, Jodorowsky divorced his wife.
In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's The Hands of Orlac. It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors.
He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Domínguez D., wrote the screenplay).
That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to France to live.
In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where he once again met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again.
Attempts to return to filmmaking (1990–2011)
In 2000, Jodorowsky won the Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF). Jodorowsky attended the festival and his films were shown, including El Topo and The Holy Mountain, which at the time had grey legal status. According to festival director Bryan Wendorf, it was an open question of whether CUFF would be allowed to show both films, or whether the police would show up and shut the festival down.
Until 2007, Fando y Lis and Santa Sangre were the only Jodorowsky works available on DVD. Neither El Topo nor The Holy Mountain were available on videocassette or DVD in the United States or the United Kingdom, due to ownership disputes with distributor Allen Klein. After settlement of the dispute in 2004, however, plans to re-release Jodorowsky's films were announced by ABKCO Films. On 19 January 2007, it was announced online that Anchor Bay would release a box set including El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and Fando y Lis on 1 May 2007. A limited edition of the set includes both the El Topo and The Holy Mountain soundtracks. And, in early February 2007, Tartan Video announced its 14 May 2007, release date for the UK PAL DVD editions of El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and the six-disc box set which, alongside the aforementioned feature films, includes the two soundtrack CDs, as well as separate DVD editions of Jodorowsky's 1968 debut feature Fando y Lis (with his 1957 short La cravate a.k.a. Les têtes interverties, included as an extra) and the 1994 feature-length documentary La constellation Jodorowsky. Notably, Fando y Lis and La cravate were digitally restored extensively and remastered in London during late 2006, thus providing a suitable complement to the quality restoration work undertaken on El Topo and The Holy Mountain in the States by ABKCO, and ensuring that the presentation of Fando y Lis is a significant improvement over the 2001 Fantoma DVD edition. Prior to the availability of these legitimate releases, only inferior quality, optically censored, bootleg copies of both El Topo and The Holy Mountain have been circulated on the Internet and on DVD.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Jodorowsky attempted to make a sequel to El Topo, called at different times The Sons of El Topo and Abel Cain, but did not find investors for the project.
In an interview with Premiere Magazine, Jodorowsky said he intended his next project to be a gangster film called King Shot. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper in November 2009, however, Jodorowsky revealed that he was unable to find the funds to make King Shot, and instead would be entering preparations on Sons of El Topo, for which he claimed to have signed a contract with "some Russian producers".
In 2010, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City staged the first American cinema retrospective of Alejandro Jodorowsky entitled Blood into Gold: The Cinematic Alchemy of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky would attend the retrospective and hold a master class on art as a way of transformation. This retrospective would inspire the museum MoMA PS1 to present the exhibition Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Holy Mountain in 2011.
The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry (2011–present)
In August 2011, Alejandro arrived in a town in Chile where he grew up, also the setting of his autobiography The Dance of Reality, to promote an autobiographical film based upon his book.
On 31 October 2011, Halloween night, the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) honored Jodorowsky by showing The Holy Mountain. He attended and spoke about his work and life. The next evening, he presented El Topo at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center.
Alejandro has stated that after finishing The Dance of Reality he was preparing to shoot his long-gestating El Topo sequel, Abel Cain. By January 2013, Alejandro finished filming on The Dance of Reality and entered into post-production. Alejandro's son and co-star in the film, Brontis, claimed the film was to be finished by March 2013, and that the film was "very different than the other films he made". On 23 April, it was announced that the film would have its world premiere at the Film Festival in Cannes. coinciding with The Dance of Reality premiered alongside the documentary film Jodorowsky's Dune, which premiered in May 2013 at the Cannes Film Festival, creating a "Jodorowsky double bill".
In 2015, Jodorowsky began a new film entitled Endless Poetry, the sequel to his last "auto-biopic", The Dance of Reality. His Paris-based production company, Satori Films, launched two successful crowdfunding campaigns to finance the film. The Indiegogo campaign has been left open indefinitely, receiving donations from fans and movie-goers in support of the independent production. The film was shot between June and August 2015, in the streets of Matucana in Santiago, Chile, where Jodorowsky lived for a period in his life. The film portrays his young adulthood in Santiago, years during which he became a core member of the Chilean poetic avant-garde alongside artists such as Hugo Marín, Gustavo Becerra, Enrique Lihn, Stella Díaz Varín, Nicanor Parra and others. Jodorowsky's son, Adan Jodorowsky, plays him as an adult and Brontis Jodorowsky, plays as his father Jaime. Jeremias Herskovitz, from The Dance of Reality, portrays Jodorowsky as a teenager. Pamela Flores plays Sara (his mother) and Stella Díaz Varín (poetess and young Jodorowsky's girlfriend). Leandro Taub portrays Jodorowsky's best friend, the poet and novelist Enrique Lihn. The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival on 14 May 2016. Variety's review was overwhelmingly positive, calling it "...the most accessible movie he has ever made, and it may also be the best."
During an interview at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, Jodorowsky announced his plans to finally make The Son of El Topo as soon as financial backing is obtained.
Other work
Jodorowsky is a weekly contributor of "good news" to the nightly "author news report" of his friend, Fernando Sánchez Dragó in Telemadrid.
He also released a 12" vinyl with the Original Soundtrack of Zarathustra (Discos Tizoc, Mexico, 1970).
He has cited the filmmaker Federico Fellini as his primary cinematic influence; other artistic influences included George Gurdjieff, Antonin Artaud, and Luis Buñuel. He has been described as an influence on such figures as Marilyn Manson, David Lynch, Nicolas Winding Refn, Jan Kounen, Dennis Hopper, and Kanye West.
Comics
Jodorowsky started his comic career in Mexico with the creation of Anibal 5 series in mid-1966 with illustrations by Manuel Moro. He also drew his own comic strip in the weekly series Fabulas pánicas that appeared in the Mexican newspaper, El Heraldo de México. He also wrote original stories for at least two or three other comic books in Mexico during those days: Los insoportables Borbolla was one of them. After his fourth film, Tusk, he started The Incal, with Jean Giraud (Mœbius). This graphic novel has its roots deep in the tarot and its symbols, e.g., the protagonist of The Incal, John Difool, is linked to the Fool card. The Incal (which would branch off into a prequel and sequel) forms the first in a sequence of several science fiction comic book series, all set in the same space opera Jodoverse (or "Metabarons Universe") published by Humanoids Publishing.
Comic books set in this milieu are Incal (trilogy: Before the Incal/ Incal/ Final Incal), Metabarons (trilogy: Castaka/ The Caste of the Metabarons/ Weapons of the Metabaron), and The Technopriests and also an RPG adaptation, The Metabarons Roleplaying Game. Many ideas and concepts derived from Jodorowsky's planned adaptation of Dune (which he would have been loosely based upon Frank Herbert's original novel) are featured in this universe.
Mœbius and Jodorowsky sued Luc Besson, director of The Fifth Element, claiming that the 1997 film borrowed graphic and story elements from The Incal, but they lost their case. The suit was plagued by ambiguity since Mœbius had willingly participated in the creation of the film, having been hired by Besson as a contributing artist, but had done so without gaining the approval of Incal co-creator Jodorowsky, whose services Besson did not call upon. For more than a decade, Jodorowsky pressured his publisher Les Humanoïdes Associés to sue Luc Besson for plagiarism, but the publisher refused, fearing the inevitability of the final outcome. In a 2002 interview with the Danish comic book magazine Strip!, Jodorowsky stated that he considered it an honour that somebody stole his ideas.
Other comics by Jodorowsky include the Western Bouncer illustrated by Francois Boucq, Juan Solo (Son of the Gun), and Le Lama blanc (The White Lama), the latter were illustrated by Georges Bess.
Le Cœur couronné (The Crowned Heart, translated into English as The Madwoman of the Sacred Heart), a racy satire on religion set in contemporary times, won Jodorowsky and his collaborator, Jean Giraud, the 2001 Haxtur Award for Best Long Strip. He is currently working on a new graphic novel for the U.S. market.
Jodorowsky's comic book work also appears in Taboo volume 4 (ed. Stephen R. Bissette), which features an interview with the director, designs for his version of Frank Herbert's Dune, comic storyboards for El Topo, and a collaboration with Moebius with the illustrated Eyes of the Cat.
Jodorowsky collaborated with Milo Manara in Borgia (2006), a graphic novel about the history of the House of Borgia.
Psychomagic
Jodorowsky spent almost a decade reconstructing the original form of the Tarot de Marseille. From this work he moved into more therapeutic work in three areas: psychomagic, psychogenealogy and initiatic massage. Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which practitioners of the therapy believe are passed down from generation to generation. Psychogenealogy includes the studying of the patient's personality and family tree in order to best address their specific sources. It is similar, in its phenomenological approach to genealogy, to the Constellations pioneered by Bert Hellinger.
Jodorowsky has several books on his therapeutic methods, including Psicomagia: La trampa sagrada (Psychomagic: The Sacred Trap) and his autobiography, La danza de la realidad (The Dance of Reality), which he was filming as a feature-length film in March 2012. To date he has published more than 23 novels and philosophical treatises, along with dozens of articles and interviews. His books are widely read in Spanish and French, but are for the most part unknown to English-speaking audiences.
For a quarter of a century, Jodorowsky held classes and lectures for free, in cafés and universities all over the city of Paris. Typically, such courses or talks would begin on Wednesday evenings as tarot divination lessons, and would culminate in an hour long conference, also free, where at times hundreds of attendees would be treated to live demonstrations of a psychological "arbre généalogique" ("tree of genealogy") involving volunteers from the audience. In these conferences, Jodorowsky would pave the way to building a strong base of students of his philosophy, which deals with understanding the unconscious as the "over-self", composed of many generations of family relatives, living or deceased, acting on the psyche, well into adult lives, and causing compulsions. Of all his work, Jodorowsky considers these activities to be the most important of his life. Though such activities only take place in the insular world of Parisian cafés, he has devoted thousands of hours of his life to teaching and helping people "become more conscious," as he puts it.
Since 2011 these talks have dwindled to once a month and take place at the Librairie Les Cent Ciels in Paris.
His film Psychomagic, a Healing Art premiered in Lyon on 3 September 2019. It was then released on streaming services on 1 August 2020.
Personal life
Jodorowsky's first wife was the actress Valérie Tremblay. He is currently married to the artist and costume designer Pascale Montandon.
He has five children: Brontis Jodorowsky, an actor who worked with his father in El Topo, The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry; Teo, who played in Santa Sangre; Cristóbal, a psychoshaman and an actor (interpreter in Santa Sangre and the main character in the shamanic documentary Quantum Men); Eugenia Jodorowsky; and the youngest, Adan Jodorowsky, a musician known by his stage name of Adanowsky. The fashion model Alma Jodorowsky is the granddaughter of Alejandro.
On his religious views, Jodorowsky has called himself an "atheist mystic".
He does not drink or smoke, and has stated that he does not eat red meat or poultry because he "does not like corpses", basing his diet on vegetables, fruits, grains and occasionally marine products.
In 2005, Jodorowsky officiated at the wedding of Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese.
Fans included musicians Peter Gabriel, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore (of the pop-duo Empire of the Sun). Wes Borland, guitarist of Limp Bizkit, said that the film Holy Mountain was a big influence on him, especially as a visual artist, and that the concept album Lotus Island of his band Black Light Burns was a tribute to it.
Jodorowsky was interviewed by Daniel Pinchbeck for the Franco-German television show Durch die Nacht mit … on the TV station Arte, in a very personal discussion, spending a night together in France, continuing the interview in different locations such as a park and a hotel.
Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in the ending titles of his 2011 film Drive, and dedicated his 2013 Thai crime thriller, Only God Forgives, to Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky also appeared in the documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, directed by Refn's wife Liv, giving the couple a tarot reading.
Argentinean actor Leandro Taub thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in his book La Mente Oculta, for which Jodorowsky wrote the prologue.
Criticism and controversy
When Jodorowsky's first feature film, Fando y Lis, premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, the screening was controversial and erupted into a riot, due to its graphic content. Jodorowsky had to leave the theatre by sneaking outside to a waiting limousine, and when the crowd outside the theatre recognized him, the car was pelted with rocks. The following week, the film opened to sell-out crowds in Mexico City, but more fights broke out, and the film was banned by the Mexican government. Jodorowsky himself was nearly deported and the controversy provided a great deal of fodder for the Mexican newspapers.
In regard to the making of El Topo, Jodorowsky allegedly stated in the early 1970s:
In the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune, Jodorowsky states:
As a result of these alleged statements, Jodorowsky has been criticised. Matt Brown of Screen Anarchy wrote that "it's easier to wall off a certain type of criminality behind the buffer of time—sure, Alejandro Jodorowsky is on the record in his book on the making of the film as having raped Mara Lorenzio while making El Topo—though he later denied it—but nowadays he's just that hilarious old kook from Jodorowsky's Dune!" Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com called Jodorowsky "an artist who condones rape as a means to an end for the purpose of creating art. A man who seems to believe that rape is something that women 'need' if they can't accept male sexual power on their own". Jude Doyle of Elle wrote that Jodorowsky "has been teasing the idea of an unsimulated rape scene in his cult classic film El Topo for decades ... though he's elsewhere described the unsimulated sex in that scene as consensual", and went on to state that the quote "has not endangered his status as an avant-garde icon".
On 26 June 2017, Jodorowsky released a statement on his Facebook account in response to the question: "Did you rape an actress during the filming of El Topo?" The following excerpts are from said statement:
Filmography
As director
As actor
Bibliography
Selected bibliography of comics, novels and non-fiction writings:
Graphic novels and comics
Anibal 5 {Original Mexican edition with Manuel Moro} (1966)
Los Insoportables Borbolla (with Manuel Moro) (1966)
The Panic Fables (; 1967–1970), comic strip published in El Heraldo de México.
The Eyes of the Cat (1978)
The Jealous God (1984)
The Magical Twins (1987)
Anibal 5 {French edition with Mœbius} (1990)
Diosamente (1992)
Moonface (1992)
Angel Claws (1994)
Son of the Gun (1995)
Madwoman of the Sacred Heart (1998)
The Shadow's Treasure (1999)
Bouncer (2001)
The White Lama (2004)
Borgia (2004)
Screaming Planet (2006)
Royal Blood (2010)
Showman Killer (2010)
Pietrolino (2013)
The Son of El Topo (2016- ongoing)
Knights of Heliopolis (2017)
Metabarons Universe
Beginning with The Incal in 1981, Jodorowsky has co-written and produced a series of linked comics series and graphic novels () for the French-language market known colloquially as the Jodoverse. The series was initially developed with Jean Giraud using concepts and designs created for Jodorowky's unfinished Dune project. Many of the comics and novels have been translated into Spanish, English, and German under Jodorowsky supervision.
The Incal (1981–1988)
Before the Incal (1988–1995)
The Metabarons (1992–2003)
The Technopriests (1998–2006)
Megalex (1999–2007)
After the Incal (2000), incomplete series.
Metabarons Genesis: Castaka (2007–2013)
Weapons of the Metabaron (2008)
Final Incal (2008–2014), revised version of the After the Incal series with new art and text.
The Metabaron (2015–2018)
Simak (2019)
Fiction
Jodorowsky's Spanish-language novels translated into English include:
Where the Bird Sings Best (1992)
Albina and the Dog Men (1999)
The Son of Black Thursday (1999)
Non-fiction
Psychomagic (1995)
The Dance of Reality (2001)
The Way of Tarot (2004), with Marianne Costa
The Manual of Psychomagic (2009)
Metageneaology (2012), with Marianne Costa
pascALEjandro: Alchemical Androgynous (2017), with Pascale Montandon
Autobiography
The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky (2005)
The Dance of Reality: A Psychomagical Autobiography (2014)
Sacred Trickery and the Way of Kindness: The Radical Wisdom of Jodo (2016)
The Finger and the Moon: Zen Teachings and Koans (2016)
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading
Cobb, Ben (2007). Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Persistence of Vision 6), ed. Louise Brealey, pref. Alan Jones, int. Stephen Barber. London, April 2007 / New York, August 2007, Creation Books.
Coillard, Jean-Paul (2009), De la cage au grand écran. Entretiens avec Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paris. K-Inite Editions.
Chignoli, Andrea (2009), Zoom back, Camera! El cine de Alejandro Jodorowsky, Santiago de Chile, Uqbar Editores.
Dominguez Aragones, Edmundo (1980). Tres extraordinarios: Luis Spota, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Emilio "Indio" Fernández; Mexicali, Mexico DF, Juan Pablos Editor. P. 109–146.
Gonzalez, Házael (2011), Alejandro Jodorowsky: Danzando con la realidad, Palma de Mallorca, Dolmen Editorial.
Larouche, Michel (1985). Alexandre Jodorowsky, cinéaste panique, París, ça cinéma, Albatros.
Moldes, Diego, (2012). Alejandro Jodorowsky, Madrid, Col. Signo e Imagen / Cineastas, Ediciones Cátedra. Prologue by Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Monteleone, Massimo (1993). La Talpa e la Fenice. Il cinema di Alejandro Jodorowsky, Bologna, Granata Press.
External links
Jodorowsky publications in Métal Hurlant. BDoubliées
Jodorowsky albums. Bedetheque
Jodorowsky publications in English. Europeancomics.net
1929 births
Living people
20th-century alchemists
20th-century atheists
21st-century alchemists
21st-century atheists
Chilean comics writers
Chilean emigrants to France
Chilean expatriates in Mexico
Chilean film directors
Chilean experimental filmmakers
Esotericists
French-language film directors
French comics writers
French film directors
Chilean mimes
Chilean surrealist artists
Chilean surrealist writers
French surrealist artists
French surrealist writers
Surrealist filmmakers
Horror film directors
Anarchist writers
Chilean speculative fiction writers
Chilean autobiographers
Chilean Jews
Chilean people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Jewish anarchists
Jewish atheists
Jewish feminists
Jewish mimes
Mystics
Naturalized citizens of France
Chilean occultists
People from Tocopilla
Chilean performance artists
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychotherapists
Tarot readers
Polish Ashkenazi Jews | true | [
"The Askew Institute on Politics and Society at the University of Florida was established in 1994 with the primary goal to examine the critical issues facing the region, and to find a consensus to address these issues.\n\nHistory\nThe Institute was named in honor of the 37th Governor of Florida Reubin Askew. The Askew Institute addresses important issues facing the region in a non-partisan fashion and the topics addressed are placed in the proper historical context.\n\nActivities\nThe main event for the institute is an annual statewide meeting intended to promote dialogue between state leaders and citizens about public policy issues facing the state, as well as to gather recommendations on how best to respond to them.\n\nThe institute also convenes several smaller meetings across the state, in partnership with agencies such as the State University System of Florida, the Florida Department of Education, and the Institute of Child Health Policy at the University of Florida.\n\nGovernor Askew was the convener of all the Annual Meetings, and was assisted by various state, business, and academic leaders throughout the years. The institute partners with three statewide organizations with similar goals: the John Scott Dailey Florida Institute of Government at Florida State University, the Collins Center for Public Policy, and Leadership Florida.\n\nMission\nThis institute tackles three main issues. The first issue is bringing key leaders to the table so that they may discuss the critical issues facing the region. In addition this institute looks heavily into prior precedents so that these leaders will be able to place these issues into the proper context. Lastly this institute serves to assist leaders of the region in meeting the needs of the citizens.\n\nSee also\nUniversity of Florida\nReubin O'Donovan Askew\nUniversity of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences\n\nNotes\n\nExternal links\nOfficial website - link is dead.\nSouthern Growth Profile of the institute\nArticle discussing consensus in the region\nFloridamemory.com Info about the Institute\nFlorida Government press release about the Institute\n\nUniversity of Florida\n1994 establishments in Florida",
"Vorbe grele (in English \"Heavy talks\") was a TV news talk-show, on the Intact Media Group station Antena 3, hosted by Romanian journalist Victor Ciutacu. The talk-show tackled various economical, political, and social issues that Romania was facing. \n\nVorbe grele was aired on Antena 3, Friday, 22:00hours.\n\nExternal links\nn Heavy talks (with Victor Ciutacu) homepage@antena3\n\nSee also\nCiutacu article\n\nRomanian television news shows"
]
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[
"Alejandro Jodorowsky",
"Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981-1990)",
"What family issues was he facing",
"Jodorowsky divorced his wife."
]
| C_beba32b7d5a84d95bf24ade3480043d3_1 | what year was this | 2 | What year did Jodorowsky divorce his wife | Alejandro Jodorowsky | In 1982 Jodorowsky divorced his wife. In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's "The Hands of Orlac". It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors. He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Dominguez D., wrote the screenplay). That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to live in France. In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where once again he met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again. CANNOTANSWER | 1982 | Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French filmmaker and artist. Since 1948, he has worked as a novelist, screenwriter, a poet, a playwright, an essayist, a film and theater director and producer, an actor, a film editor, a comics writer, a musician and composer, a philosopher, a puppeteer, a mime, a lay psychologist, a draughtsman, a painter, a sculptor, and a spiritual guru.
Best known for his avant-garde films El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973), Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his work which "is filled with violently surreal images and a hybrid blend of mysticism and religious provocation".
Overview
Born to Jewish-Galician parents (Chodorowski) in Tocopilla, Chile, Jodorowsky experienced an unhappy and alienated childhood, and so immersed himself in reading and writing poetry. Dropping out of college, he became involved in theater and in particular mime, working as a clown before founding his own theater troupe, the Teatro Mimico, in 1947. Moving to Paris in the early 1950s, Jodorowsky studied traditional mime under Étienne Decroux, and put his miming skills to use in the silent film Les têtes interverties (1957), directed with Saul Gilbert and Ruth Michelly. From 1960 he divided his time between Paris and Mexico City, in the former becoming a founding member of the anarchistic avant-garde Panic Movement of performance artists. In 1966 he created his first comic strip, Anibal 5, while in 1967 he directed his first feature film, the surrealist Fando y Lis, which caused a huge scandal in Mexico, eventually being banned.
His next film, the acid western El Topo (1970), became a hit on the midnight movie circuit in the United States, considered as the first-ever midnight cult film, and garnered high praise from John Lennon, who convinced former Beatles manager Allen Klein to provide Jodorowsky with $1 million to finance his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain (1973), a surrealist exploration of western esotericism. Disagreements with Klein, however, led to both The Holy Mountain and El Topo failing to gain widespread distribution, although both became classics on the underground film circuit.
After a cancelled attempt at filming Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune, Jodorowsky produced five more films: the family film Tusk (1980); the surrealist horror Santa Sangre (1989); the failed blockbuster The Rainbow Thief (1990); and the first two films in a planned five-film autobiographical series The Dance of Reality (2013) and Endless Poetry (2016). During the same period, he wrote a series of science fiction comic books, most notably The Incal (1980–1989), which has been described as having a claim to be "the best comic book" ever written, and also The Technopriests and Metabarons. He has also written books and regularly lectures on his own spiritual system, which he calls "psychomagic" and "psychoshamanism" and which borrows from his interests in alchemy, the tarot, Zen Buddhism and shamanism. His son Cristóbal has followed his teachings on psychoshamanism; this work is captured in the feature documentary Quantum Men, directed by Carlos Serrano Azcona.
Early life and education
Jodorowsky was born in 1929 in the coastal town of Tocopilla, Chile, to parents who were Jewish immigrants from Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro), Elisavetgrad (now Kropyvnytskyi) and other cities of the Russian Empire (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russian Partition, now Ukraine). His father, Jaime Jodorowsky Groismann (Jakub Chodorowski), was a merchant, who was largely abusive to his wife Sara Felicidad Prullansky Arcavi, and at one time accused her of flirting with a customer. Angered, he subsequently beat and raped her, getting her pregnant, which led to the birth of Alejandro. Because of this brutal conception, Sara both hated her husband and disliked her son, telling him that "I cannot love you" and rarely showing him tenderness. Alejandro also had an elder sister, Raquel Jodorowsky, but disliked her, for he believed that she was selfish, doing "everything to expel me from the family so that she could be the centre of attention." Alongside his dislike for his family, he also held contempt for many of the local people, who viewed him as an outsider because of his status as the son of immigrants, and also for the American mining industrialists who worked locally and treated the Chilean people badly. It was this treatment at the hands of Americans that led to his later condemnation of American imperialism and neo-colonialism in Latin America in several of his films. Nonetheless he liked his local area, and was greatly unhappy when he was forced to leave it at the age of nine years old, something for which he blamed his father. His family subsequently moved to the city of Santiago, Chile.
He immersed himself in reading, and also began writing poetry, having his first poem published when he was sixteen years old, alongside associating with such Chilean poets as Nicanor Parra, Stella Díaz Varín and Enrique Lihn. Becoming interested in the political ideology of anarchism, he began attending college, studying psychology and philosophy, but stayed for only two years. After dropping out, and having an interest in theatre and particularly mime, he took up employment as a clown in a circus and began a career as a theatre director. Meanwhile, in 1947 he founded his own theatrical troupe, the Teatro Mimico, which by 1952 had fifty members, and the following year he wrote his first play, El Minotaura (The Minotaur). Nonetheless, Jodorowsky felt that there was little for him left in Chile, and so that year he moved to Paris.
It was while in Paris that Jodorowsky began studying mime with Étienne Decroux and joined the troupe of one of Decroux's students, Marcel Marceau. It was with Marceau's troupe that he went on a world tour, and wrote several routines for the group, including "The Cage" and "The Mask Maker". After this, he returned to theatre directing, working on the music hall comeback of Maurice Chevalier in Paris. In 1957, Jodorowsky turned his hand to filmmaking, creating Les têtes interverties (The Severed Heads), a 20-minute adaptation of Thomas Mann's novella. It consisted almost entirely of mime, and told the surreal story of a head-swapping merchant who helps a young man find courtship success. Jodorowsky played the lead role. The director Jean Cocteau admired the film, and wrote an introduction for it. It was considered lost until a print of the film was discovered in 2006.
In 1960, Jodorowsky moved to Mexico, where he settled down in Mexico City. Nonetheless, he continued to return occasionally to France, on one occasion visiting the Surrealist artist André Breton, but he was disillusioned in that he felt Breton had become somewhat conservative in his old age. Continuing his interest in surrealism, in 1962 he founded the Panic Movement along with Fernando Arrabal and Roland Topor. The movement aimed to go beyond the conventional surrealist ideas by embracing absurdism. Its members refused to take themselves seriously, while laughing at those critics who did. In 1966 he produced his first comic strip, Anibal 5, which was related to the Panic Movement. The following year he created a new feature film, Fando y Lis, loosely based on a play written by Fernando Arrabal, who was working with Jodorowsky on performance art at the time. Fando y Lis premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, where it instigated a riot amongst those objecting to the film's content, and subsequently it was banned in Mexico.
It was in Mexico City that he encountered Ejo Takata (1928–1997), a Zen Buddhist monk who had studied at the Horyuji and Shofukuji monasteries in Japan before traveling to Mexico via the United States in 1967 to spread Zen. Jodorowsky became a disciple of Takata and offered his own house to be turned into a zendo. Subsequently, Takata attracted other disciples around him, who spent their time in meditation and the study of koans. Eventually, Takata instructed Jodorowsky that he had to learn more about his feminine side, and so he went and befriended the English surrealist Leonora Carrington, who had recently moved to Mexico.
Career
El Topo and The Holy Mountain (1970–1974)
In 1970, Jodorowsky released the film El Topo, which sometimes is known in English as The Mole, which he had both directed and starred in. An acid western, El Topo tells the story of a wandering Mexican bandit and gunslinger, El Topo (played by Jodorowsky), who is on a search for spiritual enlightenment, taking his young son along with him. Along the way, he violently confronts a number of other individuals, before finally being killed and being resurrected to live within a community of deformed people who are trapped inside a mountain cave. Describing the work, he stated that "I ask of film what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs. The difference being that when one creates a psychedelic film, he need not create a film that shows the visions of a person who has taken a pill; rather, he needs to manufacture the pill." Knowing how Fando y Lis had caused such a scandal in Mexico, Jodorowsky decided not to release El Topo there, instead focusing on its release in other countries across the world, including Mexico's northern neighbour, the United States. It was in New York City where the film would play as a "midnight movie" for several months at Ben Barenholtz's Elgin Theater. It attracted the attention of rock musician and countercultural figure John Lennon, who thought very highly of it, and convinced the president of The Beatles' company Apple Corps, Allen Klein, to distribute it in the United States.
Klein agreed to give Jodorowsky $1 million to go toward creating his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain, released in 1973. It has been suggested that The Holy Mountain may have been inspired by René Daumal's Surrealist novel Mount Analogue. The Holy Mountain was another complex, multi-part story that featured a man credited as "The Thief" and equated with Jesus Christ, a mystical alchemist played by Jodorowsky, seven powerful business people representing seven of the planets (Venus and the six planets from Mars to Pluto), a religious training regimen of spiritual rebirth, and a quest to the top of a holy mountain for the secret of immortality. During the completion of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky received spiritual training from Oscar Ichazo of the Arica School, who encouraged him to take LSD and guided him through the subsequent psychedelic experience. Around the same time (2 November 1973), Jodorowsky participated in an isolation tank experiment conducted by John Lilly.
Shortly thereafter, Allen Klein demanded that Jodorowsky create a film adaptation of Pauline Réage's classic novel of female masochism, Story of O. Klein had promised this adaptation to various investors. Jodorowsky, who had discovered feminism during the filming of The Holy Mountain, refused to make the film, going so far as to leave the country to escape directing duties. In retaliation, Allen Klein made El Topo and The Holy Mountain, to which he held the rights, completely unavailable to the public for more than 30 years. Jodorowsky frequently decried Klein's actions in interviews.
Soon after the release of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky gave a talk at the Teatro Julio Castillo, University of Mexico on the subject of koans (despite the fact that he initially had been booked on the condition that his talk would be about cinematography), at which Ejo Takata appeared. After the talk, Takata gave Jodorowsky his kyosaku, believing that his former student had mastered the art of understanding koans.
Dune and Tusk (1975–1980)
In December 1974, a French consortium led by Jean-Paul Gibon purchased the film rights to Frank Herbert's epic 1965 science fiction novel Dune and asked Jodorowsky to direct a film version. Jodorowsky planned to cast the Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, in what would have been his only speaking role as a film actor, in the role of Emperor Shaddam IV. Dalí agreed when Jodorowsky offered to pay him a fee of $100,000 per hour. He also planned to cast Orson Welles as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen; Welles only agreed when Jodorowsky offered to get his favourite gourmet chef to prepare his meals for him throughout the filming. The book's protagonist, Paul Atreides, was to be played by Jodorowsky's son, Brontis Jodorowsky. The music would be composed by Pink Floyd and Magma. Jodorowsky set up a pre-production unit in Paris consisting of Chris Foss, a British artist who designed covers for science fiction publications, Jean Giraud (Moebius), a French illustrator who created and also wrote and drew for Métal Hurlant magazine, and H. R. Giger. Frank Herbert travelled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2 million of the $9.5 million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled). Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship. The production for the film collapsed when no film studio could be found willing to fund the movie to Jodorowsky's terms. The aborted production was chronicled in the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune. Subsequently, the rights for filming were sold to Dino de Laurentiis, who employed the American filmmaker David Lynch to direct, creating the film Dune in 1984. The documentary does not include any original film footage of what was to be Jodorowsky's Dune but does make extraordinary claims as to the influence this unmade film had on other actual science fiction films, such as Star Wars, Alien, Terminator, Flash Gordon, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
After the collapse of the Dune project, Jodorowsky completely changed course and, in 1980, premiered his children's fable Tusk, shot in India. Taken from Reginald Campbell's novel Poo Lorn of the Elephants, the film explores the soul-mate relationship between a young British woman living in India and a highly prized elephant. The film exhibited little of the director's outlandish visual style and was never given wide release.
Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981–1990)
In 1982, Jodorowsky divorced his wife.
In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's The Hands of Orlac. It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors.
He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Domínguez D., wrote the screenplay).
That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to France to live.
In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where he once again met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again.
Attempts to return to filmmaking (1990–2011)
In 2000, Jodorowsky won the Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF). Jodorowsky attended the festival and his films were shown, including El Topo and The Holy Mountain, which at the time had grey legal status. According to festival director Bryan Wendorf, it was an open question of whether CUFF would be allowed to show both films, or whether the police would show up and shut the festival down.
Until 2007, Fando y Lis and Santa Sangre were the only Jodorowsky works available on DVD. Neither El Topo nor The Holy Mountain were available on videocassette or DVD in the United States or the United Kingdom, due to ownership disputes with distributor Allen Klein. After settlement of the dispute in 2004, however, plans to re-release Jodorowsky's films were announced by ABKCO Films. On 19 January 2007, it was announced online that Anchor Bay would release a box set including El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and Fando y Lis on 1 May 2007. A limited edition of the set includes both the El Topo and The Holy Mountain soundtracks. And, in early February 2007, Tartan Video announced its 14 May 2007, release date for the UK PAL DVD editions of El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and the six-disc box set which, alongside the aforementioned feature films, includes the two soundtrack CDs, as well as separate DVD editions of Jodorowsky's 1968 debut feature Fando y Lis (with his 1957 short La cravate a.k.a. Les têtes interverties, included as an extra) and the 1994 feature-length documentary La constellation Jodorowsky. Notably, Fando y Lis and La cravate were digitally restored extensively and remastered in London during late 2006, thus providing a suitable complement to the quality restoration work undertaken on El Topo and The Holy Mountain in the States by ABKCO, and ensuring that the presentation of Fando y Lis is a significant improvement over the 2001 Fantoma DVD edition. Prior to the availability of these legitimate releases, only inferior quality, optically censored, bootleg copies of both El Topo and The Holy Mountain have been circulated on the Internet and on DVD.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Jodorowsky attempted to make a sequel to El Topo, called at different times The Sons of El Topo and Abel Cain, but did not find investors for the project.
In an interview with Premiere Magazine, Jodorowsky said he intended his next project to be a gangster film called King Shot. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper in November 2009, however, Jodorowsky revealed that he was unable to find the funds to make King Shot, and instead would be entering preparations on Sons of El Topo, for which he claimed to have signed a contract with "some Russian producers".
In 2010, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City staged the first American cinema retrospective of Alejandro Jodorowsky entitled Blood into Gold: The Cinematic Alchemy of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky would attend the retrospective and hold a master class on art as a way of transformation. This retrospective would inspire the museum MoMA PS1 to present the exhibition Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Holy Mountain in 2011.
The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry (2011–present)
In August 2011, Alejandro arrived in a town in Chile where he grew up, also the setting of his autobiography The Dance of Reality, to promote an autobiographical film based upon his book.
On 31 October 2011, Halloween night, the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) honored Jodorowsky by showing The Holy Mountain. He attended and spoke about his work and life. The next evening, he presented El Topo at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center.
Alejandro has stated that after finishing The Dance of Reality he was preparing to shoot his long-gestating El Topo sequel, Abel Cain. By January 2013, Alejandro finished filming on The Dance of Reality and entered into post-production. Alejandro's son and co-star in the film, Brontis, claimed the film was to be finished by March 2013, and that the film was "very different than the other films he made". On 23 April, it was announced that the film would have its world premiere at the Film Festival in Cannes. coinciding with The Dance of Reality premiered alongside the documentary film Jodorowsky's Dune, which premiered in May 2013 at the Cannes Film Festival, creating a "Jodorowsky double bill".
In 2015, Jodorowsky began a new film entitled Endless Poetry, the sequel to his last "auto-biopic", The Dance of Reality. His Paris-based production company, Satori Films, launched two successful crowdfunding campaigns to finance the film. The Indiegogo campaign has been left open indefinitely, receiving donations from fans and movie-goers in support of the independent production. The film was shot between June and August 2015, in the streets of Matucana in Santiago, Chile, where Jodorowsky lived for a period in his life. The film portrays his young adulthood in Santiago, years during which he became a core member of the Chilean poetic avant-garde alongside artists such as Hugo Marín, Gustavo Becerra, Enrique Lihn, Stella Díaz Varín, Nicanor Parra and others. Jodorowsky's son, Adan Jodorowsky, plays him as an adult and Brontis Jodorowsky, plays as his father Jaime. Jeremias Herskovitz, from The Dance of Reality, portrays Jodorowsky as a teenager. Pamela Flores plays Sara (his mother) and Stella Díaz Varín (poetess and young Jodorowsky's girlfriend). Leandro Taub portrays Jodorowsky's best friend, the poet and novelist Enrique Lihn. The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival on 14 May 2016. Variety's review was overwhelmingly positive, calling it "...the most accessible movie he has ever made, and it may also be the best."
During an interview at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, Jodorowsky announced his plans to finally make The Son of El Topo as soon as financial backing is obtained.
Other work
Jodorowsky is a weekly contributor of "good news" to the nightly "author news report" of his friend, Fernando Sánchez Dragó in Telemadrid.
He also released a 12" vinyl with the Original Soundtrack of Zarathustra (Discos Tizoc, Mexico, 1970).
He has cited the filmmaker Federico Fellini as his primary cinematic influence; other artistic influences included George Gurdjieff, Antonin Artaud, and Luis Buñuel. He has been described as an influence on such figures as Marilyn Manson, David Lynch, Nicolas Winding Refn, Jan Kounen, Dennis Hopper, and Kanye West.
Comics
Jodorowsky started his comic career in Mexico with the creation of Anibal 5 series in mid-1966 with illustrations by Manuel Moro. He also drew his own comic strip in the weekly series Fabulas pánicas that appeared in the Mexican newspaper, El Heraldo de México. He also wrote original stories for at least two or three other comic books in Mexico during those days: Los insoportables Borbolla was one of them. After his fourth film, Tusk, he started The Incal, with Jean Giraud (Mœbius). This graphic novel has its roots deep in the tarot and its symbols, e.g., the protagonist of The Incal, John Difool, is linked to the Fool card. The Incal (which would branch off into a prequel and sequel) forms the first in a sequence of several science fiction comic book series, all set in the same space opera Jodoverse (or "Metabarons Universe") published by Humanoids Publishing.
Comic books set in this milieu are Incal (trilogy: Before the Incal/ Incal/ Final Incal), Metabarons (trilogy: Castaka/ The Caste of the Metabarons/ Weapons of the Metabaron), and The Technopriests and also an RPG adaptation, The Metabarons Roleplaying Game. Many ideas and concepts derived from Jodorowsky's planned adaptation of Dune (which he would have been loosely based upon Frank Herbert's original novel) are featured in this universe.
Mœbius and Jodorowsky sued Luc Besson, director of The Fifth Element, claiming that the 1997 film borrowed graphic and story elements from The Incal, but they lost their case. The suit was plagued by ambiguity since Mœbius had willingly participated in the creation of the film, having been hired by Besson as a contributing artist, but had done so without gaining the approval of Incal co-creator Jodorowsky, whose services Besson did not call upon. For more than a decade, Jodorowsky pressured his publisher Les Humanoïdes Associés to sue Luc Besson for plagiarism, but the publisher refused, fearing the inevitability of the final outcome. In a 2002 interview with the Danish comic book magazine Strip!, Jodorowsky stated that he considered it an honour that somebody stole his ideas.
Other comics by Jodorowsky include the Western Bouncer illustrated by Francois Boucq, Juan Solo (Son of the Gun), and Le Lama blanc (The White Lama), the latter were illustrated by Georges Bess.
Le Cœur couronné (The Crowned Heart, translated into English as The Madwoman of the Sacred Heart), a racy satire on religion set in contemporary times, won Jodorowsky and his collaborator, Jean Giraud, the 2001 Haxtur Award for Best Long Strip. He is currently working on a new graphic novel for the U.S. market.
Jodorowsky's comic book work also appears in Taboo volume 4 (ed. Stephen R. Bissette), which features an interview with the director, designs for his version of Frank Herbert's Dune, comic storyboards for El Topo, and a collaboration with Moebius with the illustrated Eyes of the Cat.
Jodorowsky collaborated with Milo Manara in Borgia (2006), a graphic novel about the history of the House of Borgia.
Psychomagic
Jodorowsky spent almost a decade reconstructing the original form of the Tarot de Marseille. From this work he moved into more therapeutic work in three areas: psychomagic, psychogenealogy and initiatic massage. Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which practitioners of the therapy believe are passed down from generation to generation. Psychogenealogy includes the studying of the patient's personality and family tree in order to best address their specific sources. It is similar, in its phenomenological approach to genealogy, to the Constellations pioneered by Bert Hellinger.
Jodorowsky has several books on his therapeutic methods, including Psicomagia: La trampa sagrada (Psychomagic: The Sacred Trap) and his autobiography, La danza de la realidad (The Dance of Reality), which he was filming as a feature-length film in March 2012. To date he has published more than 23 novels and philosophical treatises, along with dozens of articles and interviews. His books are widely read in Spanish and French, but are for the most part unknown to English-speaking audiences.
For a quarter of a century, Jodorowsky held classes and lectures for free, in cafés and universities all over the city of Paris. Typically, such courses or talks would begin on Wednesday evenings as tarot divination lessons, and would culminate in an hour long conference, also free, where at times hundreds of attendees would be treated to live demonstrations of a psychological "arbre généalogique" ("tree of genealogy") involving volunteers from the audience. In these conferences, Jodorowsky would pave the way to building a strong base of students of his philosophy, which deals with understanding the unconscious as the "over-self", composed of many generations of family relatives, living or deceased, acting on the psyche, well into adult lives, and causing compulsions. Of all his work, Jodorowsky considers these activities to be the most important of his life. Though such activities only take place in the insular world of Parisian cafés, he has devoted thousands of hours of his life to teaching and helping people "become more conscious," as he puts it.
Since 2011 these talks have dwindled to once a month and take place at the Librairie Les Cent Ciels in Paris.
His film Psychomagic, a Healing Art premiered in Lyon on 3 September 2019. It was then released on streaming services on 1 August 2020.
Personal life
Jodorowsky's first wife was the actress Valérie Tremblay. He is currently married to the artist and costume designer Pascale Montandon.
He has five children: Brontis Jodorowsky, an actor who worked with his father in El Topo, The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry; Teo, who played in Santa Sangre; Cristóbal, a psychoshaman and an actor (interpreter in Santa Sangre and the main character in the shamanic documentary Quantum Men); Eugenia Jodorowsky; and the youngest, Adan Jodorowsky, a musician known by his stage name of Adanowsky. The fashion model Alma Jodorowsky is the granddaughter of Alejandro.
On his religious views, Jodorowsky has called himself an "atheist mystic".
He does not drink or smoke, and has stated that he does not eat red meat or poultry because he "does not like corpses", basing his diet on vegetables, fruits, grains and occasionally marine products.
In 2005, Jodorowsky officiated at the wedding of Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese.
Fans included musicians Peter Gabriel, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore (of the pop-duo Empire of the Sun). Wes Borland, guitarist of Limp Bizkit, said that the film Holy Mountain was a big influence on him, especially as a visual artist, and that the concept album Lotus Island of his band Black Light Burns was a tribute to it.
Jodorowsky was interviewed by Daniel Pinchbeck for the Franco-German television show Durch die Nacht mit … on the TV station Arte, in a very personal discussion, spending a night together in France, continuing the interview in different locations such as a park and a hotel.
Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in the ending titles of his 2011 film Drive, and dedicated his 2013 Thai crime thriller, Only God Forgives, to Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky also appeared in the documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, directed by Refn's wife Liv, giving the couple a tarot reading.
Argentinean actor Leandro Taub thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in his book La Mente Oculta, for which Jodorowsky wrote the prologue.
Criticism and controversy
When Jodorowsky's first feature film, Fando y Lis, premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, the screening was controversial and erupted into a riot, due to its graphic content. Jodorowsky had to leave the theatre by sneaking outside to a waiting limousine, and when the crowd outside the theatre recognized him, the car was pelted with rocks. The following week, the film opened to sell-out crowds in Mexico City, but more fights broke out, and the film was banned by the Mexican government. Jodorowsky himself was nearly deported and the controversy provided a great deal of fodder for the Mexican newspapers.
In regard to the making of El Topo, Jodorowsky allegedly stated in the early 1970s:
In the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune, Jodorowsky states:
As a result of these alleged statements, Jodorowsky has been criticised. Matt Brown of Screen Anarchy wrote that "it's easier to wall off a certain type of criminality behind the buffer of time—sure, Alejandro Jodorowsky is on the record in his book on the making of the film as having raped Mara Lorenzio while making El Topo—though he later denied it—but nowadays he's just that hilarious old kook from Jodorowsky's Dune!" Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com called Jodorowsky "an artist who condones rape as a means to an end for the purpose of creating art. A man who seems to believe that rape is something that women 'need' if they can't accept male sexual power on their own". Jude Doyle of Elle wrote that Jodorowsky "has been teasing the idea of an unsimulated rape scene in his cult classic film El Topo for decades ... though he's elsewhere described the unsimulated sex in that scene as consensual", and went on to state that the quote "has not endangered his status as an avant-garde icon".
On 26 June 2017, Jodorowsky released a statement on his Facebook account in response to the question: "Did you rape an actress during the filming of El Topo?" The following excerpts are from said statement:
Filmography
As director
As actor
Bibliography
Selected bibliography of comics, novels and non-fiction writings:
Graphic novels and comics
Anibal 5 {Original Mexican edition with Manuel Moro} (1966)
Los Insoportables Borbolla (with Manuel Moro) (1966)
The Panic Fables (; 1967–1970), comic strip published in El Heraldo de México.
The Eyes of the Cat (1978)
The Jealous God (1984)
The Magical Twins (1987)
Anibal 5 {French edition with Mœbius} (1990)
Diosamente (1992)
Moonface (1992)
Angel Claws (1994)
Son of the Gun (1995)
Madwoman of the Sacred Heart (1998)
The Shadow's Treasure (1999)
Bouncer (2001)
The White Lama (2004)
Borgia (2004)
Screaming Planet (2006)
Royal Blood (2010)
Showman Killer (2010)
Pietrolino (2013)
The Son of El Topo (2016- ongoing)
Knights of Heliopolis (2017)
Metabarons Universe
Beginning with The Incal in 1981, Jodorowsky has co-written and produced a series of linked comics series and graphic novels () for the French-language market known colloquially as the Jodoverse. The series was initially developed with Jean Giraud using concepts and designs created for Jodorowky's unfinished Dune project. Many of the comics and novels have been translated into Spanish, English, and German under Jodorowsky supervision.
The Incal (1981–1988)
Before the Incal (1988–1995)
The Metabarons (1992–2003)
The Technopriests (1998–2006)
Megalex (1999–2007)
After the Incal (2000), incomplete series.
Metabarons Genesis: Castaka (2007–2013)
Weapons of the Metabaron (2008)
Final Incal (2008–2014), revised version of the After the Incal series with new art and text.
The Metabaron (2015–2018)
Simak (2019)
Fiction
Jodorowsky's Spanish-language novels translated into English include:
Where the Bird Sings Best (1992)
Albina and the Dog Men (1999)
The Son of Black Thursday (1999)
Non-fiction
Psychomagic (1995)
The Dance of Reality (2001)
The Way of Tarot (2004), with Marianne Costa
The Manual of Psychomagic (2009)
Metageneaology (2012), with Marianne Costa
pascALEjandro: Alchemical Androgynous (2017), with Pascale Montandon
Autobiography
The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky (2005)
The Dance of Reality: A Psychomagical Autobiography (2014)
Sacred Trickery and the Way of Kindness: The Radical Wisdom of Jodo (2016)
The Finger and the Moon: Zen Teachings and Koans (2016)
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading
Cobb, Ben (2007). Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Persistence of Vision 6), ed. Louise Brealey, pref. Alan Jones, int. Stephen Barber. London, April 2007 / New York, August 2007, Creation Books.
Coillard, Jean-Paul (2009), De la cage au grand écran. Entretiens avec Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paris. K-Inite Editions.
Chignoli, Andrea (2009), Zoom back, Camera! El cine de Alejandro Jodorowsky, Santiago de Chile, Uqbar Editores.
Dominguez Aragones, Edmundo (1980). Tres extraordinarios: Luis Spota, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Emilio "Indio" Fernández; Mexicali, Mexico DF, Juan Pablos Editor. P. 109–146.
Gonzalez, Házael (2011), Alejandro Jodorowsky: Danzando con la realidad, Palma de Mallorca, Dolmen Editorial.
Larouche, Michel (1985). Alexandre Jodorowsky, cinéaste panique, París, ça cinéma, Albatros.
Moldes, Diego, (2012). Alejandro Jodorowsky, Madrid, Col. Signo e Imagen / Cineastas, Ediciones Cátedra. Prologue by Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Monteleone, Massimo (1993). La Talpa e la Fenice. Il cinema di Alejandro Jodorowsky, Bologna, Granata Press.
External links
Jodorowsky publications in Métal Hurlant. BDoubliées
Jodorowsky albums. Bedetheque
Jodorowsky publications in English. Europeancomics.net
1929 births
Living people
20th-century alchemists
20th-century atheists
21st-century alchemists
21st-century atheists
Chilean comics writers
Chilean emigrants to France
Chilean expatriates in Mexico
Chilean film directors
Chilean experimental filmmakers
Esotericists
French-language film directors
French comics writers
French film directors
Chilean mimes
Chilean surrealist artists
Chilean surrealist writers
French surrealist artists
French surrealist writers
Surrealist filmmakers
Horror film directors
Anarchist writers
Chilean speculative fiction writers
Chilean autobiographers
Chilean Jews
Chilean people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Jewish anarchists
Jewish atheists
Jewish feminists
Jewish mimes
Mystics
Naturalized citizens of France
Chilean occultists
People from Tocopilla
Chilean performance artists
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychotherapists
Tarot readers
Polish Ashkenazi Jews | true | [
"\"This Is What It Feels Like\" is a song by Dutch DJ and record producer Armin van Buuren, featuring Canadian singer, songwriter and former soulDecision frontman Trevor Guthrie, released in the Netherlands by Armada Music on 29 April 2013 as the second single from van Buuren's fifth studio album, Intense (2013).\n\n\"This Is What It Feels Like\" peaked at number three on the Dutch Top 40. Outside the Netherlands, \"This Is What It Feels Like\" peaked within the top ten of the charts in ten countries, including Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Canada, Israel and the United Kingdom.\n\nThe song was written by Armin van Buuren, Benno de Goeij, Jenson Vaughan, Trevor Guthrie and John Ewbank. Van Buuren wrote the instrumental with de Goeij and Ewbank in 2012. Trevor Guthrie wrote the lyrics with Jenson Vaughan, and it was inspired by Guthrie's neighbour who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. \"This Is What It Feels Like\" was nominated for the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. The song was featured in the intro for a 2019 episode of America's Got Talent.\n\nMusic video\nA music video to accompany the release of \"This is What It Feels Like\" was first released onto YouTube on 17 March 2013. The video also features a guest appearance by Ron Jeremy. As of September 2017, it has received over 100 million views, making it the fifth most viewed video on Armada Music's YouTube channel.\n\nTrack listing\n Digital downloads\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" – 3:25\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (extended mix) – 5:16\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (W&W remix) – 6:16\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (David Guetta remix) – 5:28\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Antillas and Dankann remix) – 5:44\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Antillas and Dankann radio edit) – 3:34\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Giuseppe Ottaviani remix) – 6:38\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Giuseppe Ottaviani radio edit) – 3:55\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (John Ewbank classical remix) – 3:12\n UK CD single\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" – 3:25\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (extended mix) – 5:16\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (W&W remix) – 6:16\n \"Waiting for the Night\" – 3:03\n German CD single\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" – 3:25\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (David Guetta remix) – 5:28\n\n Maddix remix\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Maddix remix) – 3:50\n \"This Is What It Feels Like\" (Maddix extended mix) – 4:50\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nJason Benoit version\n\n\"This Is What It Feels Like\" was covered by Canadian country music artist Jason Benoit and released through Sky Hit Records, under license to Sony Music Canada, as Benoit's debut single on 10 September 2013. His rendition reached number 46 on the Billboard Canada Country chart. It received positive reviews for Benoit's \"strong vocal performance\" was also included on the compilation album, Country Heat 2014.\n\nMusic video\nAn official lyric video was uploaded to Benoit's Vevo channel on 4 October 2013.\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n2013 singles\n2013 songs\nArmin van Buuren songs\nArmada Music singles\nJuno Award for Dance Recording of the Year recordings\nSongs written by Armin van Buuren\nSongs written by Benno de Goeij\nSongs written by Jenson Vaughan\nSongs written by Trevor Guthrie\nTrevor Guthrie songs",
"Of What Was is the first full-length album by in medias res, an indie rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Produced by fellow Vancouver indie act Jonathan Anderson, it was originally self-released on July 8, 2003 and sold out of its initial 1,000 copies within a year and a half. Of What Was was then picked up by Anniedale Records and re-released on May 24, 2005. The album was preceded by two EPs, Demos and Intimacy.\n\nTrack listing\n \"Idée Fixe\" - 2:57\n \"Radio Friendly\" - 2:41a\n \"Shakeher\" - 3:46\n \"A Cause For Concern\" - 5:41\n \"You Know You Don't Know\" - 5:47\n \"Best Kept Secret\" - 4:20\n \"Assembly Lines\" - 5:35\n \"Annadonia\" - 5:24\n \"Tail End of a Car Crash\" - 0:55\n \"Of What Was\" — 7:31\n \"Silence Calls\" - 6:24\n \"Silence Calls\" - 22:13b\n\na Originally titled \"Wise Investors\" in the self-released version.\nb Added in the Anniedale Records re-release.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOf What Was on Anniedale Records\nOf What Was on CD Baby\n\n2005 debut albums"
]
|
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"Alejandro Jodorowsky",
"Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981-1990)",
"What family issues was he facing",
"Jodorowsky divorced his wife.",
"what year was this",
"1982"
]
| C_beba32b7d5a84d95bf24ade3480043d3_1 | What year did he begin working again | 3 | What year did Jodorowsky begin working again | Alejandro Jodorowsky | In 1982 Jodorowsky divorced his wife. In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's "The Hands of Orlac". It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors. He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Dominguez D., wrote the screenplay). That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to live in France. In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where once again he met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again. CANNOTANSWER | 1989, | Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French filmmaker and artist. Since 1948, he has worked as a novelist, screenwriter, a poet, a playwright, an essayist, a film and theater director and producer, an actor, a film editor, a comics writer, a musician and composer, a philosopher, a puppeteer, a mime, a lay psychologist, a draughtsman, a painter, a sculptor, and a spiritual guru.
Best known for his avant-garde films El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973), Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his work which "is filled with violently surreal images and a hybrid blend of mysticism and religious provocation".
Overview
Born to Jewish-Galician parents (Chodorowski) in Tocopilla, Chile, Jodorowsky experienced an unhappy and alienated childhood, and so immersed himself in reading and writing poetry. Dropping out of college, he became involved in theater and in particular mime, working as a clown before founding his own theater troupe, the Teatro Mimico, in 1947. Moving to Paris in the early 1950s, Jodorowsky studied traditional mime under Étienne Decroux, and put his miming skills to use in the silent film Les têtes interverties (1957), directed with Saul Gilbert and Ruth Michelly. From 1960 he divided his time between Paris and Mexico City, in the former becoming a founding member of the anarchistic avant-garde Panic Movement of performance artists. In 1966 he created his first comic strip, Anibal 5, while in 1967 he directed his first feature film, the surrealist Fando y Lis, which caused a huge scandal in Mexico, eventually being banned.
His next film, the acid western El Topo (1970), became a hit on the midnight movie circuit in the United States, considered as the first-ever midnight cult film, and garnered high praise from John Lennon, who convinced former Beatles manager Allen Klein to provide Jodorowsky with $1 million to finance his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain (1973), a surrealist exploration of western esotericism. Disagreements with Klein, however, led to both The Holy Mountain and El Topo failing to gain widespread distribution, although both became classics on the underground film circuit.
After a cancelled attempt at filming Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune, Jodorowsky produced five more films: the family film Tusk (1980); the surrealist horror Santa Sangre (1989); the failed blockbuster The Rainbow Thief (1990); and the first two films in a planned five-film autobiographical series The Dance of Reality (2013) and Endless Poetry (2016). During the same period, he wrote a series of science fiction comic books, most notably The Incal (1980–1989), which has been described as having a claim to be "the best comic book" ever written, and also The Technopriests and Metabarons. He has also written books and regularly lectures on his own spiritual system, which he calls "psychomagic" and "psychoshamanism" and which borrows from his interests in alchemy, the tarot, Zen Buddhism and shamanism. His son Cristóbal has followed his teachings on psychoshamanism; this work is captured in the feature documentary Quantum Men, directed by Carlos Serrano Azcona.
Early life and education
Jodorowsky was born in 1929 in the coastal town of Tocopilla, Chile, to parents who were Jewish immigrants from Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro), Elisavetgrad (now Kropyvnytskyi) and other cities of the Russian Empire (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russian Partition, now Ukraine). His father, Jaime Jodorowsky Groismann (Jakub Chodorowski), was a merchant, who was largely abusive to his wife Sara Felicidad Prullansky Arcavi, and at one time accused her of flirting with a customer. Angered, he subsequently beat and raped her, getting her pregnant, which led to the birth of Alejandro. Because of this brutal conception, Sara both hated her husband and disliked her son, telling him that "I cannot love you" and rarely showing him tenderness. Alejandro also had an elder sister, Raquel Jodorowsky, but disliked her, for he believed that she was selfish, doing "everything to expel me from the family so that she could be the centre of attention." Alongside his dislike for his family, he also held contempt for many of the local people, who viewed him as an outsider because of his status as the son of immigrants, and also for the American mining industrialists who worked locally and treated the Chilean people badly. It was this treatment at the hands of Americans that led to his later condemnation of American imperialism and neo-colonialism in Latin America in several of his films. Nonetheless he liked his local area, and was greatly unhappy when he was forced to leave it at the age of nine years old, something for which he blamed his father. His family subsequently moved to the city of Santiago, Chile.
He immersed himself in reading, and also began writing poetry, having his first poem published when he was sixteen years old, alongside associating with such Chilean poets as Nicanor Parra, Stella Díaz Varín and Enrique Lihn. Becoming interested in the political ideology of anarchism, he began attending college, studying psychology and philosophy, but stayed for only two years. After dropping out, and having an interest in theatre and particularly mime, he took up employment as a clown in a circus and began a career as a theatre director. Meanwhile, in 1947 he founded his own theatrical troupe, the Teatro Mimico, which by 1952 had fifty members, and the following year he wrote his first play, El Minotaura (The Minotaur). Nonetheless, Jodorowsky felt that there was little for him left in Chile, and so that year he moved to Paris.
It was while in Paris that Jodorowsky began studying mime with Étienne Decroux and joined the troupe of one of Decroux's students, Marcel Marceau. It was with Marceau's troupe that he went on a world tour, and wrote several routines for the group, including "The Cage" and "The Mask Maker". After this, he returned to theatre directing, working on the music hall comeback of Maurice Chevalier in Paris. In 1957, Jodorowsky turned his hand to filmmaking, creating Les têtes interverties (The Severed Heads), a 20-minute adaptation of Thomas Mann's novella. It consisted almost entirely of mime, and told the surreal story of a head-swapping merchant who helps a young man find courtship success. Jodorowsky played the lead role. The director Jean Cocteau admired the film, and wrote an introduction for it. It was considered lost until a print of the film was discovered in 2006.
In 1960, Jodorowsky moved to Mexico, where he settled down in Mexico City. Nonetheless, he continued to return occasionally to France, on one occasion visiting the Surrealist artist André Breton, but he was disillusioned in that he felt Breton had become somewhat conservative in his old age. Continuing his interest in surrealism, in 1962 he founded the Panic Movement along with Fernando Arrabal and Roland Topor. The movement aimed to go beyond the conventional surrealist ideas by embracing absurdism. Its members refused to take themselves seriously, while laughing at those critics who did. In 1966 he produced his first comic strip, Anibal 5, which was related to the Panic Movement. The following year he created a new feature film, Fando y Lis, loosely based on a play written by Fernando Arrabal, who was working with Jodorowsky on performance art at the time. Fando y Lis premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, where it instigated a riot amongst those objecting to the film's content, and subsequently it was banned in Mexico.
It was in Mexico City that he encountered Ejo Takata (1928–1997), a Zen Buddhist monk who had studied at the Horyuji and Shofukuji monasteries in Japan before traveling to Mexico via the United States in 1967 to spread Zen. Jodorowsky became a disciple of Takata and offered his own house to be turned into a zendo. Subsequently, Takata attracted other disciples around him, who spent their time in meditation and the study of koans. Eventually, Takata instructed Jodorowsky that he had to learn more about his feminine side, and so he went and befriended the English surrealist Leonora Carrington, who had recently moved to Mexico.
Career
El Topo and The Holy Mountain (1970–1974)
In 1970, Jodorowsky released the film El Topo, which sometimes is known in English as The Mole, which he had both directed and starred in. An acid western, El Topo tells the story of a wandering Mexican bandit and gunslinger, El Topo (played by Jodorowsky), who is on a search for spiritual enlightenment, taking his young son along with him. Along the way, he violently confronts a number of other individuals, before finally being killed and being resurrected to live within a community of deformed people who are trapped inside a mountain cave. Describing the work, he stated that "I ask of film what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs. The difference being that when one creates a psychedelic film, he need not create a film that shows the visions of a person who has taken a pill; rather, he needs to manufacture the pill." Knowing how Fando y Lis had caused such a scandal in Mexico, Jodorowsky decided not to release El Topo there, instead focusing on its release in other countries across the world, including Mexico's northern neighbour, the United States. It was in New York City where the film would play as a "midnight movie" for several months at Ben Barenholtz's Elgin Theater. It attracted the attention of rock musician and countercultural figure John Lennon, who thought very highly of it, and convinced the president of The Beatles' company Apple Corps, Allen Klein, to distribute it in the United States.
Klein agreed to give Jodorowsky $1 million to go toward creating his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain, released in 1973. It has been suggested that The Holy Mountain may have been inspired by René Daumal's Surrealist novel Mount Analogue. The Holy Mountain was another complex, multi-part story that featured a man credited as "The Thief" and equated with Jesus Christ, a mystical alchemist played by Jodorowsky, seven powerful business people representing seven of the planets (Venus and the six planets from Mars to Pluto), a religious training regimen of spiritual rebirth, and a quest to the top of a holy mountain for the secret of immortality. During the completion of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky received spiritual training from Oscar Ichazo of the Arica School, who encouraged him to take LSD and guided him through the subsequent psychedelic experience. Around the same time (2 November 1973), Jodorowsky participated in an isolation tank experiment conducted by John Lilly.
Shortly thereafter, Allen Klein demanded that Jodorowsky create a film adaptation of Pauline Réage's classic novel of female masochism, Story of O. Klein had promised this adaptation to various investors. Jodorowsky, who had discovered feminism during the filming of The Holy Mountain, refused to make the film, going so far as to leave the country to escape directing duties. In retaliation, Allen Klein made El Topo and The Holy Mountain, to which he held the rights, completely unavailable to the public for more than 30 years. Jodorowsky frequently decried Klein's actions in interviews.
Soon after the release of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky gave a talk at the Teatro Julio Castillo, University of Mexico on the subject of koans (despite the fact that he initially had been booked on the condition that his talk would be about cinematography), at which Ejo Takata appeared. After the talk, Takata gave Jodorowsky his kyosaku, believing that his former student had mastered the art of understanding koans.
Dune and Tusk (1975–1980)
In December 1974, a French consortium led by Jean-Paul Gibon purchased the film rights to Frank Herbert's epic 1965 science fiction novel Dune and asked Jodorowsky to direct a film version. Jodorowsky planned to cast the Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, in what would have been his only speaking role as a film actor, in the role of Emperor Shaddam IV. Dalí agreed when Jodorowsky offered to pay him a fee of $100,000 per hour. He also planned to cast Orson Welles as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen; Welles only agreed when Jodorowsky offered to get his favourite gourmet chef to prepare his meals for him throughout the filming. The book's protagonist, Paul Atreides, was to be played by Jodorowsky's son, Brontis Jodorowsky. The music would be composed by Pink Floyd and Magma. Jodorowsky set up a pre-production unit in Paris consisting of Chris Foss, a British artist who designed covers for science fiction publications, Jean Giraud (Moebius), a French illustrator who created and also wrote and drew for Métal Hurlant magazine, and H. R. Giger. Frank Herbert travelled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2 million of the $9.5 million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled). Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship. The production for the film collapsed when no film studio could be found willing to fund the movie to Jodorowsky's terms. The aborted production was chronicled in the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune. Subsequently, the rights for filming were sold to Dino de Laurentiis, who employed the American filmmaker David Lynch to direct, creating the film Dune in 1984. The documentary does not include any original film footage of what was to be Jodorowsky's Dune but does make extraordinary claims as to the influence this unmade film had on other actual science fiction films, such as Star Wars, Alien, Terminator, Flash Gordon, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
After the collapse of the Dune project, Jodorowsky completely changed course and, in 1980, premiered his children's fable Tusk, shot in India. Taken from Reginald Campbell's novel Poo Lorn of the Elephants, the film explores the soul-mate relationship between a young British woman living in India and a highly prized elephant. The film exhibited little of the director's outlandish visual style and was never given wide release.
Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981–1990)
In 1982, Jodorowsky divorced his wife.
In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's The Hands of Orlac. It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors.
He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Domínguez D., wrote the screenplay).
That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to France to live.
In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where he once again met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again.
Attempts to return to filmmaking (1990–2011)
In 2000, Jodorowsky won the Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF). Jodorowsky attended the festival and his films were shown, including El Topo and The Holy Mountain, which at the time had grey legal status. According to festival director Bryan Wendorf, it was an open question of whether CUFF would be allowed to show both films, or whether the police would show up and shut the festival down.
Until 2007, Fando y Lis and Santa Sangre were the only Jodorowsky works available on DVD. Neither El Topo nor The Holy Mountain were available on videocassette or DVD in the United States or the United Kingdom, due to ownership disputes with distributor Allen Klein. After settlement of the dispute in 2004, however, plans to re-release Jodorowsky's films were announced by ABKCO Films. On 19 January 2007, it was announced online that Anchor Bay would release a box set including El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and Fando y Lis on 1 May 2007. A limited edition of the set includes both the El Topo and The Holy Mountain soundtracks. And, in early February 2007, Tartan Video announced its 14 May 2007, release date for the UK PAL DVD editions of El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and the six-disc box set which, alongside the aforementioned feature films, includes the two soundtrack CDs, as well as separate DVD editions of Jodorowsky's 1968 debut feature Fando y Lis (with his 1957 short La cravate a.k.a. Les têtes interverties, included as an extra) and the 1994 feature-length documentary La constellation Jodorowsky. Notably, Fando y Lis and La cravate were digitally restored extensively and remastered in London during late 2006, thus providing a suitable complement to the quality restoration work undertaken on El Topo and The Holy Mountain in the States by ABKCO, and ensuring that the presentation of Fando y Lis is a significant improvement over the 2001 Fantoma DVD edition. Prior to the availability of these legitimate releases, only inferior quality, optically censored, bootleg copies of both El Topo and The Holy Mountain have been circulated on the Internet and on DVD.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Jodorowsky attempted to make a sequel to El Topo, called at different times The Sons of El Topo and Abel Cain, but did not find investors for the project.
In an interview with Premiere Magazine, Jodorowsky said he intended his next project to be a gangster film called King Shot. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper in November 2009, however, Jodorowsky revealed that he was unable to find the funds to make King Shot, and instead would be entering preparations on Sons of El Topo, for which he claimed to have signed a contract with "some Russian producers".
In 2010, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City staged the first American cinema retrospective of Alejandro Jodorowsky entitled Blood into Gold: The Cinematic Alchemy of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky would attend the retrospective and hold a master class on art as a way of transformation. This retrospective would inspire the museum MoMA PS1 to present the exhibition Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Holy Mountain in 2011.
The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry (2011–present)
In August 2011, Alejandro arrived in a town in Chile where he grew up, also the setting of his autobiography The Dance of Reality, to promote an autobiographical film based upon his book.
On 31 October 2011, Halloween night, the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) honored Jodorowsky by showing The Holy Mountain. He attended and spoke about his work and life. The next evening, he presented El Topo at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center.
Alejandro has stated that after finishing The Dance of Reality he was preparing to shoot his long-gestating El Topo sequel, Abel Cain. By January 2013, Alejandro finished filming on The Dance of Reality and entered into post-production. Alejandro's son and co-star in the film, Brontis, claimed the film was to be finished by March 2013, and that the film was "very different than the other films he made". On 23 April, it was announced that the film would have its world premiere at the Film Festival in Cannes. coinciding with The Dance of Reality premiered alongside the documentary film Jodorowsky's Dune, which premiered in May 2013 at the Cannes Film Festival, creating a "Jodorowsky double bill".
In 2015, Jodorowsky began a new film entitled Endless Poetry, the sequel to his last "auto-biopic", The Dance of Reality. His Paris-based production company, Satori Films, launched two successful crowdfunding campaigns to finance the film. The Indiegogo campaign has been left open indefinitely, receiving donations from fans and movie-goers in support of the independent production. The film was shot between June and August 2015, in the streets of Matucana in Santiago, Chile, where Jodorowsky lived for a period in his life. The film portrays his young adulthood in Santiago, years during which he became a core member of the Chilean poetic avant-garde alongside artists such as Hugo Marín, Gustavo Becerra, Enrique Lihn, Stella Díaz Varín, Nicanor Parra and others. Jodorowsky's son, Adan Jodorowsky, plays him as an adult and Brontis Jodorowsky, plays as his father Jaime. Jeremias Herskovitz, from The Dance of Reality, portrays Jodorowsky as a teenager. Pamela Flores plays Sara (his mother) and Stella Díaz Varín (poetess and young Jodorowsky's girlfriend). Leandro Taub portrays Jodorowsky's best friend, the poet and novelist Enrique Lihn. The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival on 14 May 2016. Variety's review was overwhelmingly positive, calling it "...the most accessible movie he has ever made, and it may also be the best."
During an interview at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, Jodorowsky announced his plans to finally make The Son of El Topo as soon as financial backing is obtained.
Other work
Jodorowsky is a weekly contributor of "good news" to the nightly "author news report" of his friend, Fernando Sánchez Dragó in Telemadrid.
He also released a 12" vinyl with the Original Soundtrack of Zarathustra (Discos Tizoc, Mexico, 1970).
He has cited the filmmaker Federico Fellini as his primary cinematic influence; other artistic influences included George Gurdjieff, Antonin Artaud, and Luis Buñuel. He has been described as an influence on such figures as Marilyn Manson, David Lynch, Nicolas Winding Refn, Jan Kounen, Dennis Hopper, and Kanye West.
Comics
Jodorowsky started his comic career in Mexico with the creation of Anibal 5 series in mid-1966 with illustrations by Manuel Moro. He also drew his own comic strip in the weekly series Fabulas pánicas that appeared in the Mexican newspaper, El Heraldo de México. He also wrote original stories for at least two or three other comic books in Mexico during those days: Los insoportables Borbolla was one of them. After his fourth film, Tusk, he started The Incal, with Jean Giraud (Mœbius). This graphic novel has its roots deep in the tarot and its symbols, e.g., the protagonist of The Incal, John Difool, is linked to the Fool card. The Incal (which would branch off into a prequel and sequel) forms the first in a sequence of several science fiction comic book series, all set in the same space opera Jodoverse (or "Metabarons Universe") published by Humanoids Publishing.
Comic books set in this milieu are Incal (trilogy: Before the Incal/ Incal/ Final Incal), Metabarons (trilogy: Castaka/ The Caste of the Metabarons/ Weapons of the Metabaron), and The Technopriests and also an RPG adaptation, The Metabarons Roleplaying Game. Many ideas and concepts derived from Jodorowsky's planned adaptation of Dune (which he would have been loosely based upon Frank Herbert's original novel) are featured in this universe.
Mœbius and Jodorowsky sued Luc Besson, director of The Fifth Element, claiming that the 1997 film borrowed graphic and story elements from The Incal, but they lost their case. The suit was plagued by ambiguity since Mœbius had willingly participated in the creation of the film, having been hired by Besson as a contributing artist, but had done so without gaining the approval of Incal co-creator Jodorowsky, whose services Besson did not call upon. For more than a decade, Jodorowsky pressured his publisher Les Humanoïdes Associés to sue Luc Besson for plagiarism, but the publisher refused, fearing the inevitability of the final outcome. In a 2002 interview with the Danish comic book magazine Strip!, Jodorowsky stated that he considered it an honour that somebody stole his ideas.
Other comics by Jodorowsky include the Western Bouncer illustrated by Francois Boucq, Juan Solo (Son of the Gun), and Le Lama blanc (The White Lama), the latter were illustrated by Georges Bess.
Le Cœur couronné (The Crowned Heart, translated into English as The Madwoman of the Sacred Heart), a racy satire on religion set in contemporary times, won Jodorowsky and his collaborator, Jean Giraud, the 2001 Haxtur Award for Best Long Strip. He is currently working on a new graphic novel for the U.S. market.
Jodorowsky's comic book work also appears in Taboo volume 4 (ed. Stephen R. Bissette), which features an interview with the director, designs for his version of Frank Herbert's Dune, comic storyboards for El Topo, and a collaboration with Moebius with the illustrated Eyes of the Cat.
Jodorowsky collaborated with Milo Manara in Borgia (2006), a graphic novel about the history of the House of Borgia.
Psychomagic
Jodorowsky spent almost a decade reconstructing the original form of the Tarot de Marseille. From this work he moved into more therapeutic work in three areas: psychomagic, psychogenealogy and initiatic massage. Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which practitioners of the therapy believe are passed down from generation to generation. Psychogenealogy includes the studying of the patient's personality and family tree in order to best address their specific sources. It is similar, in its phenomenological approach to genealogy, to the Constellations pioneered by Bert Hellinger.
Jodorowsky has several books on his therapeutic methods, including Psicomagia: La trampa sagrada (Psychomagic: The Sacred Trap) and his autobiography, La danza de la realidad (The Dance of Reality), which he was filming as a feature-length film in March 2012. To date he has published more than 23 novels and philosophical treatises, along with dozens of articles and interviews. His books are widely read in Spanish and French, but are for the most part unknown to English-speaking audiences.
For a quarter of a century, Jodorowsky held classes and lectures for free, in cafés and universities all over the city of Paris. Typically, such courses or talks would begin on Wednesday evenings as tarot divination lessons, and would culminate in an hour long conference, also free, where at times hundreds of attendees would be treated to live demonstrations of a psychological "arbre généalogique" ("tree of genealogy") involving volunteers from the audience. In these conferences, Jodorowsky would pave the way to building a strong base of students of his philosophy, which deals with understanding the unconscious as the "over-self", composed of many generations of family relatives, living or deceased, acting on the psyche, well into adult lives, and causing compulsions. Of all his work, Jodorowsky considers these activities to be the most important of his life. Though such activities only take place in the insular world of Parisian cafés, he has devoted thousands of hours of his life to teaching and helping people "become more conscious," as he puts it.
Since 2011 these talks have dwindled to once a month and take place at the Librairie Les Cent Ciels in Paris.
His film Psychomagic, a Healing Art premiered in Lyon on 3 September 2019. It was then released on streaming services on 1 August 2020.
Personal life
Jodorowsky's first wife was the actress Valérie Tremblay. He is currently married to the artist and costume designer Pascale Montandon.
He has five children: Brontis Jodorowsky, an actor who worked with his father in El Topo, The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry; Teo, who played in Santa Sangre; Cristóbal, a psychoshaman and an actor (interpreter in Santa Sangre and the main character in the shamanic documentary Quantum Men); Eugenia Jodorowsky; and the youngest, Adan Jodorowsky, a musician known by his stage name of Adanowsky. The fashion model Alma Jodorowsky is the granddaughter of Alejandro.
On his religious views, Jodorowsky has called himself an "atheist mystic".
He does not drink or smoke, and has stated that he does not eat red meat or poultry because he "does not like corpses", basing his diet on vegetables, fruits, grains and occasionally marine products.
In 2005, Jodorowsky officiated at the wedding of Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese.
Fans included musicians Peter Gabriel, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore (of the pop-duo Empire of the Sun). Wes Borland, guitarist of Limp Bizkit, said that the film Holy Mountain was a big influence on him, especially as a visual artist, and that the concept album Lotus Island of his band Black Light Burns was a tribute to it.
Jodorowsky was interviewed by Daniel Pinchbeck for the Franco-German television show Durch die Nacht mit … on the TV station Arte, in a very personal discussion, spending a night together in France, continuing the interview in different locations such as a park and a hotel.
Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in the ending titles of his 2011 film Drive, and dedicated his 2013 Thai crime thriller, Only God Forgives, to Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky also appeared in the documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, directed by Refn's wife Liv, giving the couple a tarot reading.
Argentinean actor Leandro Taub thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in his book La Mente Oculta, for which Jodorowsky wrote the prologue.
Criticism and controversy
When Jodorowsky's first feature film, Fando y Lis, premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, the screening was controversial and erupted into a riot, due to its graphic content. Jodorowsky had to leave the theatre by sneaking outside to a waiting limousine, and when the crowd outside the theatre recognized him, the car was pelted with rocks. The following week, the film opened to sell-out crowds in Mexico City, but more fights broke out, and the film was banned by the Mexican government. Jodorowsky himself was nearly deported and the controversy provided a great deal of fodder for the Mexican newspapers.
In regard to the making of El Topo, Jodorowsky allegedly stated in the early 1970s:
In the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune, Jodorowsky states:
As a result of these alleged statements, Jodorowsky has been criticised. Matt Brown of Screen Anarchy wrote that "it's easier to wall off a certain type of criminality behind the buffer of time—sure, Alejandro Jodorowsky is on the record in his book on the making of the film as having raped Mara Lorenzio while making El Topo—though he later denied it—but nowadays he's just that hilarious old kook from Jodorowsky's Dune!" Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com called Jodorowsky "an artist who condones rape as a means to an end for the purpose of creating art. A man who seems to believe that rape is something that women 'need' if they can't accept male sexual power on their own". Jude Doyle of Elle wrote that Jodorowsky "has been teasing the idea of an unsimulated rape scene in his cult classic film El Topo for decades ... though he's elsewhere described the unsimulated sex in that scene as consensual", and went on to state that the quote "has not endangered his status as an avant-garde icon".
On 26 June 2017, Jodorowsky released a statement on his Facebook account in response to the question: "Did you rape an actress during the filming of El Topo?" The following excerpts are from said statement:
Filmography
As director
As actor
Bibliography
Selected bibliography of comics, novels and non-fiction writings:
Graphic novels and comics
Anibal 5 {Original Mexican edition with Manuel Moro} (1966)
Los Insoportables Borbolla (with Manuel Moro) (1966)
The Panic Fables (; 1967–1970), comic strip published in El Heraldo de México.
The Eyes of the Cat (1978)
The Jealous God (1984)
The Magical Twins (1987)
Anibal 5 {French edition with Mœbius} (1990)
Diosamente (1992)
Moonface (1992)
Angel Claws (1994)
Son of the Gun (1995)
Madwoman of the Sacred Heart (1998)
The Shadow's Treasure (1999)
Bouncer (2001)
The White Lama (2004)
Borgia (2004)
Screaming Planet (2006)
Royal Blood (2010)
Showman Killer (2010)
Pietrolino (2013)
The Son of El Topo (2016- ongoing)
Knights of Heliopolis (2017)
Metabarons Universe
Beginning with The Incal in 1981, Jodorowsky has co-written and produced a series of linked comics series and graphic novels () for the French-language market known colloquially as the Jodoverse. The series was initially developed with Jean Giraud using concepts and designs created for Jodorowky's unfinished Dune project. Many of the comics and novels have been translated into Spanish, English, and German under Jodorowsky supervision.
The Incal (1981–1988)
Before the Incal (1988–1995)
The Metabarons (1992–2003)
The Technopriests (1998–2006)
Megalex (1999–2007)
After the Incal (2000), incomplete series.
Metabarons Genesis: Castaka (2007–2013)
Weapons of the Metabaron (2008)
Final Incal (2008–2014), revised version of the After the Incal series with new art and text.
The Metabaron (2015–2018)
Simak (2019)
Fiction
Jodorowsky's Spanish-language novels translated into English include:
Where the Bird Sings Best (1992)
Albina and the Dog Men (1999)
The Son of Black Thursday (1999)
Non-fiction
Psychomagic (1995)
The Dance of Reality (2001)
The Way of Tarot (2004), with Marianne Costa
The Manual of Psychomagic (2009)
Metageneaology (2012), with Marianne Costa
pascALEjandro: Alchemical Androgynous (2017), with Pascale Montandon
Autobiography
The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky (2005)
The Dance of Reality: A Psychomagical Autobiography (2014)
Sacred Trickery and the Way of Kindness: The Radical Wisdom of Jodo (2016)
The Finger and the Moon: Zen Teachings and Koans (2016)
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading
Cobb, Ben (2007). Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Persistence of Vision 6), ed. Louise Brealey, pref. Alan Jones, int. Stephen Barber. London, April 2007 / New York, August 2007, Creation Books.
Coillard, Jean-Paul (2009), De la cage au grand écran. Entretiens avec Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paris. K-Inite Editions.
Chignoli, Andrea (2009), Zoom back, Camera! El cine de Alejandro Jodorowsky, Santiago de Chile, Uqbar Editores.
Dominguez Aragones, Edmundo (1980). Tres extraordinarios: Luis Spota, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Emilio "Indio" Fernández; Mexicali, Mexico DF, Juan Pablos Editor. P. 109–146.
Gonzalez, Házael (2011), Alejandro Jodorowsky: Danzando con la realidad, Palma de Mallorca, Dolmen Editorial.
Larouche, Michel (1985). Alexandre Jodorowsky, cinéaste panique, París, ça cinéma, Albatros.
Moldes, Diego, (2012). Alejandro Jodorowsky, Madrid, Col. Signo e Imagen / Cineastas, Ediciones Cátedra. Prologue by Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Monteleone, Massimo (1993). La Talpa e la Fenice. Il cinema di Alejandro Jodorowsky, Bologna, Granata Press.
External links
Jodorowsky publications in Métal Hurlant. BDoubliées
Jodorowsky albums. Bedetheque
Jodorowsky publications in English. Europeancomics.net
1929 births
Living people
20th-century alchemists
20th-century atheists
21st-century alchemists
21st-century atheists
Chilean comics writers
Chilean emigrants to France
Chilean expatriates in Mexico
Chilean film directors
Chilean experimental filmmakers
Esotericists
French-language film directors
French comics writers
French film directors
Chilean mimes
Chilean surrealist artists
Chilean surrealist writers
French surrealist artists
French surrealist writers
Surrealist filmmakers
Horror film directors
Anarchist writers
Chilean speculative fiction writers
Chilean autobiographers
Chilean Jews
Chilean people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Jewish anarchists
Jewish atheists
Jewish feminists
Jewish mimes
Mystics
Naturalized citizens of France
Chilean occultists
People from Tocopilla
Chilean performance artists
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychotherapists
Tarot readers
Polish Ashkenazi Jews | true | [
"Begin Again may refer to:\n\nFilm and TV\nBegin Again (film), a 2013 film starring Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo\nBegin Again (TV series), a South Korean reality show\n\nMusic\n\nAlbums\nBegin Again (Nutshell album), 1978\nBegin Again (Kloq album), 2013\nBegin Again (Norah Jones album), 2019\n\nSongs\n\n\"Begin Again\" (Space song), 1998\n\"Begin Again\" (Taylor Swift song), 2012\n\"Begin Again\", a song by Purity Ring on their 2015 album Another Eternity\n\"Begin Again\", an original song created by Justin Bell and Chris Avellone for the Fallout: New Vegas Downloadable Content Pack 'Dead Money'.\n\"Begin Again\", a song by Colbie Caillat",
"\"Reboot\" is the 44th Japanese single by South Korean pop duo Tohoshinki, released by Avex Trax on December 20, 2017. It was made available in three physical versions – a CD+DVD version, a CD only version, and a fan club edition exclusively for Tohoshinki's Japanese fan club, Bigeast. The B-side is a re-recording of their 2006 single \"Begin.\"\n\n\"Reboot\" was written by Obi Mhondera, Christopher Wortley, DWB, and Hide Nakamura, with lyrics by H.U.B. Production was led by DWB. Tohoshinki premiered a performance of the song at the Sapporo Dome, the first leg of their Begin Again Tour on November 11, 2017. Its accompanying music video was released YouTube on November 24, 2017.\n\nThe single was a commercial success in Japan, certifying gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. It debuted at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart and peaked at number three on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.\n\nBackground and release\n\"Reboot\" was recorded on August 21, 2017, immediately after a Tokyo press conference attended by Tohoshinki to announce their comeback in music. The press conference was held three days after Changmin's discharge from the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, in which he served nearly two years as an MP. \"Reboot\" was written by Obi Mhondera, Christopher Wortley, DWB, and Hide Nakamura, with lyrics by H.U.B., who has writing credits in all of Tohoshinki's albums since Time (2013). Production was led by DWB.\n\nThe announcement of \"Reboot\" was first shared to Japanese media on October 9, 2017. Promoted as Tohoshinki's \"restart\" song, \"Reboot\" was also introduced as the theme song to the Japanese television drama School Counselor. Snippets of the song was teased at the drama's press conference on October 12. School Counselor premiered on October 18. Avex Trax officially announced \"Reboot\" as Tohoshinki's 44th CD single on November 2. The B-side \"Begin ~Again Version~\" — a re-recording of Tohoshinki's 2006 single \"Begin,\" was announced on November 12.\n\nTohoshinki debuted their performance of \"Reboot\" at the Sapporo Dome, the first leg of their Begin Again Tour on November 11. Jacket photos for the CD single was unveiled to the media on November 24, followed by the release of an accompanying music video for \"Reboot,\" directed by Daisuke Ninomiya, the following day. A music video for \"Begin ~Again Version~\" directed by Hideaki Sunaga was teased on Japanese morning programs such as ZIP, MezamachiTV, and Sukkiri. The CD single was officially released on December 21, 2017.\n\nCommercial performance\nDue to high social media exposure, the song debuted at number 23 on the CDTV Original Ranking chart and number 18 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, three days ahead of its official release. The song peaked at number three on its third Billboard week, and \"Begin ~Again Version~\" peaked at number 22. According to the Oricon, \"Reboot\" debuted at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart, selling 123,659 physical copies in its first week. It debuted and peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Japan Top Download Songs chart, with \"Begin ~Again Version~\" debuting at number 33). \"Reboot\" sold 152,538 copies by the end of 2018, entering the top 50 of 2018's best-selling singles.\n\nLive performances\nTohoshinki performed both \"Reboot\" and \"Begin ~Again Version~\" at their nationwide Begin Again Tour, which lasted from November 2017 to June 2018. They debuted their first television performance of \"Reboot\" on December 6, 2017 for the 2017 FNS Music Festival. The group trended on Twitter Japan for a full day following their performance. Tohoshinki were the second most-tweeted artists after Arashi from the same festival.\n\nTheir second television performance of \"Reboot\" was broadcast on CDTV's Special! New Year’s Eve Premier Live on December 31, 2017. The performance was pre-recorded on December 29.\n\nFormats and track listings\n\nDigital download single\n\"Reboot\" – 4:48\n\"Begin ~Again Version~\" – 6:12\n\nCD+DVD single AVCK-79416/B (Limited), AVCK-79417/B\nDisc 1 (CD)\n\"Reboot\"\n\"Begin ~Again Version~\"\n\"Reboot -Long Version-\"\n\"Reboot -Less Vocal-\"\n\"Begin ~Again Version~ -Less Vocal-\"\nDisc 2 (DVD)\n\"Reboot\" (Video Clip)\n\"Begin ~Again Version~\" (Video Clip)\n\"Reboot\" (Video Clip Off Shot Movie) (Limited edition only)\n\"Begin ~Again Version~\" (Video Clip Off Shot Movie) (Limited edition only)\n\nCD single AVCK-79418/B\n\"Reboot\"\n\"Begin ~Again Version~\"\n\"Reboot -Long Version-\"\n\"Reboot -Less Vocal-\"\n\"Begin ~Again Version~ -Less Vocal-\"\nCD+VR single (Bigeast limited edition) AVC1-79419\n\"Reboot\"\n\"Begin ~Again Version~\"\n\"Reboot -Long Version-\"\n\"Reboot -Less Vocal-\"\n\"Begin ~Again Version~ -Less Vocal-\"\nVR contents: \"Begin ~Again Version~\" (VR Video Clip)\n\nCharts\n\nSales\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nTohoshinki Official Website\n\nTVXQ songs\n2017 singles\nJapanese-language songs\n2017 songs\nAvex Trax singles"
]
|
[
"Alejandro Jodorowsky",
"Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981-1990)",
"What family issues was he facing",
"Jodorowsky divorced his wife.",
"what year was this",
"1982",
"What year did he begin working again",
"1989,"
]
| C_beba32b7d5a84d95bf24ade3480043d3_1 | What film was this | 4 | What film did Jodorowsky start working on | Alejandro Jodorowsky | In 1982 Jodorowsky divorced his wife. In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's "The Hands of Orlac". It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors. He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Dominguez D., wrote the screenplay). That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to live in France. In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where once again he met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again. CANNOTANSWER | Santa Sangre (Holy Blood | Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French filmmaker and artist. Since 1948, he has worked as a novelist, screenwriter, a poet, a playwright, an essayist, a film and theater director and producer, an actor, a film editor, a comics writer, a musician and composer, a philosopher, a puppeteer, a mime, a lay psychologist, a draughtsman, a painter, a sculptor, and a spiritual guru.
Best known for his avant-garde films El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973), Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his work which "is filled with violently surreal images and a hybrid blend of mysticism and religious provocation".
Overview
Born to Jewish-Galician parents (Chodorowski) in Tocopilla, Chile, Jodorowsky experienced an unhappy and alienated childhood, and so immersed himself in reading and writing poetry. Dropping out of college, he became involved in theater and in particular mime, working as a clown before founding his own theater troupe, the Teatro Mimico, in 1947. Moving to Paris in the early 1950s, Jodorowsky studied traditional mime under Étienne Decroux, and put his miming skills to use in the silent film Les têtes interverties (1957), directed with Saul Gilbert and Ruth Michelly. From 1960 he divided his time between Paris and Mexico City, in the former becoming a founding member of the anarchistic avant-garde Panic Movement of performance artists. In 1966 he created his first comic strip, Anibal 5, while in 1967 he directed his first feature film, the surrealist Fando y Lis, which caused a huge scandal in Mexico, eventually being banned.
His next film, the acid western El Topo (1970), became a hit on the midnight movie circuit in the United States, considered as the first-ever midnight cult film, and garnered high praise from John Lennon, who convinced former Beatles manager Allen Klein to provide Jodorowsky with $1 million to finance his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain (1973), a surrealist exploration of western esotericism. Disagreements with Klein, however, led to both The Holy Mountain and El Topo failing to gain widespread distribution, although both became classics on the underground film circuit.
After a cancelled attempt at filming Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune, Jodorowsky produced five more films: the family film Tusk (1980); the surrealist horror Santa Sangre (1989); the failed blockbuster The Rainbow Thief (1990); and the first two films in a planned five-film autobiographical series The Dance of Reality (2013) and Endless Poetry (2016). During the same period, he wrote a series of science fiction comic books, most notably The Incal (1980–1989), which has been described as having a claim to be "the best comic book" ever written, and also The Technopriests and Metabarons. He has also written books and regularly lectures on his own spiritual system, which he calls "psychomagic" and "psychoshamanism" and which borrows from his interests in alchemy, the tarot, Zen Buddhism and shamanism. His son Cristóbal has followed his teachings on psychoshamanism; this work is captured in the feature documentary Quantum Men, directed by Carlos Serrano Azcona.
Early life and education
Jodorowsky was born in 1929 in the coastal town of Tocopilla, Chile, to parents who were Jewish immigrants from Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro), Elisavetgrad (now Kropyvnytskyi) and other cities of the Russian Empire (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russian Partition, now Ukraine). His father, Jaime Jodorowsky Groismann (Jakub Chodorowski), was a merchant, who was largely abusive to his wife Sara Felicidad Prullansky Arcavi, and at one time accused her of flirting with a customer. Angered, he subsequently beat and raped her, getting her pregnant, which led to the birth of Alejandro. Because of this brutal conception, Sara both hated her husband and disliked her son, telling him that "I cannot love you" and rarely showing him tenderness. Alejandro also had an elder sister, Raquel Jodorowsky, but disliked her, for he believed that she was selfish, doing "everything to expel me from the family so that she could be the centre of attention." Alongside his dislike for his family, he also held contempt for many of the local people, who viewed him as an outsider because of his status as the son of immigrants, and also for the American mining industrialists who worked locally and treated the Chilean people badly. It was this treatment at the hands of Americans that led to his later condemnation of American imperialism and neo-colonialism in Latin America in several of his films. Nonetheless he liked his local area, and was greatly unhappy when he was forced to leave it at the age of nine years old, something for which he blamed his father. His family subsequently moved to the city of Santiago, Chile.
He immersed himself in reading, and also began writing poetry, having his first poem published when he was sixteen years old, alongside associating with such Chilean poets as Nicanor Parra, Stella Díaz Varín and Enrique Lihn. Becoming interested in the political ideology of anarchism, he began attending college, studying psychology and philosophy, but stayed for only two years. After dropping out, and having an interest in theatre and particularly mime, he took up employment as a clown in a circus and began a career as a theatre director. Meanwhile, in 1947 he founded his own theatrical troupe, the Teatro Mimico, which by 1952 had fifty members, and the following year he wrote his first play, El Minotaura (The Minotaur). Nonetheless, Jodorowsky felt that there was little for him left in Chile, and so that year he moved to Paris.
It was while in Paris that Jodorowsky began studying mime with Étienne Decroux and joined the troupe of one of Decroux's students, Marcel Marceau. It was with Marceau's troupe that he went on a world tour, and wrote several routines for the group, including "The Cage" and "The Mask Maker". After this, he returned to theatre directing, working on the music hall comeback of Maurice Chevalier in Paris. In 1957, Jodorowsky turned his hand to filmmaking, creating Les têtes interverties (The Severed Heads), a 20-minute adaptation of Thomas Mann's novella. It consisted almost entirely of mime, and told the surreal story of a head-swapping merchant who helps a young man find courtship success. Jodorowsky played the lead role. The director Jean Cocteau admired the film, and wrote an introduction for it. It was considered lost until a print of the film was discovered in 2006.
In 1960, Jodorowsky moved to Mexico, where he settled down in Mexico City. Nonetheless, he continued to return occasionally to France, on one occasion visiting the Surrealist artist André Breton, but he was disillusioned in that he felt Breton had become somewhat conservative in his old age. Continuing his interest in surrealism, in 1962 he founded the Panic Movement along with Fernando Arrabal and Roland Topor. The movement aimed to go beyond the conventional surrealist ideas by embracing absurdism. Its members refused to take themselves seriously, while laughing at those critics who did. In 1966 he produced his first comic strip, Anibal 5, which was related to the Panic Movement. The following year he created a new feature film, Fando y Lis, loosely based on a play written by Fernando Arrabal, who was working with Jodorowsky on performance art at the time. Fando y Lis premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, where it instigated a riot amongst those objecting to the film's content, and subsequently it was banned in Mexico.
It was in Mexico City that he encountered Ejo Takata (1928–1997), a Zen Buddhist monk who had studied at the Horyuji and Shofukuji monasteries in Japan before traveling to Mexico via the United States in 1967 to spread Zen. Jodorowsky became a disciple of Takata and offered his own house to be turned into a zendo. Subsequently, Takata attracted other disciples around him, who spent their time in meditation and the study of koans. Eventually, Takata instructed Jodorowsky that he had to learn more about his feminine side, and so he went and befriended the English surrealist Leonora Carrington, who had recently moved to Mexico.
Career
El Topo and The Holy Mountain (1970–1974)
In 1970, Jodorowsky released the film El Topo, which sometimes is known in English as The Mole, which he had both directed and starred in. An acid western, El Topo tells the story of a wandering Mexican bandit and gunslinger, El Topo (played by Jodorowsky), who is on a search for spiritual enlightenment, taking his young son along with him. Along the way, he violently confronts a number of other individuals, before finally being killed and being resurrected to live within a community of deformed people who are trapped inside a mountain cave. Describing the work, he stated that "I ask of film what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs. The difference being that when one creates a psychedelic film, he need not create a film that shows the visions of a person who has taken a pill; rather, he needs to manufacture the pill." Knowing how Fando y Lis had caused such a scandal in Mexico, Jodorowsky decided not to release El Topo there, instead focusing on its release in other countries across the world, including Mexico's northern neighbour, the United States. It was in New York City where the film would play as a "midnight movie" for several months at Ben Barenholtz's Elgin Theater. It attracted the attention of rock musician and countercultural figure John Lennon, who thought very highly of it, and convinced the president of The Beatles' company Apple Corps, Allen Klein, to distribute it in the United States.
Klein agreed to give Jodorowsky $1 million to go toward creating his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain, released in 1973. It has been suggested that The Holy Mountain may have been inspired by René Daumal's Surrealist novel Mount Analogue. The Holy Mountain was another complex, multi-part story that featured a man credited as "The Thief" and equated with Jesus Christ, a mystical alchemist played by Jodorowsky, seven powerful business people representing seven of the planets (Venus and the six planets from Mars to Pluto), a religious training regimen of spiritual rebirth, and a quest to the top of a holy mountain for the secret of immortality. During the completion of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky received spiritual training from Oscar Ichazo of the Arica School, who encouraged him to take LSD and guided him through the subsequent psychedelic experience. Around the same time (2 November 1973), Jodorowsky participated in an isolation tank experiment conducted by John Lilly.
Shortly thereafter, Allen Klein demanded that Jodorowsky create a film adaptation of Pauline Réage's classic novel of female masochism, Story of O. Klein had promised this adaptation to various investors. Jodorowsky, who had discovered feminism during the filming of The Holy Mountain, refused to make the film, going so far as to leave the country to escape directing duties. In retaliation, Allen Klein made El Topo and The Holy Mountain, to which he held the rights, completely unavailable to the public for more than 30 years. Jodorowsky frequently decried Klein's actions in interviews.
Soon after the release of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky gave a talk at the Teatro Julio Castillo, University of Mexico on the subject of koans (despite the fact that he initially had been booked on the condition that his talk would be about cinematography), at which Ejo Takata appeared. After the talk, Takata gave Jodorowsky his kyosaku, believing that his former student had mastered the art of understanding koans.
Dune and Tusk (1975–1980)
In December 1974, a French consortium led by Jean-Paul Gibon purchased the film rights to Frank Herbert's epic 1965 science fiction novel Dune and asked Jodorowsky to direct a film version. Jodorowsky planned to cast the Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, in what would have been his only speaking role as a film actor, in the role of Emperor Shaddam IV. Dalí agreed when Jodorowsky offered to pay him a fee of $100,000 per hour. He also planned to cast Orson Welles as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen; Welles only agreed when Jodorowsky offered to get his favourite gourmet chef to prepare his meals for him throughout the filming. The book's protagonist, Paul Atreides, was to be played by Jodorowsky's son, Brontis Jodorowsky. The music would be composed by Pink Floyd and Magma. Jodorowsky set up a pre-production unit in Paris consisting of Chris Foss, a British artist who designed covers for science fiction publications, Jean Giraud (Moebius), a French illustrator who created and also wrote and drew for Métal Hurlant magazine, and H. R. Giger. Frank Herbert travelled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2 million of the $9.5 million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled). Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship. The production for the film collapsed when no film studio could be found willing to fund the movie to Jodorowsky's terms. The aborted production was chronicled in the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune. Subsequently, the rights for filming were sold to Dino de Laurentiis, who employed the American filmmaker David Lynch to direct, creating the film Dune in 1984. The documentary does not include any original film footage of what was to be Jodorowsky's Dune but does make extraordinary claims as to the influence this unmade film had on other actual science fiction films, such as Star Wars, Alien, Terminator, Flash Gordon, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
After the collapse of the Dune project, Jodorowsky completely changed course and, in 1980, premiered his children's fable Tusk, shot in India. Taken from Reginald Campbell's novel Poo Lorn of the Elephants, the film explores the soul-mate relationship between a young British woman living in India and a highly prized elephant. The film exhibited little of the director's outlandish visual style and was never given wide release.
Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981–1990)
In 1982, Jodorowsky divorced his wife.
In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's The Hands of Orlac. It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors.
He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Domínguez D., wrote the screenplay).
That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to France to live.
In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where he once again met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again.
Attempts to return to filmmaking (1990–2011)
In 2000, Jodorowsky won the Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF). Jodorowsky attended the festival and his films were shown, including El Topo and The Holy Mountain, which at the time had grey legal status. According to festival director Bryan Wendorf, it was an open question of whether CUFF would be allowed to show both films, or whether the police would show up and shut the festival down.
Until 2007, Fando y Lis and Santa Sangre were the only Jodorowsky works available on DVD. Neither El Topo nor The Holy Mountain were available on videocassette or DVD in the United States or the United Kingdom, due to ownership disputes with distributor Allen Klein. After settlement of the dispute in 2004, however, plans to re-release Jodorowsky's films were announced by ABKCO Films. On 19 January 2007, it was announced online that Anchor Bay would release a box set including El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and Fando y Lis on 1 May 2007. A limited edition of the set includes both the El Topo and The Holy Mountain soundtracks. And, in early February 2007, Tartan Video announced its 14 May 2007, release date for the UK PAL DVD editions of El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and the six-disc box set which, alongside the aforementioned feature films, includes the two soundtrack CDs, as well as separate DVD editions of Jodorowsky's 1968 debut feature Fando y Lis (with his 1957 short La cravate a.k.a. Les têtes interverties, included as an extra) and the 1994 feature-length documentary La constellation Jodorowsky. Notably, Fando y Lis and La cravate were digitally restored extensively and remastered in London during late 2006, thus providing a suitable complement to the quality restoration work undertaken on El Topo and The Holy Mountain in the States by ABKCO, and ensuring that the presentation of Fando y Lis is a significant improvement over the 2001 Fantoma DVD edition. Prior to the availability of these legitimate releases, only inferior quality, optically censored, bootleg copies of both El Topo and The Holy Mountain have been circulated on the Internet and on DVD.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Jodorowsky attempted to make a sequel to El Topo, called at different times The Sons of El Topo and Abel Cain, but did not find investors for the project.
In an interview with Premiere Magazine, Jodorowsky said he intended his next project to be a gangster film called King Shot. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper in November 2009, however, Jodorowsky revealed that he was unable to find the funds to make King Shot, and instead would be entering preparations on Sons of El Topo, for which he claimed to have signed a contract with "some Russian producers".
In 2010, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City staged the first American cinema retrospective of Alejandro Jodorowsky entitled Blood into Gold: The Cinematic Alchemy of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky would attend the retrospective and hold a master class on art as a way of transformation. This retrospective would inspire the museum MoMA PS1 to present the exhibition Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Holy Mountain in 2011.
The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry (2011–present)
In August 2011, Alejandro arrived in a town in Chile where he grew up, also the setting of his autobiography The Dance of Reality, to promote an autobiographical film based upon his book.
On 31 October 2011, Halloween night, the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) honored Jodorowsky by showing The Holy Mountain. He attended and spoke about his work and life. The next evening, he presented El Topo at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center.
Alejandro has stated that after finishing The Dance of Reality he was preparing to shoot his long-gestating El Topo sequel, Abel Cain. By January 2013, Alejandro finished filming on The Dance of Reality and entered into post-production. Alejandro's son and co-star in the film, Brontis, claimed the film was to be finished by March 2013, and that the film was "very different than the other films he made". On 23 April, it was announced that the film would have its world premiere at the Film Festival in Cannes. coinciding with The Dance of Reality premiered alongside the documentary film Jodorowsky's Dune, which premiered in May 2013 at the Cannes Film Festival, creating a "Jodorowsky double bill".
In 2015, Jodorowsky began a new film entitled Endless Poetry, the sequel to his last "auto-biopic", The Dance of Reality. His Paris-based production company, Satori Films, launched two successful crowdfunding campaigns to finance the film. The Indiegogo campaign has been left open indefinitely, receiving donations from fans and movie-goers in support of the independent production. The film was shot between June and August 2015, in the streets of Matucana in Santiago, Chile, where Jodorowsky lived for a period in his life. The film portrays his young adulthood in Santiago, years during which he became a core member of the Chilean poetic avant-garde alongside artists such as Hugo Marín, Gustavo Becerra, Enrique Lihn, Stella Díaz Varín, Nicanor Parra and others. Jodorowsky's son, Adan Jodorowsky, plays him as an adult and Brontis Jodorowsky, plays as his father Jaime. Jeremias Herskovitz, from The Dance of Reality, portrays Jodorowsky as a teenager. Pamela Flores plays Sara (his mother) and Stella Díaz Varín (poetess and young Jodorowsky's girlfriend). Leandro Taub portrays Jodorowsky's best friend, the poet and novelist Enrique Lihn. The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival on 14 May 2016. Variety's review was overwhelmingly positive, calling it "...the most accessible movie he has ever made, and it may also be the best."
During an interview at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, Jodorowsky announced his plans to finally make The Son of El Topo as soon as financial backing is obtained.
Other work
Jodorowsky is a weekly contributor of "good news" to the nightly "author news report" of his friend, Fernando Sánchez Dragó in Telemadrid.
He also released a 12" vinyl with the Original Soundtrack of Zarathustra (Discos Tizoc, Mexico, 1970).
He has cited the filmmaker Federico Fellini as his primary cinematic influence; other artistic influences included George Gurdjieff, Antonin Artaud, and Luis Buñuel. He has been described as an influence on such figures as Marilyn Manson, David Lynch, Nicolas Winding Refn, Jan Kounen, Dennis Hopper, and Kanye West.
Comics
Jodorowsky started his comic career in Mexico with the creation of Anibal 5 series in mid-1966 with illustrations by Manuel Moro. He also drew his own comic strip in the weekly series Fabulas pánicas that appeared in the Mexican newspaper, El Heraldo de México. He also wrote original stories for at least two or three other comic books in Mexico during those days: Los insoportables Borbolla was one of them. After his fourth film, Tusk, he started The Incal, with Jean Giraud (Mœbius). This graphic novel has its roots deep in the tarot and its symbols, e.g., the protagonist of The Incal, John Difool, is linked to the Fool card. The Incal (which would branch off into a prequel and sequel) forms the first in a sequence of several science fiction comic book series, all set in the same space opera Jodoverse (or "Metabarons Universe") published by Humanoids Publishing.
Comic books set in this milieu are Incal (trilogy: Before the Incal/ Incal/ Final Incal), Metabarons (trilogy: Castaka/ The Caste of the Metabarons/ Weapons of the Metabaron), and The Technopriests and also an RPG adaptation, The Metabarons Roleplaying Game. Many ideas and concepts derived from Jodorowsky's planned adaptation of Dune (which he would have been loosely based upon Frank Herbert's original novel) are featured in this universe.
Mœbius and Jodorowsky sued Luc Besson, director of The Fifth Element, claiming that the 1997 film borrowed graphic and story elements from The Incal, but they lost their case. The suit was plagued by ambiguity since Mœbius had willingly participated in the creation of the film, having been hired by Besson as a contributing artist, but had done so without gaining the approval of Incal co-creator Jodorowsky, whose services Besson did not call upon. For more than a decade, Jodorowsky pressured his publisher Les Humanoïdes Associés to sue Luc Besson for plagiarism, but the publisher refused, fearing the inevitability of the final outcome. In a 2002 interview with the Danish comic book magazine Strip!, Jodorowsky stated that he considered it an honour that somebody stole his ideas.
Other comics by Jodorowsky include the Western Bouncer illustrated by Francois Boucq, Juan Solo (Son of the Gun), and Le Lama blanc (The White Lama), the latter were illustrated by Georges Bess.
Le Cœur couronné (The Crowned Heart, translated into English as The Madwoman of the Sacred Heart), a racy satire on religion set in contemporary times, won Jodorowsky and his collaborator, Jean Giraud, the 2001 Haxtur Award for Best Long Strip. He is currently working on a new graphic novel for the U.S. market.
Jodorowsky's comic book work also appears in Taboo volume 4 (ed. Stephen R. Bissette), which features an interview with the director, designs for his version of Frank Herbert's Dune, comic storyboards for El Topo, and a collaboration with Moebius with the illustrated Eyes of the Cat.
Jodorowsky collaborated with Milo Manara in Borgia (2006), a graphic novel about the history of the House of Borgia.
Psychomagic
Jodorowsky spent almost a decade reconstructing the original form of the Tarot de Marseille. From this work he moved into more therapeutic work in three areas: psychomagic, psychogenealogy and initiatic massage. Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which practitioners of the therapy believe are passed down from generation to generation. Psychogenealogy includes the studying of the patient's personality and family tree in order to best address their specific sources. It is similar, in its phenomenological approach to genealogy, to the Constellations pioneered by Bert Hellinger.
Jodorowsky has several books on his therapeutic methods, including Psicomagia: La trampa sagrada (Psychomagic: The Sacred Trap) and his autobiography, La danza de la realidad (The Dance of Reality), which he was filming as a feature-length film in March 2012. To date he has published more than 23 novels and philosophical treatises, along with dozens of articles and interviews. His books are widely read in Spanish and French, but are for the most part unknown to English-speaking audiences.
For a quarter of a century, Jodorowsky held classes and lectures for free, in cafés and universities all over the city of Paris. Typically, such courses or talks would begin on Wednesday evenings as tarot divination lessons, and would culminate in an hour long conference, also free, where at times hundreds of attendees would be treated to live demonstrations of a psychological "arbre généalogique" ("tree of genealogy") involving volunteers from the audience. In these conferences, Jodorowsky would pave the way to building a strong base of students of his philosophy, which deals with understanding the unconscious as the "over-self", composed of many generations of family relatives, living or deceased, acting on the psyche, well into adult lives, and causing compulsions. Of all his work, Jodorowsky considers these activities to be the most important of his life. Though such activities only take place in the insular world of Parisian cafés, he has devoted thousands of hours of his life to teaching and helping people "become more conscious," as he puts it.
Since 2011 these talks have dwindled to once a month and take place at the Librairie Les Cent Ciels in Paris.
His film Psychomagic, a Healing Art premiered in Lyon on 3 September 2019. It was then released on streaming services on 1 August 2020.
Personal life
Jodorowsky's first wife was the actress Valérie Tremblay. He is currently married to the artist and costume designer Pascale Montandon.
He has five children: Brontis Jodorowsky, an actor who worked with his father in El Topo, The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry; Teo, who played in Santa Sangre; Cristóbal, a psychoshaman and an actor (interpreter in Santa Sangre and the main character in the shamanic documentary Quantum Men); Eugenia Jodorowsky; and the youngest, Adan Jodorowsky, a musician known by his stage name of Adanowsky. The fashion model Alma Jodorowsky is the granddaughter of Alejandro.
On his religious views, Jodorowsky has called himself an "atheist mystic".
He does not drink or smoke, and has stated that he does not eat red meat or poultry because he "does not like corpses", basing his diet on vegetables, fruits, grains and occasionally marine products.
In 2005, Jodorowsky officiated at the wedding of Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese.
Fans included musicians Peter Gabriel, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore (of the pop-duo Empire of the Sun). Wes Borland, guitarist of Limp Bizkit, said that the film Holy Mountain was a big influence on him, especially as a visual artist, and that the concept album Lotus Island of his band Black Light Burns was a tribute to it.
Jodorowsky was interviewed by Daniel Pinchbeck for the Franco-German television show Durch die Nacht mit … on the TV station Arte, in a very personal discussion, spending a night together in France, continuing the interview in different locations such as a park and a hotel.
Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in the ending titles of his 2011 film Drive, and dedicated his 2013 Thai crime thriller, Only God Forgives, to Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky also appeared in the documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, directed by Refn's wife Liv, giving the couple a tarot reading.
Argentinean actor Leandro Taub thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in his book La Mente Oculta, for which Jodorowsky wrote the prologue.
Criticism and controversy
When Jodorowsky's first feature film, Fando y Lis, premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, the screening was controversial and erupted into a riot, due to its graphic content. Jodorowsky had to leave the theatre by sneaking outside to a waiting limousine, and when the crowd outside the theatre recognized him, the car was pelted with rocks. The following week, the film opened to sell-out crowds in Mexico City, but more fights broke out, and the film was banned by the Mexican government. Jodorowsky himself was nearly deported and the controversy provided a great deal of fodder for the Mexican newspapers.
In regard to the making of El Topo, Jodorowsky allegedly stated in the early 1970s:
In the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune, Jodorowsky states:
As a result of these alleged statements, Jodorowsky has been criticised. Matt Brown of Screen Anarchy wrote that "it's easier to wall off a certain type of criminality behind the buffer of time—sure, Alejandro Jodorowsky is on the record in his book on the making of the film as having raped Mara Lorenzio while making El Topo—though he later denied it—but nowadays he's just that hilarious old kook from Jodorowsky's Dune!" Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com called Jodorowsky "an artist who condones rape as a means to an end for the purpose of creating art. A man who seems to believe that rape is something that women 'need' if they can't accept male sexual power on their own". Jude Doyle of Elle wrote that Jodorowsky "has been teasing the idea of an unsimulated rape scene in his cult classic film El Topo for decades ... though he's elsewhere described the unsimulated sex in that scene as consensual", and went on to state that the quote "has not endangered his status as an avant-garde icon".
On 26 June 2017, Jodorowsky released a statement on his Facebook account in response to the question: "Did you rape an actress during the filming of El Topo?" The following excerpts are from said statement:
Filmography
As director
As actor
Bibliography
Selected bibliography of comics, novels and non-fiction writings:
Graphic novels and comics
Anibal 5 {Original Mexican edition with Manuel Moro} (1966)
Los Insoportables Borbolla (with Manuel Moro) (1966)
The Panic Fables (; 1967–1970), comic strip published in El Heraldo de México.
The Eyes of the Cat (1978)
The Jealous God (1984)
The Magical Twins (1987)
Anibal 5 {French edition with Mœbius} (1990)
Diosamente (1992)
Moonface (1992)
Angel Claws (1994)
Son of the Gun (1995)
Madwoman of the Sacred Heart (1998)
The Shadow's Treasure (1999)
Bouncer (2001)
The White Lama (2004)
Borgia (2004)
Screaming Planet (2006)
Royal Blood (2010)
Showman Killer (2010)
Pietrolino (2013)
The Son of El Topo (2016- ongoing)
Knights of Heliopolis (2017)
Metabarons Universe
Beginning with The Incal in 1981, Jodorowsky has co-written and produced a series of linked comics series and graphic novels () for the French-language market known colloquially as the Jodoverse. The series was initially developed with Jean Giraud using concepts and designs created for Jodorowky's unfinished Dune project. Many of the comics and novels have been translated into Spanish, English, and German under Jodorowsky supervision.
The Incal (1981–1988)
Before the Incal (1988–1995)
The Metabarons (1992–2003)
The Technopriests (1998–2006)
Megalex (1999–2007)
After the Incal (2000), incomplete series.
Metabarons Genesis: Castaka (2007–2013)
Weapons of the Metabaron (2008)
Final Incal (2008–2014), revised version of the After the Incal series with new art and text.
The Metabaron (2015–2018)
Simak (2019)
Fiction
Jodorowsky's Spanish-language novels translated into English include:
Where the Bird Sings Best (1992)
Albina and the Dog Men (1999)
The Son of Black Thursday (1999)
Non-fiction
Psychomagic (1995)
The Dance of Reality (2001)
The Way of Tarot (2004), with Marianne Costa
The Manual of Psychomagic (2009)
Metageneaology (2012), with Marianne Costa
pascALEjandro: Alchemical Androgynous (2017), with Pascale Montandon
Autobiography
The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky (2005)
The Dance of Reality: A Psychomagical Autobiography (2014)
Sacred Trickery and the Way of Kindness: The Radical Wisdom of Jodo (2016)
The Finger and the Moon: Zen Teachings and Koans (2016)
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading
Cobb, Ben (2007). Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Persistence of Vision 6), ed. Louise Brealey, pref. Alan Jones, int. Stephen Barber. London, April 2007 / New York, August 2007, Creation Books.
Coillard, Jean-Paul (2009), De la cage au grand écran. Entretiens avec Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paris. K-Inite Editions.
Chignoli, Andrea (2009), Zoom back, Camera! El cine de Alejandro Jodorowsky, Santiago de Chile, Uqbar Editores.
Dominguez Aragones, Edmundo (1980). Tres extraordinarios: Luis Spota, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Emilio "Indio" Fernández; Mexicali, Mexico DF, Juan Pablos Editor. P. 109–146.
Gonzalez, Házael (2011), Alejandro Jodorowsky: Danzando con la realidad, Palma de Mallorca, Dolmen Editorial.
Larouche, Michel (1985). Alexandre Jodorowsky, cinéaste panique, París, ça cinéma, Albatros.
Moldes, Diego, (2012). Alejandro Jodorowsky, Madrid, Col. Signo e Imagen / Cineastas, Ediciones Cátedra. Prologue by Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Monteleone, Massimo (1993). La Talpa e la Fenice. Il cinema di Alejandro Jodorowsky, Bologna, Granata Press.
External links
Jodorowsky publications in Métal Hurlant. BDoubliées
Jodorowsky albums. Bedetheque
Jodorowsky publications in English. Europeancomics.net
1929 births
Living people
20th-century alchemists
20th-century atheists
21st-century alchemists
21st-century atheists
Chilean comics writers
Chilean emigrants to France
Chilean expatriates in Mexico
Chilean film directors
Chilean experimental filmmakers
Esotericists
French-language film directors
French comics writers
French film directors
Chilean mimes
Chilean surrealist artists
Chilean surrealist writers
French surrealist artists
French surrealist writers
Surrealist filmmakers
Horror film directors
Anarchist writers
Chilean speculative fiction writers
Chilean autobiographers
Chilean Jews
Chilean people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Jewish anarchists
Jewish atheists
Jewish feminists
Jewish mimes
Mystics
Naturalized citizens of France
Chilean occultists
People from Tocopilla
Chilean performance artists
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychotherapists
Tarot readers
Polish Ashkenazi Jews | true | [
"Patrick Douglas Selmes Jackson (26 March 1916 – 3 June 2011) was an English film and television director.\n\nBiography\n\nBorn in Eltham, to a formerly affluent family which was severely affected by the Wall Street Crash in 1929, and his father's long-term illness and early death ending Jackson's formal education. He joined the GPO Film Unit on his 17th birthday as a messenger boy after his mother persuaded her MP, Sir Kingsley Wood, then also postmaster general, to find work for her son. Rising to production assistant, he was part of the crew for the short film Night Mail (1936). The voice narrating the poem by W.H. Auden (\"This is the Night Mail crossing the border, bringing the cheque and the postal order.\") was Jackson himself. He directed a number of documentaries, the first being The Horsey Mail (1938) about the rural postal service in Suffolk. The First Days (1939), co-directed by Harry Watt and Humphrey Jennings, was the first of the wartime documentaries, in this instance concerned with the 'Phoney War' period.\n\nJackson's debut feature film was Western Approaches (1944), a semi-documentary war film for what was now the Ministry of Information's Crown Film Unit. For what became a three-year project, Jackson took on the writing, direction, editing and casting (of non-professional actors) a film about merchant seamen. Featuring an extended period on location at sea, the lifeboat sequences alone took six-months to complete.\n\nAfter the war, Jackson spent three years in Hollywood under contract to MGM, although the only film he directed during this period was Shadow on the Wall (1950), based on the novel Death in the Doll's House by Lawrence P. Bachmann and Hannah Leessuch. His film Encore (1951) was in competition at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival . White Corridors (1951), a semi-documentary drama about a hospital in the regions, was critically well received at the time. What a Carve Up! (1961), a film in the old dark house genre, was the most commercially successful of Jackson's later feature films.\n\nJackson worked in television during the 1960s and 1970s. Impressed by the stage work of Patrick McGoohan, he seems to have been involved in casting him for Danger Man (US:Secret Agent), episodes of which he directed. Apart from McGoohan's The Prisoner (1967), he was also involved with episodes of The Saint and The Professionals.\n\nJackson died on 3 June 2011 aged 95.\n\nFilms and television series\n\nWestern Approaches (documentary feature, 1944)\nWhite Corridors (1951)\nEncore! (1951)\nThe Feminine Touch (1956)\nThe Birthday Present (1957)\nVirgin Island (US Our Virgin Island, 1958)\nSeven Keys (1961)\nWhat a Carve Up! (1961)\nDon't Talk to Strange Men (1962)\nSeventy Deadly Pills (1964)\nThe Prisoner (4 episodes; 1967–1968)\nThe Famous Five (2 episodes; 1978)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1916 births\n2011 deaths\nEnglish film directors\nPeople from Eltham\nPeople educated at Bryanston School",
"John Flaus (born 1934) is an Australian broadcaster, actor, voice talent, anarchist, poet and raconteur. He was formerly a prominent film academic and theorist. He was born in Maroubra, New South Wales.\n\nEarly life\nIn 1953, he was a conscientious objector to military conscription during the Korean War, which he claims was instinctive anarchism:\n\nIt was just like in the movies. This bloke on the prosecution asks me, \"What would you do if you saw an Asiatic attacking your mother?\" – remember this is 1953. I said, \"I'd try to stop him\". He said, \"What if the only way was to kill him?\" I said, \"I'd kill him.\" He said. \"Well, that's what a soldier does, so why are you objecting to being a soldier?\" I said, \"Now wait a minute, you asked me what I'd do, what decision I'd take on my own initiative. If I'm a soldier someone else takes the initiatives for me, and that's an entirely different thing.\" This went on for an hour; at one point they tried to ascertain whether there were any religious grounds on which I wouldn't be a soldier. I said, \"No, it seems to me the best soldiers get religion\" – and that didn't go down too well either.\n\nHe attended Sydney University as an undergraduate from 1953 to 1971 eventually attaining a BA Honours.\n\nCareer\nJohn Flaus has been active in the film society movement since 1953, published his first film reviews in 1954, and was sacked during the same year when he wrote that On the Waterfront was right-wing propaganda. He was also a member of the Sydney Push. In the 1960s, he was a member of the Sydney University Film Group and the WEA Film Study Group with such notable people as Frank Moorhouse, Michael Thornhill, John Baxter and Ken Quinnell. \n\nHe has lectured on film at various tertiary institutions, was Head of Education at the AFTRS, and designed the original Cinema Studies course at La Trobe University in 1975, the first of its kind in Australia. He became a professional actor in 1978 and has over 100 credits in theatre, film and television.\n\nHe was honoured by the Australian Writers' Guild in 1994 for his services as a script editor on various Australian films. He presented the radio program Film-buff's Forecast with fellow film critic Paul Harris on 3RRR from 1980 to 1989.\n\nHis first book of poems, PARALLACTS, was published in 2012.\n\nFilmography\n\nRake (2014)\nTracks (2013)\nJack Irish (2012-2021) - 3 films and 15 episodes as Wilbur\nPinion (2010)\nI Love You Too (2010)\nMary and Max (2009)\nHarvie Krumpet (2003)\nCrackerjack (2002)\nThe Dish (2001) \nThe Castle (1997) \nLilian's Story (1996) \nThe Nun and the Bandit (1992)\nBloodlust (1992)\nSee Jack Run (1992)\nSpotswood (1992) \nIn Too Deep (1990) \nJigsaw (1990)\nNirvana Street Murder (1990)\nWarm Nights on a Slow Moving Train (1989) \nGrievous Bodily Harm (1988)\nDevil's Hill (telefilm) (1988)\nGhosts of the Civil Dead (1988)\nHungry Heart (1987) \nFeathers (1987)\nTraps (1986)\nMy Country (1986)\nBootleg (1985)\nStrikebound (1984)\nThe Plains of Heaven (1982)\nWronsky (1980)\nBlood Money (1980) \nPalm Beach (1979) \nNewsfront (1978)\nThe Love Letters from Teralba Road (1977)\nQueensland (1976)\nYackety Yak (1974)\nThe American Poet's Visit (1969)\n\nBibliography\n\n \n \n Sydney Libertarians and Anarchism Index\n\nReferences\n\nAustralian anarchists\nAustralian male film actors\nPeople from New South Wales\nAustralian film critics\n1934 births\nLiving people"
]
|
[
"Alejandro Jodorowsky",
"Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981-1990)",
"What family issues was he facing",
"Jodorowsky divorced his wife.",
"what year was this",
"1982",
"What year did he begin working again",
"1989,",
"What film was this",
"Santa Sangre (Holy Blood"
]
| C_beba32b7d5a84d95bf24ade3480043d3_1 | What is the film compared too | 5 | What is the film Santa Sangre (Holy Blood) compared to | Alejandro Jodorowsky | In 1982 Jodorowsky divorced his wife. In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's "The Hands of Orlac". It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors. He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Dominguez D., wrote the screenplay). That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to live in France. In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where once again he met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again. CANNOTANSWER | Psycho | Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French filmmaker and artist. Since 1948, he has worked as a novelist, screenwriter, a poet, a playwright, an essayist, a film and theater director and producer, an actor, a film editor, a comics writer, a musician and composer, a philosopher, a puppeteer, a mime, a lay psychologist, a draughtsman, a painter, a sculptor, and a spiritual guru.
Best known for his avant-garde films El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973), Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his work which "is filled with violently surreal images and a hybrid blend of mysticism and religious provocation".
Overview
Born to Jewish-Galician parents (Chodorowski) in Tocopilla, Chile, Jodorowsky experienced an unhappy and alienated childhood, and so immersed himself in reading and writing poetry. Dropping out of college, he became involved in theater and in particular mime, working as a clown before founding his own theater troupe, the Teatro Mimico, in 1947. Moving to Paris in the early 1950s, Jodorowsky studied traditional mime under Étienne Decroux, and put his miming skills to use in the silent film Les têtes interverties (1957), directed with Saul Gilbert and Ruth Michelly. From 1960 he divided his time between Paris and Mexico City, in the former becoming a founding member of the anarchistic avant-garde Panic Movement of performance artists. In 1966 he created his first comic strip, Anibal 5, while in 1967 he directed his first feature film, the surrealist Fando y Lis, which caused a huge scandal in Mexico, eventually being banned.
His next film, the acid western El Topo (1970), became a hit on the midnight movie circuit in the United States, considered as the first-ever midnight cult film, and garnered high praise from John Lennon, who convinced former Beatles manager Allen Klein to provide Jodorowsky with $1 million to finance his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain (1973), a surrealist exploration of western esotericism. Disagreements with Klein, however, led to both The Holy Mountain and El Topo failing to gain widespread distribution, although both became classics on the underground film circuit.
After a cancelled attempt at filming Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune, Jodorowsky produced five more films: the family film Tusk (1980); the surrealist horror Santa Sangre (1989); the failed blockbuster The Rainbow Thief (1990); and the first two films in a planned five-film autobiographical series The Dance of Reality (2013) and Endless Poetry (2016). During the same period, he wrote a series of science fiction comic books, most notably The Incal (1980–1989), which has been described as having a claim to be "the best comic book" ever written, and also The Technopriests and Metabarons. He has also written books and regularly lectures on his own spiritual system, which he calls "psychomagic" and "psychoshamanism" and which borrows from his interests in alchemy, the tarot, Zen Buddhism and shamanism. His son Cristóbal has followed his teachings on psychoshamanism; this work is captured in the feature documentary Quantum Men, directed by Carlos Serrano Azcona.
Early life and education
Jodorowsky was born in 1929 in the coastal town of Tocopilla, Chile, to parents who were Jewish immigrants from Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro), Elisavetgrad (now Kropyvnytskyi) and other cities of the Russian Empire (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russian Partition, now Ukraine). His father, Jaime Jodorowsky Groismann (Jakub Chodorowski), was a merchant, who was largely abusive to his wife Sara Felicidad Prullansky Arcavi, and at one time accused her of flirting with a customer. Angered, he subsequently beat and raped her, getting her pregnant, which led to the birth of Alejandro. Because of this brutal conception, Sara both hated her husband and disliked her son, telling him that "I cannot love you" and rarely showing him tenderness. Alejandro also had an elder sister, Raquel Jodorowsky, but disliked her, for he believed that she was selfish, doing "everything to expel me from the family so that she could be the centre of attention." Alongside his dislike for his family, he also held contempt for many of the local people, who viewed him as an outsider because of his status as the son of immigrants, and also for the American mining industrialists who worked locally and treated the Chilean people badly. It was this treatment at the hands of Americans that led to his later condemnation of American imperialism and neo-colonialism in Latin America in several of his films. Nonetheless he liked his local area, and was greatly unhappy when he was forced to leave it at the age of nine years old, something for which he blamed his father. His family subsequently moved to the city of Santiago, Chile.
He immersed himself in reading, and also began writing poetry, having his first poem published when he was sixteen years old, alongside associating with such Chilean poets as Nicanor Parra, Stella Díaz Varín and Enrique Lihn. Becoming interested in the political ideology of anarchism, he began attending college, studying psychology and philosophy, but stayed for only two years. After dropping out, and having an interest in theatre and particularly mime, he took up employment as a clown in a circus and began a career as a theatre director. Meanwhile, in 1947 he founded his own theatrical troupe, the Teatro Mimico, which by 1952 had fifty members, and the following year he wrote his first play, El Minotaura (The Minotaur). Nonetheless, Jodorowsky felt that there was little for him left in Chile, and so that year he moved to Paris.
It was while in Paris that Jodorowsky began studying mime with Étienne Decroux and joined the troupe of one of Decroux's students, Marcel Marceau. It was with Marceau's troupe that he went on a world tour, and wrote several routines for the group, including "The Cage" and "The Mask Maker". After this, he returned to theatre directing, working on the music hall comeback of Maurice Chevalier in Paris. In 1957, Jodorowsky turned his hand to filmmaking, creating Les têtes interverties (The Severed Heads), a 20-minute adaptation of Thomas Mann's novella. It consisted almost entirely of mime, and told the surreal story of a head-swapping merchant who helps a young man find courtship success. Jodorowsky played the lead role. The director Jean Cocteau admired the film, and wrote an introduction for it. It was considered lost until a print of the film was discovered in 2006.
In 1960, Jodorowsky moved to Mexico, where he settled down in Mexico City. Nonetheless, he continued to return occasionally to France, on one occasion visiting the Surrealist artist André Breton, but he was disillusioned in that he felt Breton had become somewhat conservative in his old age. Continuing his interest in surrealism, in 1962 he founded the Panic Movement along with Fernando Arrabal and Roland Topor. The movement aimed to go beyond the conventional surrealist ideas by embracing absurdism. Its members refused to take themselves seriously, while laughing at those critics who did. In 1966 he produced his first comic strip, Anibal 5, which was related to the Panic Movement. The following year he created a new feature film, Fando y Lis, loosely based on a play written by Fernando Arrabal, who was working with Jodorowsky on performance art at the time. Fando y Lis premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, where it instigated a riot amongst those objecting to the film's content, and subsequently it was banned in Mexico.
It was in Mexico City that he encountered Ejo Takata (1928–1997), a Zen Buddhist monk who had studied at the Horyuji and Shofukuji monasteries in Japan before traveling to Mexico via the United States in 1967 to spread Zen. Jodorowsky became a disciple of Takata and offered his own house to be turned into a zendo. Subsequently, Takata attracted other disciples around him, who spent their time in meditation and the study of koans. Eventually, Takata instructed Jodorowsky that he had to learn more about his feminine side, and so he went and befriended the English surrealist Leonora Carrington, who had recently moved to Mexico.
Career
El Topo and The Holy Mountain (1970–1974)
In 1970, Jodorowsky released the film El Topo, which sometimes is known in English as The Mole, which he had both directed and starred in. An acid western, El Topo tells the story of a wandering Mexican bandit and gunslinger, El Topo (played by Jodorowsky), who is on a search for spiritual enlightenment, taking his young son along with him. Along the way, he violently confronts a number of other individuals, before finally being killed and being resurrected to live within a community of deformed people who are trapped inside a mountain cave. Describing the work, he stated that "I ask of film what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs. The difference being that when one creates a psychedelic film, he need not create a film that shows the visions of a person who has taken a pill; rather, he needs to manufacture the pill." Knowing how Fando y Lis had caused such a scandal in Mexico, Jodorowsky decided not to release El Topo there, instead focusing on its release in other countries across the world, including Mexico's northern neighbour, the United States. It was in New York City where the film would play as a "midnight movie" for several months at Ben Barenholtz's Elgin Theater. It attracted the attention of rock musician and countercultural figure John Lennon, who thought very highly of it, and convinced the president of The Beatles' company Apple Corps, Allen Klein, to distribute it in the United States.
Klein agreed to give Jodorowsky $1 million to go toward creating his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain, released in 1973. It has been suggested that The Holy Mountain may have been inspired by René Daumal's Surrealist novel Mount Analogue. The Holy Mountain was another complex, multi-part story that featured a man credited as "The Thief" and equated with Jesus Christ, a mystical alchemist played by Jodorowsky, seven powerful business people representing seven of the planets (Venus and the six planets from Mars to Pluto), a religious training regimen of spiritual rebirth, and a quest to the top of a holy mountain for the secret of immortality. During the completion of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky received spiritual training from Oscar Ichazo of the Arica School, who encouraged him to take LSD and guided him through the subsequent psychedelic experience. Around the same time (2 November 1973), Jodorowsky participated in an isolation tank experiment conducted by John Lilly.
Shortly thereafter, Allen Klein demanded that Jodorowsky create a film adaptation of Pauline Réage's classic novel of female masochism, Story of O. Klein had promised this adaptation to various investors. Jodorowsky, who had discovered feminism during the filming of The Holy Mountain, refused to make the film, going so far as to leave the country to escape directing duties. In retaliation, Allen Klein made El Topo and The Holy Mountain, to which he held the rights, completely unavailable to the public for more than 30 years. Jodorowsky frequently decried Klein's actions in interviews.
Soon after the release of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky gave a talk at the Teatro Julio Castillo, University of Mexico on the subject of koans (despite the fact that he initially had been booked on the condition that his talk would be about cinematography), at which Ejo Takata appeared. After the talk, Takata gave Jodorowsky his kyosaku, believing that his former student had mastered the art of understanding koans.
Dune and Tusk (1975–1980)
In December 1974, a French consortium led by Jean-Paul Gibon purchased the film rights to Frank Herbert's epic 1965 science fiction novel Dune and asked Jodorowsky to direct a film version. Jodorowsky planned to cast the Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, in what would have been his only speaking role as a film actor, in the role of Emperor Shaddam IV. Dalí agreed when Jodorowsky offered to pay him a fee of $100,000 per hour. He also planned to cast Orson Welles as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen; Welles only agreed when Jodorowsky offered to get his favourite gourmet chef to prepare his meals for him throughout the filming. The book's protagonist, Paul Atreides, was to be played by Jodorowsky's son, Brontis Jodorowsky. The music would be composed by Pink Floyd and Magma. Jodorowsky set up a pre-production unit in Paris consisting of Chris Foss, a British artist who designed covers for science fiction publications, Jean Giraud (Moebius), a French illustrator who created and also wrote and drew for Métal Hurlant magazine, and H. R. Giger. Frank Herbert travelled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2 million of the $9.5 million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled). Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship. The production for the film collapsed when no film studio could be found willing to fund the movie to Jodorowsky's terms. The aborted production was chronicled in the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune. Subsequently, the rights for filming were sold to Dino de Laurentiis, who employed the American filmmaker David Lynch to direct, creating the film Dune in 1984. The documentary does not include any original film footage of what was to be Jodorowsky's Dune but does make extraordinary claims as to the influence this unmade film had on other actual science fiction films, such as Star Wars, Alien, Terminator, Flash Gordon, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
After the collapse of the Dune project, Jodorowsky completely changed course and, in 1980, premiered his children's fable Tusk, shot in India. Taken from Reginald Campbell's novel Poo Lorn of the Elephants, the film explores the soul-mate relationship between a young British woman living in India and a highly prized elephant. The film exhibited little of the director's outlandish visual style and was never given wide release.
Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981–1990)
In 1982, Jodorowsky divorced his wife.
In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's The Hands of Orlac. It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors.
He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Domínguez D., wrote the screenplay).
That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to France to live.
In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where he once again met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again.
Attempts to return to filmmaking (1990–2011)
In 2000, Jodorowsky won the Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF). Jodorowsky attended the festival and his films were shown, including El Topo and The Holy Mountain, which at the time had grey legal status. According to festival director Bryan Wendorf, it was an open question of whether CUFF would be allowed to show both films, or whether the police would show up and shut the festival down.
Until 2007, Fando y Lis and Santa Sangre were the only Jodorowsky works available on DVD. Neither El Topo nor The Holy Mountain were available on videocassette or DVD in the United States or the United Kingdom, due to ownership disputes with distributor Allen Klein. After settlement of the dispute in 2004, however, plans to re-release Jodorowsky's films were announced by ABKCO Films. On 19 January 2007, it was announced online that Anchor Bay would release a box set including El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and Fando y Lis on 1 May 2007. A limited edition of the set includes both the El Topo and The Holy Mountain soundtracks. And, in early February 2007, Tartan Video announced its 14 May 2007, release date for the UK PAL DVD editions of El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and the six-disc box set which, alongside the aforementioned feature films, includes the two soundtrack CDs, as well as separate DVD editions of Jodorowsky's 1968 debut feature Fando y Lis (with his 1957 short La cravate a.k.a. Les têtes interverties, included as an extra) and the 1994 feature-length documentary La constellation Jodorowsky. Notably, Fando y Lis and La cravate were digitally restored extensively and remastered in London during late 2006, thus providing a suitable complement to the quality restoration work undertaken on El Topo and The Holy Mountain in the States by ABKCO, and ensuring that the presentation of Fando y Lis is a significant improvement over the 2001 Fantoma DVD edition. Prior to the availability of these legitimate releases, only inferior quality, optically censored, bootleg copies of both El Topo and The Holy Mountain have been circulated on the Internet and on DVD.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Jodorowsky attempted to make a sequel to El Topo, called at different times The Sons of El Topo and Abel Cain, but did not find investors for the project.
In an interview with Premiere Magazine, Jodorowsky said he intended his next project to be a gangster film called King Shot. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper in November 2009, however, Jodorowsky revealed that he was unable to find the funds to make King Shot, and instead would be entering preparations on Sons of El Topo, for which he claimed to have signed a contract with "some Russian producers".
In 2010, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City staged the first American cinema retrospective of Alejandro Jodorowsky entitled Blood into Gold: The Cinematic Alchemy of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky would attend the retrospective and hold a master class on art as a way of transformation. This retrospective would inspire the museum MoMA PS1 to present the exhibition Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Holy Mountain in 2011.
The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry (2011–present)
In August 2011, Alejandro arrived in a town in Chile where he grew up, also the setting of his autobiography The Dance of Reality, to promote an autobiographical film based upon his book.
On 31 October 2011, Halloween night, the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) honored Jodorowsky by showing The Holy Mountain. He attended and spoke about his work and life. The next evening, he presented El Topo at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center.
Alejandro has stated that after finishing The Dance of Reality he was preparing to shoot his long-gestating El Topo sequel, Abel Cain. By January 2013, Alejandro finished filming on The Dance of Reality and entered into post-production. Alejandro's son and co-star in the film, Brontis, claimed the film was to be finished by March 2013, and that the film was "very different than the other films he made". On 23 April, it was announced that the film would have its world premiere at the Film Festival in Cannes. coinciding with The Dance of Reality premiered alongside the documentary film Jodorowsky's Dune, which premiered in May 2013 at the Cannes Film Festival, creating a "Jodorowsky double bill".
In 2015, Jodorowsky began a new film entitled Endless Poetry, the sequel to his last "auto-biopic", The Dance of Reality. His Paris-based production company, Satori Films, launched two successful crowdfunding campaigns to finance the film. The Indiegogo campaign has been left open indefinitely, receiving donations from fans and movie-goers in support of the independent production. The film was shot between June and August 2015, in the streets of Matucana in Santiago, Chile, where Jodorowsky lived for a period in his life. The film portrays his young adulthood in Santiago, years during which he became a core member of the Chilean poetic avant-garde alongside artists such as Hugo Marín, Gustavo Becerra, Enrique Lihn, Stella Díaz Varín, Nicanor Parra and others. Jodorowsky's son, Adan Jodorowsky, plays him as an adult and Brontis Jodorowsky, plays as his father Jaime. Jeremias Herskovitz, from The Dance of Reality, portrays Jodorowsky as a teenager. Pamela Flores plays Sara (his mother) and Stella Díaz Varín (poetess and young Jodorowsky's girlfriend). Leandro Taub portrays Jodorowsky's best friend, the poet and novelist Enrique Lihn. The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival on 14 May 2016. Variety's review was overwhelmingly positive, calling it "...the most accessible movie he has ever made, and it may also be the best."
During an interview at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, Jodorowsky announced his plans to finally make The Son of El Topo as soon as financial backing is obtained.
Other work
Jodorowsky is a weekly contributor of "good news" to the nightly "author news report" of his friend, Fernando Sánchez Dragó in Telemadrid.
He also released a 12" vinyl with the Original Soundtrack of Zarathustra (Discos Tizoc, Mexico, 1970).
He has cited the filmmaker Federico Fellini as his primary cinematic influence; other artistic influences included George Gurdjieff, Antonin Artaud, and Luis Buñuel. He has been described as an influence on such figures as Marilyn Manson, David Lynch, Nicolas Winding Refn, Jan Kounen, Dennis Hopper, and Kanye West.
Comics
Jodorowsky started his comic career in Mexico with the creation of Anibal 5 series in mid-1966 with illustrations by Manuel Moro. He also drew his own comic strip in the weekly series Fabulas pánicas that appeared in the Mexican newspaper, El Heraldo de México. He also wrote original stories for at least two or three other comic books in Mexico during those days: Los insoportables Borbolla was one of them. After his fourth film, Tusk, he started The Incal, with Jean Giraud (Mœbius). This graphic novel has its roots deep in the tarot and its symbols, e.g., the protagonist of The Incal, John Difool, is linked to the Fool card. The Incal (which would branch off into a prequel and sequel) forms the first in a sequence of several science fiction comic book series, all set in the same space opera Jodoverse (or "Metabarons Universe") published by Humanoids Publishing.
Comic books set in this milieu are Incal (trilogy: Before the Incal/ Incal/ Final Incal), Metabarons (trilogy: Castaka/ The Caste of the Metabarons/ Weapons of the Metabaron), and The Technopriests and also an RPG adaptation, The Metabarons Roleplaying Game. Many ideas and concepts derived from Jodorowsky's planned adaptation of Dune (which he would have been loosely based upon Frank Herbert's original novel) are featured in this universe.
Mœbius and Jodorowsky sued Luc Besson, director of The Fifth Element, claiming that the 1997 film borrowed graphic and story elements from The Incal, but they lost their case. The suit was plagued by ambiguity since Mœbius had willingly participated in the creation of the film, having been hired by Besson as a contributing artist, but had done so without gaining the approval of Incal co-creator Jodorowsky, whose services Besson did not call upon. For more than a decade, Jodorowsky pressured his publisher Les Humanoïdes Associés to sue Luc Besson for plagiarism, but the publisher refused, fearing the inevitability of the final outcome. In a 2002 interview with the Danish comic book magazine Strip!, Jodorowsky stated that he considered it an honour that somebody stole his ideas.
Other comics by Jodorowsky include the Western Bouncer illustrated by Francois Boucq, Juan Solo (Son of the Gun), and Le Lama blanc (The White Lama), the latter were illustrated by Georges Bess.
Le Cœur couronné (The Crowned Heart, translated into English as The Madwoman of the Sacred Heart), a racy satire on religion set in contemporary times, won Jodorowsky and his collaborator, Jean Giraud, the 2001 Haxtur Award for Best Long Strip. He is currently working on a new graphic novel for the U.S. market.
Jodorowsky's comic book work also appears in Taboo volume 4 (ed. Stephen R. Bissette), which features an interview with the director, designs for his version of Frank Herbert's Dune, comic storyboards for El Topo, and a collaboration with Moebius with the illustrated Eyes of the Cat.
Jodorowsky collaborated with Milo Manara in Borgia (2006), a graphic novel about the history of the House of Borgia.
Psychomagic
Jodorowsky spent almost a decade reconstructing the original form of the Tarot de Marseille. From this work he moved into more therapeutic work in three areas: psychomagic, psychogenealogy and initiatic massage. Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which practitioners of the therapy believe are passed down from generation to generation. Psychogenealogy includes the studying of the patient's personality and family tree in order to best address their specific sources. It is similar, in its phenomenological approach to genealogy, to the Constellations pioneered by Bert Hellinger.
Jodorowsky has several books on his therapeutic methods, including Psicomagia: La trampa sagrada (Psychomagic: The Sacred Trap) and his autobiography, La danza de la realidad (The Dance of Reality), which he was filming as a feature-length film in March 2012. To date he has published more than 23 novels and philosophical treatises, along with dozens of articles and interviews. His books are widely read in Spanish and French, but are for the most part unknown to English-speaking audiences.
For a quarter of a century, Jodorowsky held classes and lectures for free, in cafés and universities all over the city of Paris. Typically, such courses or talks would begin on Wednesday evenings as tarot divination lessons, and would culminate in an hour long conference, also free, where at times hundreds of attendees would be treated to live demonstrations of a psychological "arbre généalogique" ("tree of genealogy") involving volunteers from the audience. In these conferences, Jodorowsky would pave the way to building a strong base of students of his philosophy, which deals with understanding the unconscious as the "over-self", composed of many generations of family relatives, living or deceased, acting on the psyche, well into adult lives, and causing compulsions. Of all his work, Jodorowsky considers these activities to be the most important of his life. Though such activities only take place in the insular world of Parisian cafés, he has devoted thousands of hours of his life to teaching and helping people "become more conscious," as he puts it.
Since 2011 these talks have dwindled to once a month and take place at the Librairie Les Cent Ciels in Paris.
His film Psychomagic, a Healing Art premiered in Lyon on 3 September 2019. It was then released on streaming services on 1 August 2020.
Personal life
Jodorowsky's first wife was the actress Valérie Tremblay. He is currently married to the artist and costume designer Pascale Montandon.
He has five children: Brontis Jodorowsky, an actor who worked with his father in El Topo, The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry; Teo, who played in Santa Sangre; Cristóbal, a psychoshaman and an actor (interpreter in Santa Sangre and the main character in the shamanic documentary Quantum Men); Eugenia Jodorowsky; and the youngest, Adan Jodorowsky, a musician known by his stage name of Adanowsky. The fashion model Alma Jodorowsky is the granddaughter of Alejandro.
On his religious views, Jodorowsky has called himself an "atheist mystic".
He does not drink or smoke, and has stated that he does not eat red meat or poultry because he "does not like corpses", basing his diet on vegetables, fruits, grains and occasionally marine products.
In 2005, Jodorowsky officiated at the wedding of Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese.
Fans included musicians Peter Gabriel, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore (of the pop-duo Empire of the Sun). Wes Borland, guitarist of Limp Bizkit, said that the film Holy Mountain was a big influence on him, especially as a visual artist, and that the concept album Lotus Island of his band Black Light Burns was a tribute to it.
Jodorowsky was interviewed by Daniel Pinchbeck for the Franco-German television show Durch die Nacht mit … on the TV station Arte, in a very personal discussion, spending a night together in France, continuing the interview in different locations such as a park and a hotel.
Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in the ending titles of his 2011 film Drive, and dedicated his 2013 Thai crime thriller, Only God Forgives, to Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky also appeared in the documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, directed by Refn's wife Liv, giving the couple a tarot reading.
Argentinean actor Leandro Taub thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in his book La Mente Oculta, for which Jodorowsky wrote the prologue.
Criticism and controversy
When Jodorowsky's first feature film, Fando y Lis, premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, the screening was controversial and erupted into a riot, due to its graphic content. Jodorowsky had to leave the theatre by sneaking outside to a waiting limousine, and when the crowd outside the theatre recognized him, the car was pelted with rocks. The following week, the film opened to sell-out crowds in Mexico City, but more fights broke out, and the film was banned by the Mexican government. Jodorowsky himself was nearly deported and the controversy provided a great deal of fodder for the Mexican newspapers.
In regard to the making of El Topo, Jodorowsky allegedly stated in the early 1970s:
In the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune, Jodorowsky states:
As a result of these alleged statements, Jodorowsky has been criticised. Matt Brown of Screen Anarchy wrote that "it's easier to wall off a certain type of criminality behind the buffer of time—sure, Alejandro Jodorowsky is on the record in his book on the making of the film as having raped Mara Lorenzio while making El Topo—though he later denied it—but nowadays he's just that hilarious old kook from Jodorowsky's Dune!" Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com called Jodorowsky "an artist who condones rape as a means to an end for the purpose of creating art. A man who seems to believe that rape is something that women 'need' if they can't accept male sexual power on their own". Jude Doyle of Elle wrote that Jodorowsky "has been teasing the idea of an unsimulated rape scene in his cult classic film El Topo for decades ... though he's elsewhere described the unsimulated sex in that scene as consensual", and went on to state that the quote "has not endangered his status as an avant-garde icon".
On 26 June 2017, Jodorowsky released a statement on his Facebook account in response to the question: "Did you rape an actress during the filming of El Topo?" The following excerpts are from said statement:
Filmography
As director
As actor
Bibliography
Selected bibliography of comics, novels and non-fiction writings:
Graphic novels and comics
Anibal 5 {Original Mexican edition with Manuel Moro} (1966)
Los Insoportables Borbolla (with Manuel Moro) (1966)
The Panic Fables (; 1967–1970), comic strip published in El Heraldo de México.
The Eyes of the Cat (1978)
The Jealous God (1984)
The Magical Twins (1987)
Anibal 5 {French edition with Mœbius} (1990)
Diosamente (1992)
Moonface (1992)
Angel Claws (1994)
Son of the Gun (1995)
Madwoman of the Sacred Heart (1998)
The Shadow's Treasure (1999)
Bouncer (2001)
The White Lama (2004)
Borgia (2004)
Screaming Planet (2006)
Royal Blood (2010)
Showman Killer (2010)
Pietrolino (2013)
The Son of El Topo (2016- ongoing)
Knights of Heliopolis (2017)
Metabarons Universe
Beginning with The Incal in 1981, Jodorowsky has co-written and produced a series of linked comics series and graphic novels () for the French-language market known colloquially as the Jodoverse. The series was initially developed with Jean Giraud using concepts and designs created for Jodorowky's unfinished Dune project. Many of the comics and novels have been translated into Spanish, English, and German under Jodorowsky supervision.
The Incal (1981–1988)
Before the Incal (1988–1995)
The Metabarons (1992–2003)
The Technopriests (1998–2006)
Megalex (1999–2007)
After the Incal (2000), incomplete series.
Metabarons Genesis: Castaka (2007–2013)
Weapons of the Metabaron (2008)
Final Incal (2008–2014), revised version of the After the Incal series with new art and text.
The Metabaron (2015–2018)
Simak (2019)
Fiction
Jodorowsky's Spanish-language novels translated into English include:
Where the Bird Sings Best (1992)
Albina and the Dog Men (1999)
The Son of Black Thursday (1999)
Non-fiction
Psychomagic (1995)
The Dance of Reality (2001)
The Way of Tarot (2004), with Marianne Costa
The Manual of Psychomagic (2009)
Metageneaology (2012), with Marianne Costa
pascALEjandro: Alchemical Androgynous (2017), with Pascale Montandon
Autobiography
The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky (2005)
The Dance of Reality: A Psychomagical Autobiography (2014)
Sacred Trickery and the Way of Kindness: The Radical Wisdom of Jodo (2016)
The Finger and the Moon: Zen Teachings and Koans (2016)
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading
Cobb, Ben (2007). Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Persistence of Vision 6), ed. Louise Brealey, pref. Alan Jones, int. Stephen Barber. London, April 2007 / New York, August 2007, Creation Books.
Coillard, Jean-Paul (2009), De la cage au grand écran. Entretiens avec Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paris. K-Inite Editions.
Chignoli, Andrea (2009), Zoom back, Camera! El cine de Alejandro Jodorowsky, Santiago de Chile, Uqbar Editores.
Dominguez Aragones, Edmundo (1980). Tres extraordinarios: Luis Spota, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Emilio "Indio" Fernández; Mexicali, Mexico DF, Juan Pablos Editor. P. 109–146.
Gonzalez, Házael (2011), Alejandro Jodorowsky: Danzando con la realidad, Palma de Mallorca, Dolmen Editorial.
Larouche, Michel (1985). Alexandre Jodorowsky, cinéaste panique, París, ça cinéma, Albatros.
Moldes, Diego, (2012). Alejandro Jodorowsky, Madrid, Col. Signo e Imagen / Cineastas, Ediciones Cátedra. Prologue by Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Monteleone, Massimo (1993). La Talpa e la Fenice. Il cinema di Alejandro Jodorowsky, Bologna, Granata Press.
External links
Jodorowsky publications in Métal Hurlant. BDoubliées
Jodorowsky albums. Bedetheque
Jodorowsky publications in English. Europeancomics.net
1929 births
Living people
20th-century alchemists
20th-century atheists
21st-century alchemists
21st-century atheists
Chilean comics writers
Chilean emigrants to France
Chilean expatriates in Mexico
Chilean film directors
Chilean experimental filmmakers
Esotericists
French-language film directors
French comics writers
French film directors
Chilean mimes
Chilean surrealist artists
Chilean surrealist writers
French surrealist artists
French surrealist writers
Surrealist filmmakers
Horror film directors
Anarchist writers
Chilean speculative fiction writers
Chilean autobiographers
Chilean Jews
Chilean people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Jewish anarchists
Jewish atheists
Jewish feminists
Jewish mimes
Mystics
Naturalized citizens of France
Chilean occultists
People from Tocopilla
Chilean performance artists
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychotherapists
Tarot readers
Polish Ashkenazi Jews | true | [
"Night Ride Home is a 1999 American television drama film directed by Glenn Jordan and starring Rebecca De Mornay, Keith Carradine, Ellen Burstyn, and Thora Birch. Its plot follows a family coping with the death of their son, which his sister inadvertently caused. It was released through the Hallmark Hall of Fame series.\n\nCast\n\nProduction\nFilming took place in Portland, Oregon.\n\nCritical response\nDavid Kronke of Variety praised the film as a \"handsome, intelligent and well-burnished production,\" and a \"thoughtful and sensitive examination of how a family copes with grief.\" Terry Kelleher of People compared the film negatively against the 1980 film Ordinary People. Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times criticized the film's screenplay, noting \"the presentation of these issues is far too calculated, and their solutions far too quickly accomplished. The script’s simplistic method of resolving what in real life would be significant emotional trauma is to provide a cathartic scene that almost immediately prompts a change in characters.\" Ron Wertheimer of The New York Times praised the film, writing that \"Night Ride Home has the courage to depict imperfect people who are walloped by a heartbreaking loss and emerge only slightly wiser and no more perfect than before. The centerpiece of the film... is the quietly disturbing performance of Rebecca De Mornay.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1999 films\n1999 television films\nFilms directed by Glenn Jordan\nFilms shot in Portland, Oregon\nHallmark Hall of Fame episodes",
"What Iva Recorded (, What Iva Recorded On 21 October 2003) is a 2005 Croatian comedy-drama film directed by Tomislav Radić. The plot is told from the perspective of a camcorder, the birthday present of Iva, a teenage girl played by Masha Mati Prodan in her film debut, leading to a mockumentary-style footage. The film was very well received by critics, winning five awards, including the Big Golden Arena for Best Film at the Pula Film Festival. It was seen as a welcome change, compared to Radić's previous work.\n\nPlot\nIva (Mati Prodan) lives in a middle-class family in Zagreb, Croatia. She receives a digital camcorder as a present for her 14th birthday, which she uses to film the events in the family apartment during the rest of the day. The film is shown from the perspective of her camcorder. Her mother, Željka (Šovagović-Despot), is a perfectionist housewife who deals with her problems by drinking. Božo (Gregurević), Iva's father, is a dimwitted entrepreneur who likes to bark out commands to the family members, but is a sycophant at work. He organises a family dinner to invite his business partner, a German named Hoffman (Menrad), to negotiate a big business deal, Iva's birthday being a handy excuse to do so.\n\nDarko (Svrtan), Iva's happy-go-lucky uncle, arrives and is fascinated by the camcorder. Nobody in the house can communicate with Hoffman as nobody speaks German, so Darko invites a friend, Nina (Prpić), who is purportedly a polyglot. She charms Hoffman, but the family is shocked to discover that she is actually an escort lady. Željka begins to show open animosity towards her, while Božo accepts it much more stoically. When Željka accidentally spills the family dinner on Nina's clothes, the group decides to visit a restaurant. Hoffman has a good time at the restaurant and shows sexual interest in Željka; Božo ignores this. Nevertheless, when he discovers Hoffman gave her the number of his hotel room, Božo angrily takes off after him. He is too late, as Hoffman has already left in a taxi. Exhausted, the family returns home late in the evening and Iva turns off the camcorder.\n\nCast\n Anja Šovagović-Despot as Željka\n Ivo Gregurević as Božo\n as Darko\n Masha Mati Prodan as Iva\n as Nina\n as Hoffman\n Adam Končić as the Waiter\n\nReception\nUnlike most Croatian films from the 1990s onwards, What Iva Recorded was lauded by critics. Jakov Kosanović wrote for Slobodna Dalmacija that the film was \"direct, full of life and often funny\", and \"a refreshment, compared to the current work of the older generation of Croatian directors\". He also lauded the camcorder technique. Damir Radić of Nacional compared the film to the Dogme 95 movement, known for its use of camcorder. He called What Iva Recorded the best Croatian film since the independence of Croatia in the 1990s. The only problem of the film, according to him, was not enough emphasis on the character of Iva. Damir Radić considered Tomislav Radić an unlikely director of a masterpiece, due to the critical panning of his previous films, Anđele moj dragi ( My Dear Angel) and The Miroslav Holding Co.\n\n52nd Pula Film Festival\nBig Golden Arena for Best Film \nGolden Arena for Best Director (Tomislav Radić)\nGolden Arena for Best Actor (Ivo Gregurević)\nGolden Arena for Best Actress (Anja Šovagović-Despot)\nCroatian Film Critics' Association\nOktavijan Award\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2005 films\nCroatian films\nCroatian-language films\n2005 comedy-drama films\nCroatian comedy-drama films\n2005 comedy films\n2005 drama films"
]
|
[
"Alejandro Jodorowsky",
"Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981-1990)",
"What family issues was he facing",
"Jodorowsky divorced his wife.",
"what year was this",
"1982",
"What year did he begin working again",
"1989,",
"What film was this",
"Santa Sangre (Holy Blood",
"What is the film compared too",
"Psycho"
]
| C_beba32b7d5a84d95bf24ade3480043d3_1 | What other mvie is it compared too | 6 | In addition to the film Psycho, what other movie is Santa Sangre (Holy Blood) compared to | Alejandro Jodorowsky | In 1982 Jodorowsky divorced his wife. In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's "The Hands of Orlac". It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors. He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Dominguez D., wrote the screenplay). That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to live in France. In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where once again he met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again. CANNOTANSWER | The Hands of Orlac | Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French filmmaker and artist. Since 1948, he has worked as a novelist, screenwriter, a poet, a playwright, an essayist, a film and theater director and producer, an actor, a film editor, a comics writer, a musician and composer, a philosopher, a puppeteer, a mime, a lay psychologist, a draughtsman, a painter, a sculptor, and a spiritual guru.
Best known for his avant-garde films El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973), Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his work which "is filled with violently surreal images and a hybrid blend of mysticism and religious provocation".
Overview
Born to Jewish-Galician parents (Chodorowski) in Tocopilla, Chile, Jodorowsky experienced an unhappy and alienated childhood, and so immersed himself in reading and writing poetry. Dropping out of college, he became involved in theater and in particular mime, working as a clown before founding his own theater troupe, the Teatro Mimico, in 1947. Moving to Paris in the early 1950s, Jodorowsky studied traditional mime under Étienne Decroux, and put his miming skills to use in the silent film Les têtes interverties (1957), directed with Saul Gilbert and Ruth Michelly. From 1960 he divided his time between Paris and Mexico City, in the former becoming a founding member of the anarchistic avant-garde Panic Movement of performance artists. In 1966 he created his first comic strip, Anibal 5, while in 1967 he directed his first feature film, the surrealist Fando y Lis, which caused a huge scandal in Mexico, eventually being banned.
His next film, the acid western El Topo (1970), became a hit on the midnight movie circuit in the United States, considered as the first-ever midnight cult film, and garnered high praise from John Lennon, who convinced former Beatles manager Allen Klein to provide Jodorowsky with $1 million to finance his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain (1973), a surrealist exploration of western esotericism. Disagreements with Klein, however, led to both The Holy Mountain and El Topo failing to gain widespread distribution, although both became classics on the underground film circuit.
After a cancelled attempt at filming Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune, Jodorowsky produced five more films: the family film Tusk (1980); the surrealist horror Santa Sangre (1989); the failed blockbuster The Rainbow Thief (1990); and the first two films in a planned five-film autobiographical series The Dance of Reality (2013) and Endless Poetry (2016). During the same period, he wrote a series of science fiction comic books, most notably The Incal (1980–1989), which has been described as having a claim to be "the best comic book" ever written, and also The Technopriests and Metabarons. He has also written books and regularly lectures on his own spiritual system, which he calls "psychomagic" and "psychoshamanism" and which borrows from his interests in alchemy, the tarot, Zen Buddhism and shamanism. His son Cristóbal has followed his teachings on psychoshamanism; this work is captured in the feature documentary Quantum Men, directed by Carlos Serrano Azcona.
Early life and education
Jodorowsky was born in 1929 in the coastal town of Tocopilla, Chile, to parents who were Jewish immigrants from Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro), Elisavetgrad (now Kropyvnytskyi) and other cities of the Russian Empire (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russian Partition, now Ukraine). His father, Jaime Jodorowsky Groismann (Jakub Chodorowski), was a merchant, who was largely abusive to his wife Sara Felicidad Prullansky Arcavi, and at one time accused her of flirting with a customer. Angered, he subsequently beat and raped her, getting her pregnant, which led to the birth of Alejandro. Because of this brutal conception, Sara both hated her husband and disliked her son, telling him that "I cannot love you" and rarely showing him tenderness. Alejandro also had an elder sister, Raquel Jodorowsky, but disliked her, for he believed that she was selfish, doing "everything to expel me from the family so that she could be the centre of attention." Alongside his dislike for his family, he also held contempt for many of the local people, who viewed him as an outsider because of his status as the son of immigrants, and also for the American mining industrialists who worked locally and treated the Chilean people badly. It was this treatment at the hands of Americans that led to his later condemnation of American imperialism and neo-colonialism in Latin America in several of his films. Nonetheless he liked his local area, and was greatly unhappy when he was forced to leave it at the age of nine years old, something for which he blamed his father. His family subsequently moved to the city of Santiago, Chile.
He immersed himself in reading, and also began writing poetry, having his first poem published when he was sixteen years old, alongside associating with such Chilean poets as Nicanor Parra, Stella Díaz Varín and Enrique Lihn. Becoming interested in the political ideology of anarchism, he began attending college, studying psychology and philosophy, but stayed for only two years. After dropping out, and having an interest in theatre and particularly mime, he took up employment as a clown in a circus and began a career as a theatre director. Meanwhile, in 1947 he founded his own theatrical troupe, the Teatro Mimico, which by 1952 had fifty members, and the following year he wrote his first play, El Minotaura (The Minotaur). Nonetheless, Jodorowsky felt that there was little for him left in Chile, and so that year he moved to Paris.
It was while in Paris that Jodorowsky began studying mime with Étienne Decroux and joined the troupe of one of Decroux's students, Marcel Marceau. It was with Marceau's troupe that he went on a world tour, and wrote several routines for the group, including "The Cage" and "The Mask Maker". After this, he returned to theatre directing, working on the music hall comeback of Maurice Chevalier in Paris. In 1957, Jodorowsky turned his hand to filmmaking, creating Les têtes interverties (The Severed Heads), a 20-minute adaptation of Thomas Mann's novella. It consisted almost entirely of mime, and told the surreal story of a head-swapping merchant who helps a young man find courtship success. Jodorowsky played the lead role. The director Jean Cocteau admired the film, and wrote an introduction for it. It was considered lost until a print of the film was discovered in 2006.
In 1960, Jodorowsky moved to Mexico, where he settled down in Mexico City. Nonetheless, he continued to return occasionally to France, on one occasion visiting the Surrealist artist André Breton, but he was disillusioned in that he felt Breton had become somewhat conservative in his old age. Continuing his interest in surrealism, in 1962 he founded the Panic Movement along with Fernando Arrabal and Roland Topor. The movement aimed to go beyond the conventional surrealist ideas by embracing absurdism. Its members refused to take themselves seriously, while laughing at those critics who did. In 1966 he produced his first comic strip, Anibal 5, which was related to the Panic Movement. The following year he created a new feature film, Fando y Lis, loosely based on a play written by Fernando Arrabal, who was working with Jodorowsky on performance art at the time. Fando y Lis premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, where it instigated a riot amongst those objecting to the film's content, and subsequently it was banned in Mexico.
It was in Mexico City that he encountered Ejo Takata (1928–1997), a Zen Buddhist monk who had studied at the Horyuji and Shofukuji monasteries in Japan before traveling to Mexico via the United States in 1967 to spread Zen. Jodorowsky became a disciple of Takata and offered his own house to be turned into a zendo. Subsequently, Takata attracted other disciples around him, who spent their time in meditation and the study of koans. Eventually, Takata instructed Jodorowsky that he had to learn more about his feminine side, and so he went and befriended the English surrealist Leonora Carrington, who had recently moved to Mexico.
Career
El Topo and The Holy Mountain (1970–1974)
In 1970, Jodorowsky released the film El Topo, which sometimes is known in English as The Mole, which he had both directed and starred in. An acid western, El Topo tells the story of a wandering Mexican bandit and gunslinger, El Topo (played by Jodorowsky), who is on a search for spiritual enlightenment, taking his young son along with him. Along the way, he violently confronts a number of other individuals, before finally being killed and being resurrected to live within a community of deformed people who are trapped inside a mountain cave. Describing the work, he stated that "I ask of film what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs. The difference being that when one creates a psychedelic film, he need not create a film that shows the visions of a person who has taken a pill; rather, he needs to manufacture the pill." Knowing how Fando y Lis had caused such a scandal in Mexico, Jodorowsky decided not to release El Topo there, instead focusing on its release in other countries across the world, including Mexico's northern neighbour, the United States. It was in New York City where the film would play as a "midnight movie" for several months at Ben Barenholtz's Elgin Theater. It attracted the attention of rock musician and countercultural figure John Lennon, who thought very highly of it, and convinced the president of The Beatles' company Apple Corps, Allen Klein, to distribute it in the United States.
Klein agreed to give Jodorowsky $1 million to go toward creating his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain, released in 1973. It has been suggested that The Holy Mountain may have been inspired by René Daumal's Surrealist novel Mount Analogue. The Holy Mountain was another complex, multi-part story that featured a man credited as "The Thief" and equated with Jesus Christ, a mystical alchemist played by Jodorowsky, seven powerful business people representing seven of the planets (Venus and the six planets from Mars to Pluto), a religious training regimen of spiritual rebirth, and a quest to the top of a holy mountain for the secret of immortality. During the completion of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky received spiritual training from Oscar Ichazo of the Arica School, who encouraged him to take LSD and guided him through the subsequent psychedelic experience. Around the same time (2 November 1973), Jodorowsky participated in an isolation tank experiment conducted by John Lilly.
Shortly thereafter, Allen Klein demanded that Jodorowsky create a film adaptation of Pauline Réage's classic novel of female masochism, Story of O. Klein had promised this adaptation to various investors. Jodorowsky, who had discovered feminism during the filming of The Holy Mountain, refused to make the film, going so far as to leave the country to escape directing duties. In retaliation, Allen Klein made El Topo and The Holy Mountain, to which he held the rights, completely unavailable to the public for more than 30 years. Jodorowsky frequently decried Klein's actions in interviews.
Soon after the release of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky gave a talk at the Teatro Julio Castillo, University of Mexico on the subject of koans (despite the fact that he initially had been booked on the condition that his talk would be about cinematography), at which Ejo Takata appeared. After the talk, Takata gave Jodorowsky his kyosaku, believing that his former student had mastered the art of understanding koans.
Dune and Tusk (1975–1980)
In December 1974, a French consortium led by Jean-Paul Gibon purchased the film rights to Frank Herbert's epic 1965 science fiction novel Dune and asked Jodorowsky to direct a film version. Jodorowsky planned to cast the Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, in what would have been his only speaking role as a film actor, in the role of Emperor Shaddam IV. Dalí agreed when Jodorowsky offered to pay him a fee of $100,000 per hour. He also planned to cast Orson Welles as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen; Welles only agreed when Jodorowsky offered to get his favourite gourmet chef to prepare his meals for him throughout the filming. The book's protagonist, Paul Atreides, was to be played by Jodorowsky's son, Brontis Jodorowsky. The music would be composed by Pink Floyd and Magma. Jodorowsky set up a pre-production unit in Paris consisting of Chris Foss, a British artist who designed covers for science fiction publications, Jean Giraud (Moebius), a French illustrator who created and also wrote and drew for Métal Hurlant magazine, and H. R. Giger. Frank Herbert travelled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2 million of the $9.5 million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled). Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship. The production for the film collapsed when no film studio could be found willing to fund the movie to Jodorowsky's terms. The aborted production was chronicled in the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune. Subsequently, the rights for filming were sold to Dino de Laurentiis, who employed the American filmmaker David Lynch to direct, creating the film Dune in 1984. The documentary does not include any original film footage of what was to be Jodorowsky's Dune but does make extraordinary claims as to the influence this unmade film had on other actual science fiction films, such as Star Wars, Alien, Terminator, Flash Gordon, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
After the collapse of the Dune project, Jodorowsky completely changed course and, in 1980, premiered his children's fable Tusk, shot in India. Taken from Reginald Campbell's novel Poo Lorn of the Elephants, the film explores the soul-mate relationship between a young British woman living in India and a highly prized elephant. The film exhibited little of the director's outlandish visual style and was never given wide release.
Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981–1990)
In 1982, Jodorowsky divorced his wife.
In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's The Hands of Orlac. It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors.
He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Domínguez D., wrote the screenplay).
That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to France to live.
In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where he once again met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again.
Attempts to return to filmmaking (1990–2011)
In 2000, Jodorowsky won the Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF). Jodorowsky attended the festival and his films were shown, including El Topo and The Holy Mountain, which at the time had grey legal status. According to festival director Bryan Wendorf, it was an open question of whether CUFF would be allowed to show both films, or whether the police would show up and shut the festival down.
Until 2007, Fando y Lis and Santa Sangre were the only Jodorowsky works available on DVD. Neither El Topo nor The Holy Mountain were available on videocassette or DVD in the United States or the United Kingdom, due to ownership disputes with distributor Allen Klein. After settlement of the dispute in 2004, however, plans to re-release Jodorowsky's films were announced by ABKCO Films. On 19 January 2007, it was announced online that Anchor Bay would release a box set including El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and Fando y Lis on 1 May 2007. A limited edition of the set includes both the El Topo and The Holy Mountain soundtracks. And, in early February 2007, Tartan Video announced its 14 May 2007, release date for the UK PAL DVD editions of El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and the six-disc box set which, alongside the aforementioned feature films, includes the two soundtrack CDs, as well as separate DVD editions of Jodorowsky's 1968 debut feature Fando y Lis (with his 1957 short La cravate a.k.a. Les têtes interverties, included as an extra) and the 1994 feature-length documentary La constellation Jodorowsky. Notably, Fando y Lis and La cravate were digitally restored extensively and remastered in London during late 2006, thus providing a suitable complement to the quality restoration work undertaken on El Topo and The Holy Mountain in the States by ABKCO, and ensuring that the presentation of Fando y Lis is a significant improvement over the 2001 Fantoma DVD edition. Prior to the availability of these legitimate releases, only inferior quality, optically censored, bootleg copies of both El Topo and The Holy Mountain have been circulated on the Internet and on DVD.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Jodorowsky attempted to make a sequel to El Topo, called at different times The Sons of El Topo and Abel Cain, but did not find investors for the project.
In an interview with Premiere Magazine, Jodorowsky said he intended his next project to be a gangster film called King Shot. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper in November 2009, however, Jodorowsky revealed that he was unable to find the funds to make King Shot, and instead would be entering preparations on Sons of El Topo, for which he claimed to have signed a contract with "some Russian producers".
In 2010, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City staged the first American cinema retrospective of Alejandro Jodorowsky entitled Blood into Gold: The Cinematic Alchemy of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky would attend the retrospective and hold a master class on art as a way of transformation. This retrospective would inspire the museum MoMA PS1 to present the exhibition Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Holy Mountain in 2011.
The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry (2011–present)
In August 2011, Alejandro arrived in a town in Chile where he grew up, also the setting of his autobiography The Dance of Reality, to promote an autobiographical film based upon his book.
On 31 October 2011, Halloween night, the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) honored Jodorowsky by showing The Holy Mountain. He attended and spoke about his work and life. The next evening, he presented El Topo at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center.
Alejandro has stated that after finishing The Dance of Reality he was preparing to shoot his long-gestating El Topo sequel, Abel Cain. By January 2013, Alejandro finished filming on The Dance of Reality and entered into post-production. Alejandro's son and co-star in the film, Brontis, claimed the film was to be finished by March 2013, and that the film was "very different than the other films he made". On 23 April, it was announced that the film would have its world premiere at the Film Festival in Cannes. coinciding with The Dance of Reality premiered alongside the documentary film Jodorowsky's Dune, which premiered in May 2013 at the Cannes Film Festival, creating a "Jodorowsky double bill".
In 2015, Jodorowsky began a new film entitled Endless Poetry, the sequel to his last "auto-biopic", The Dance of Reality. His Paris-based production company, Satori Films, launched two successful crowdfunding campaigns to finance the film. The Indiegogo campaign has been left open indefinitely, receiving donations from fans and movie-goers in support of the independent production. The film was shot between June and August 2015, in the streets of Matucana in Santiago, Chile, where Jodorowsky lived for a period in his life. The film portrays his young adulthood in Santiago, years during which he became a core member of the Chilean poetic avant-garde alongside artists such as Hugo Marín, Gustavo Becerra, Enrique Lihn, Stella Díaz Varín, Nicanor Parra and others. Jodorowsky's son, Adan Jodorowsky, plays him as an adult and Brontis Jodorowsky, plays as his father Jaime. Jeremias Herskovitz, from The Dance of Reality, portrays Jodorowsky as a teenager. Pamela Flores plays Sara (his mother) and Stella Díaz Varín (poetess and young Jodorowsky's girlfriend). Leandro Taub portrays Jodorowsky's best friend, the poet and novelist Enrique Lihn. The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival on 14 May 2016. Variety's review was overwhelmingly positive, calling it "...the most accessible movie he has ever made, and it may also be the best."
During an interview at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, Jodorowsky announced his plans to finally make The Son of El Topo as soon as financial backing is obtained.
Other work
Jodorowsky is a weekly contributor of "good news" to the nightly "author news report" of his friend, Fernando Sánchez Dragó in Telemadrid.
He also released a 12" vinyl with the Original Soundtrack of Zarathustra (Discos Tizoc, Mexico, 1970).
He has cited the filmmaker Federico Fellini as his primary cinematic influence; other artistic influences included George Gurdjieff, Antonin Artaud, and Luis Buñuel. He has been described as an influence on such figures as Marilyn Manson, David Lynch, Nicolas Winding Refn, Jan Kounen, Dennis Hopper, and Kanye West.
Comics
Jodorowsky started his comic career in Mexico with the creation of Anibal 5 series in mid-1966 with illustrations by Manuel Moro. He also drew his own comic strip in the weekly series Fabulas pánicas that appeared in the Mexican newspaper, El Heraldo de México. He also wrote original stories for at least two or three other comic books in Mexico during those days: Los insoportables Borbolla was one of them. After his fourth film, Tusk, he started The Incal, with Jean Giraud (Mœbius). This graphic novel has its roots deep in the tarot and its symbols, e.g., the protagonist of The Incal, John Difool, is linked to the Fool card. The Incal (which would branch off into a prequel and sequel) forms the first in a sequence of several science fiction comic book series, all set in the same space opera Jodoverse (or "Metabarons Universe") published by Humanoids Publishing.
Comic books set in this milieu are Incal (trilogy: Before the Incal/ Incal/ Final Incal), Metabarons (trilogy: Castaka/ The Caste of the Metabarons/ Weapons of the Metabaron), and The Technopriests and also an RPG adaptation, The Metabarons Roleplaying Game. Many ideas and concepts derived from Jodorowsky's planned adaptation of Dune (which he would have been loosely based upon Frank Herbert's original novel) are featured in this universe.
Mœbius and Jodorowsky sued Luc Besson, director of The Fifth Element, claiming that the 1997 film borrowed graphic and story elements from The Incal, but they lost their case. The suit was plagued by ambiguity since Mœbius had willingly participated in the creation of the film, having been hired by Besson as a contributing artist, but had done so without gaining the approval of Incal co-creator Jodorowsky, whose services Besson did not call upon. For more than a decade, Jodorowsky pressured his publisher Les Humanoïdes Associés to sue Luc Besson for plagiarism, but the publisher refused, fearing the inevitability of the final outcome. In a 2002 interview with the Danish comic book magazine Strip!, Jodorowsky stated that he considered it an honour that somebody stole his ideas.
Other comics by Jodorowsky include the Western Bouncer illustrated by Francois Boucq, Juan Solo (Son of the Gun), and Le Lama blanc (The White Lama), the latter were illustrated by Georges Bess.
Le Cœur couronné (The Crowned Heart, translated into English as The Madwoman of the Sacred Heart), a racy satire on religion set in contemporary times, won Jodorowsky and his collaborator, Jean Giraud, the 2001 Haxtur Award for Best Long Strip. He is currently working on a new graphic novel for the U.S. market.
Jodorowsky's comic book work also appears in Taboo volume 4 (ed. Stephen R. Bissette), which features an interview with the director, designs for his version of Frank Herbert's Dune, comic storyboards for El Topo, and a collaboration with Moebius with the illustrated Eyes of the Cat.
Jodorowsky collaborated with Milo Manara in Borgia (2006), a graphic novel about the history of the House of Borgia.
Psychomagic
Jodorowsky spent almost a decade reconstructing the original form of the Tarot de Marseille. From this work he moved into more therapeutic work in three areas: psychomagic, psychogenealogy and initiatic massage. Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which practitioners of the therapy believe are passed down from generation to generation. Psychogenealogy includes the studying of the patient's personality and family tree in order to best address their specific sources. It is similar, in its phenomenological approach to genealogy, to the Constellations pioneered by Bert Hellinger.
Jodorowsky has several books on his therapeutic methods, including Psicomagia: La trampa sagrada (Psychomagic: The Sacred Trap) and his autobiography, La danza de la realidad (The Dance of Reality), which he was filming as a feature-length film in March 2012. To date he has published more than 23 novels and philosophical treatises, along with dozens of articles and interviews. His books are widely read in Spanish and French, but are for the most part unknown to English-speaking audiences.
For a quarter of a century, Jodorowsky held classes and lectures for free, in cafés and universities all over the city of Paris. Typically, such courses or talks would begin on Wednesday evenings as tarot divination lessons, and would culminate in an hour long conference, also free, where at times hundreds of attendees would be treated to live demonstrations of a psychological "arbre généalogique" ("tree of genealogy") involving volunteers from the audience. In these conferences, Jodorowsky would pave the way to building a strong base of students of his philosophy, which deals with understanding the unconscious as the "over-self", composed of many generations of family relatives, living or deceased, acting on the psyche, well into adult lives, and causing compulsions. Of all his work, Jodorowsky considers these activities to be the most important of his life. Though such activities only take place in the insular world of Parisian cafés, he has devoted thousands of hours of his life to teaching and helping people "become more conscious," as he puts it.
Since 2011 these talks have dwindled to once a month and take place at the Librairie Les Cent Ciels in Paris.
His film Psychomagic, a Healing Art premiered in Lyon on 3 September 2019. It was then released on streaming services on 1 August 2020.
Personal life
Jodorowsky's first wife was the actress Valérie Tremblay. He is currently married to the artist and costume designer Pascale Montandon.
He has five children: Brontis Jodorowsky, an actor who worked with his father in El Topo, The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry; Teo, who played in Santa Sangre; Cristóbal, a psychoshaman and an actor (interpreter in Santa Sangre and the main character in the shamanic documentary Quantum Men); Eugenia Jodorowsky; and the youngest, Adan Jodorowsky, a musician known by his stage name of Adanowsky. The fashion model Alma Jodorowsky is the granddaughter of Alejandro.
On his religious views, Jodorowsky has called himself an "atheist mystic".
He does not drink or smoke, and has stated that he does not eat red meat or poultry because he "does not like corpses", basing his diet on vegetables, fruits, grains and occasionally marine products.
In 2005, Jodorowsky officiated at the wedding of Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese.
Fans included musicians Peter Gabriel, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore (of the pop-duo Empire of the Sun). Wes Borland, guitarist of Limp Bizkit, said that the film Holy Mountain was a big influence on him, especially as a visual artist, and that the concept album Lotus Island of his band Black Light Burns was a tribute to it.
Jodorowsky was interviewed by Daniel Pinchbeck for the Franco-German television show Durch die Nacht mit … on the TV station Arte, in a very personal discussion, spending a night together in France, continuing the interview in different locations such as a park and a hotel.
Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in the ending titles of his 2011 film Drive, and dedicated his 2013 Thai crime thriller, Only God Forgives, to Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky also appeared in the documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, directed by Refn's wife Liv, giving the couple a tarot reading.
Argentinean actor Leandro Taub thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in his book La Mente Oculta, for which Jodorowsky wrote the prologue.
Criticism and controversy
When Jodorowsky's first feature film, Fando y Lis, premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, the screening was controversial and erupted into a riot, due to its graphic content. Jodorowsky had to leave the theatre by sneaking outside to a waiting limousine, and when the crowd outside the theatre recognized him, the car was pelted with rocks. The following week, the film opened to sell-out crowds in Mexico City, but more fights broke out, and the film was banned by the Mexican government. Jodorowsky himself was nearly deported and the controversy provided a great deal of fodder for the Mexican newspapers.
In regard to the making of El Topo, Jodorowsky allegedly stated in the early 1970s:
In the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune, Jodorowsky states:
As a result of these alleged statements, Jodorowsky has been criticised. Matt Brown of Screen Anarchy wrote that "it's easier to wall off a certain type of criminality behind the buffer of time—sure, Alejandro Jodorowsky is on the record in his book on the making of the film as having raped Mara Lorenzio while making El Topo—though he later denied it—but nowadays he's just that hilarious old kook from Jodorowsky's Dune!" Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com called Jodorowsky "an artist who condones rape as a means to an end for the purpose of creating art. A man who seems to believe that rape is something that women 'need' if they can't accept male sexual power on their own". Jude Doyle of Elle wrote that Jodorowsky "has been teasing the idea of an unsimulated rape scene in his cult classic film El Topo for decades ... though he's elsewhere described the unsimulated sex in that scene as consensual", and went on to state that the quote "has not endangered his status as an avant-garde icon".
On 26 June 2017, Jodorowsky released a statement on his Facebook account in response to the question: "Did you rape an actress during the filming of El Topo?" The following excerpts are from said statement:
Filmography
As director
As actor
Bibliography
Selected bibliography of comics, novels and non-fiction writings:
Graphic novels and comics
Anibal 5 {Original Mexican edition with Manuel Moro} (1966)
Los Insoportables Borbolla (with Manuel Moro) (1966)
The Panic Fables (; 1967–1970), comic strip published in El Heraldo de México.
The Eyes of the Cat (1978)
The Jealous God (1984)
The Magical Twins (1987)
Anibal 5 {French edition with Mœbius} (1990)
Diosamente (1992)
Moonface (1992)
Angel Claws (1994)
Son of the Gun (1995)
Madwoman of the Sacred Heart (1998)
The Shadow's Treasure (1999)
Bouncer (2001)
The White Lama (2004)
Borgia (2004)
Screaming Planet (2006)
Royal Blood (2010)
Showman Killer (2010)
Pietrolino (2013)
The Son of El Topo (2016- ongoing)
Knights of Heliopolis (2017)
Metabarons Universe
Beginning with The Incal in 1981, Jodorowsky has co-written and produced a series of linked comics series and graphic novels () for the French-language market known colloquially as the Jodoverse. The series was initially developed with Jean Giraud using concepts and designs created for Jodorowky's unfinished Dune project. Many of the comics and novels have been translated into Spanish, English, and German under Jodorowsky supervision.
The Incal (1981–1988)
Before the Incal (1988–1995)
The Metabarons (1992–2003)
The Technopriests (1998–2006)
Megalex (1999–2007)
After the Incal (2000), incomplete series.
Metabarons Genesis: Castaka (2007–2013)
Weapons of the Metabaron (2008)
Final Incal (2008–2014), revised version of the After the Incal series with new art and text.
The Metabaron (2015–2018)
Simak (2019)
Fiction
Jodorowsky's Spanish-language novels translated into English include:
Where the Bird Sings Best (1992)
Albina and the Dog Men (1999)
The Son of Black Thursday (1999)
Non-fiction
Psychomagic (1995)
The Dance of Reality (2001)
The Way of Tarot (2004), with Marianne Costa
The Manual of Psychomagic (2009)
Metageneaology (2012), with Marianne Costa
pascALEjandro: Alchemical Androgynous (2017), with Pascale Montandon
Autobiography
The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky (2005)
The Dance of Reality: A Psychomagical Autobiography (2014)
Sacred Trickery and the Way of Kindness: The Radical Wisdom of Jodo (2016)
The Finger and the Moon: Zen Teachings and Koans (2016)
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading
Cobb, Ben (2007). Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Persistence of Vision 6), ed. Louise Brealey, pref. Alan Jones, int. Stephen Barber. London, April 2007 / New York, August 2007, Creation Books.
Coillard, Jean-Paul (2009), De la cage au grand écran. Entretiens avec Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paris. K-Inite Editions.
Chignoli, Andrea (2009), Zoom back, Camera! El cine de Alejandro Jodorowsky, Santiago de Chile, Uqbar Editores.
Dominguez Aragones, Edmundo (1980). Tres extraordinarios: Luis Spota, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Emilio "Indio" Fernández; Mexicali, Mexico DF, Juan Pablos Editor. P. 109–146.
Gonzalez, Házael (2011), Alejandro Jodorowsky: Danzando con la realidad, Palma de Mallorca, Dolmen Editorial.
Larouche, Michel (1985). Alexandre Jodorowsky, cinéaste panique, París, ça cinéma, Albatros.
Moldes, Diego, (2012). Alejandro Jodorowsky, Madrid, Col. Signo e Imagen / Cineastas, Ediciones Cátedra. Prologue by Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Monteleone, Massimo (1993). La Talpa e la Fenice. Il cinema di Alejandro Jodorowsky, Bologna, Granata Press.
External links
Jodorowsky publications in Métal Hurlant. BDoubliées
Jodorowsky albums. Bedetheque
Jodorowsky publications in English. Europeancomics.net
1929 births
Living people
20th-century alchemists
20th-century atheists
21st-century alchemists
21st-century atheists
Chilean comics writers
Chilean emigrants to France
Chilean expatriates in Mexico
Chilean film directors
Chilean experimental filmmakers
Esotericists
French-language film directors
French comics writers
French film directors
Chilean mimes
Chilean surrealist artists
Chilean surrealist writers
French surrealist artists
French surrealist writers
Surrealist filmmakers
Horror film directors
Anarchist writers
Chilean speculative fiction writers
Chilean autobiographers
Chilean Jews
Chilean people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Jewish anarchists
Jewish atheists
Jewish feminists
Jewish mimes
Mystics
Naturalized citizens of France
Chilean occultists
People from Tocopilla
Chilean performance artists
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychotherapists
Tarot readers
Polish Ashkenazi Jews | true | [
"JDiff is a Javadoc doclet which generates an HTML report of all the packages, classes, constructors, methods, and fields which have been removed, added or changed in any way, including their documentation, when two Java APIs are compared. This is very useful for describing exactly what has changed between two releases of a product. Only the API of each version is compared. It does not compare what the source code does when executed.\n\nExternal links\n JDiff homepage\n A sample report - resembles Javadoc reports\n\nDocumentation generators\nJava development tools",
"Winterheim is a fantasy novel by Douglas Niles, set in the world of Dragonlance, and based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It is the third novel in the \"Icewall\" trilogy. It was published in paperback in January 2003.\n\nPlot summary\nStrongwind Whalebone, king of the Highlanders, has been imprisoned in the ogre fortress, while ogre king Grimwar Bane faces royal treachery and desperate revolt.\n\nReception\nReviewer Don D'Ammassa wrote that, especially compared to Niles' other novels, the story is \"a bit too simplistic and routine.\"\n\nReferences\n\n2003 novels\nDragonlance novels"
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"what year was this",
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"What year did he begin working again",
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| C_beba32b7d5a84d95bf24ade3480043d3_1 | What is the movie about | 7 | What is the movie Santa Sangre (Holy Blood) about | Alejandro Jodorowsky | In 1982 Jodorowsky divorced his wife. In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's "The Hands of Orlac". It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors. He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Dominguez D., wrote the screenplay). That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to live in France. In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where once again he met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again. CANNOTANSWER | as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. | Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French filmmaker and artist. Since 1948, he has worked as a novelist, screenwriter, a poet, a playwright, an essayist, a film and theater director and producer, an actor, a film editor, a comics writer, a musician and composer, a philosopher, a puppeteer, a mime, a lay psychologist, a draughtsman, a painter, a sculptor, and a spiritual guru.
Best known for his avant-garde films El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973), Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his work which "is filled with violently surreal images and a hybrid blend of mysticism and religious provocation".
Overview
Born to Jewish-Galician parents (Chodorowski) in Tocopilla, Chile, Jodorowsky experienced an unhappy and alienated childhood, and so immersed himself in reading and writing poetry. Dropping out of college, he became involved in theater and in particular mime, working as a clown before founding his own theater troupe, the Teatro Mimico, in 1947. Moving to Paris in the early 1950s, Jodorowsky studied traditional mime under Étienne Decroux, and put his miming skills to use in the silent film Les têtes interverties (1957), directed with Saul Gilbert and Ruth Michelly. From 1960 he divided his time between Paris and Mexico City, in the former becoming a founding member of the anarchistic avant-garde Panic Movement of performance artists. In 1966 he created his first comic strip, Anibal 5, while in 1967 he directed his first feature film, the surrealist Fando y Lis, which caused a huge scandal in Mexico, eventually being banned.
His next film, the acid western El Topo (1970), became a hit on the midnight movie circuit in the United States, considered as the first-ever midnight cult film, and garnered high praise from John Lennon, who convinced former Beatles manager Allen Klein to provide Jodorowsky with $1 million to finance his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain (1973), a surrealist exploration of western esotericism. Disagreements with Klein, however, led to both The Holy Mountain and El Topo failing to gain widespread distribution, although both became classics on the underground film circuit.
After a cancelled attempt at filming Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune, Jodorowsky produced five more films: the family film Tusk (1980); the surrealist horror Santa Sangre (1989); the failed blockbuster The Rainbow Thief (1990); and the first two films in a planned five-film autobiographical series The Dance of Reality (2013) and Endless Poetry (2016). During the same period, he wrote a series of science fiction comic books, most notably The Incal (1980–1989), which has been described as having a claim to be "the best comic book" ever written, and also The Technopriests and Metabarons. He has also written books and regularly lectures on his own spiritual system, which he calls "psychomagic" and "psychoshamanism" and which borrows from his interests in alchemy, the tarot, Zen Buddhism and shamanism. His son Cristóbal has followed his teachings on psychoshamanism; this work is captured in the feature documentary Quantum Men, directed by Carlos Serrano Azcona.
Early life and education
Jodorowsky was born in 1929 in the coastal town of Tocopilla, Chile, to parents who were Jewish immigrants from Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro), Elisavetgrad (now Kropyvnytskyi) and other cities of the Russian Empire (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russian Partition, now Ukraine). His father, Jaime Jodorowsky Groismann (Jakub Chodorowski), was a merchant, who was largely abusive to his wife Sara Felicidad Prullansky Arcavi, and at one time accused her of flirting with a customer. Angered, he subsequently beat and raped her, getting her pregnant, which led to the birth of Alejandro. Because of this brutal conception, Sara both hated her husband and disliked her son, telling him that "I cannot love you" and rarely showing him tenderness. Alejandro also had an elder sister, Raquel Jodorowsky, but disliked her, for he believed that she was selfish, doing "everything to expel me from the family so that she could be the centre of attention." Alongside his dislike for his family, he also held contempt for many of the local people, who viewed him as an outsider because of his status as the son of immigrants, and also for the American mining industrialists who worked locally and treated the Chilean people badly. It was this treatment at the hands of Americans that led to his later condemnation of American imperialism and neo-colonialism in Latin America in several of his films. Nonetheless he liked his local area, and was greatly unhappy when he was forced to leave it at the age of nine years old, something for which he blamed his father. His family subsequently moved to the city of Santiago, Chile.
He immersed himself in reading, and also began writing poetry, having his first poem published when he was sixteen years old, alongside associating with such Chilean poets as Nicanor Parra, Stella Díaz Varín and Enrique Lihn. Becoming interested in the political ideology of anarchism, he began attending college, studying psychology and philosophy, but stayed for only two years. After dropping out, and having an interest in theatre and particularly mime, he took up employment as a clown in a circus and began a career as a theatre director. Meanwhile, in 1947 he founded his own theatrical troupe, the Teatro Mimico, which by 1952 had fifty members, and the following year he wrote his first play, El Minotaura (The Minotaur). Nonetheless, Jodorowsky felt that there was little for him left in Chile, and so that year he moved to Paris.
It was while in Paris that Jodorowsky began studying mime with Étienne Decroux and joined the troupe of one of Decroux's students, Marcel Marceau. It was with Marceau's troupe that he went on a world tour, and wrote several routines for the group, including "The Cage" and "The Mask Maker". After this, he returned to theatre directing, working on the music hall comeback of Maurice Chevalier in Paris. In 1957, Jodorowsky turned his hand to filmmaking, creating Les têtes interverties (The Severed Heads), a 20-minute adaptation of Thomas Mann's novella. It consisted almost entirely of mime, and told the surreal story of a head-swapping merchant who helps a young man find courtship success. Jodorowsky played the lead role. The director Jean Cocteau admired the film, and wrote an introduction for it. It was considered lost until a print of the film was discovered in 2006.
In 1960, Jodorowsky moved to Mexico, where he settled down in Mexico City. Nonetheless, he continued to return occasionally to France, on one occasion visiting the Surrealist artist André Breton, but he was disillusioned in that he felt Breton had become somewhat conservative in his old age. Continuing his interest in surrealism, in 1962 he founded the Panic Movement along with Fernando Arrabal and Roland Topor. The movement aimed to go beyond the conventional surrealist ideas by embracing absurdism. Its members refused to take themselves seriously, while laughing at those critics who did. In 1966 he produced his first comic strip, Anibal 5, which was related to the Panic Movement. The following year he created a new feature film, Fando y Lis, loosely based on a play written by Fernando Arrabal, who was working with Jodorowsky on performance art at the time. Fando y Lis premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, where it instigated a riot amongst those objecting to the film's content, and subsequently it was banned in Mexico.
It was in Mexico City that he encountered Ejo Takata (1928–1997), a Zen Buddhist monk who had studied at the Horyuji and Shofukuji monasteries in Japan before traveling to Mexico via the United States in 1967 to spread Zen. Jodorowsky became a disciple of Takata and offered his own house to be turned into a zendo. Subsequently, Takata attracted other disciples around him, who spent their time in meditation and the study of koans. Eventually, Takata instructed Jodorowsky that he had to learn more about his feminine side, and so he went and befriended the English surrealist Leonora Carrington, who had recently moved to Mexico.
Career
El Topo and The Holy Mountain (1970–1974)
In 1970, Jodorowsky released the film El Topo, which sometimes is known in English as The Mole, which he had both directed and starred in. An acid western, El Topo tells the story of a wandering Mexican bandit and gunslinger, El Topo (played by Jodorowsky), who is on a search for spiritual enlightenment, taking his young son along with him. Along the way, he violently confronts a number of other individuals, before finally being killed and being resurrected to live within a community of deformed people who are trapped inside a mountain cave. Describing the work, he stated that "I ask of film what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs. The difference being that when one creates a psychedelic film, he need not create a film that shows the visions of a person who has taken a pill; rather, he needs to manufacture the pill." Knowing how Fando y Lis had caused such a scandal in Mexico, Jodorowsky decided not to release El Topo there, instead focusing on its release in other countries across the world, including Mexico's northern neighbour, the United States. It was in New York City where the film would play as a "midnight movie" for several months at Ben Barenholtz's Elgin Theater. It attracted the attention of rock musician and countercultural figure John Lennon, who thought very highly of it, and convinced the president of The Beatles' company Apple Corps, Allen Klein, to distribute it in the United States.
Klein agreed to give Jodorowsky $1 million to go toward creating his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain, released in 1973. It has been suggested that The Holy Mountain may have been inspired by René Daumal's Surrealist novel Mount Analogue. The Holy Mountain was another complex, multi-part story that featured a man credited as "The Thief" and equated with Jesus Christ, a mystical alchemist played by Jodorowsky, seven powerful business people representing seven of the planets (Venus and the six planets from Mars to Pluto), a religious training regimen of spiritual rebirth, and a quest to the top of a holy mountain for the secret of immortality. During the completion of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky received spiritual training from Oscar Ichazo of the Arica School, who encouraged him to take LSD and guided him through the subsequent psychedelic experience. Around the same time (2 November 1973), Jodorowsky participated in an isolation tank experiment conducted by John Lilly.
Shortly thereafter, Allen Klein demanded that Jodorowsky create a film adaptation of Pauline Réage's classic novel of female masochism, Story of O. Klein had promised this adaptation to various investors. Jodorowsky, who had discovered feminism during the filming of The Holy Mountain, refused to make the film, going so far as to leave the country to escape directing duties. In retaliation, Allen Klein made El Topo and The Holy Mountain, to which he held the rights, completely unavailable to the public for more than 30 years. Jodorowsky frequently decried Klein's actions in interviews.
Soon after the release of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky gave a talk at the Teatro Julio Castillo, University of Mexico on the subject of koans (despite the fact that he initially had been booked on the condition that his talk would be about cinematography), at which Ejo Takata appeared. After the talk, Takata gave Jodorowsky his kyosaku, believing that his former student had mastered the art of understanding koans.
Dune and Tusk (1975–1980)
In December 1974, a French consortium led by Jean-Paul Gibon purchased the film rights to Frank Herbert's epic 1965 science fiction novel Dune and asked Jodorowsky to direct a film version. Jodorowsky planned to cast the Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, in what would have been his only speaking role as a film actor, in the role of Emperor Shaddam IV. Dalí agreed when Jodorowsky offered to pay him a fee of $100,000 per hour. He also planned to cast Orson Welles as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen; Welles only agreed when Jodorowsky offered to get his favourite gourmet chef to prepare his meals for him throughout the filming. The book's protagonist, Paul Atreides, was to be played by Jodorowsky's son, Brontis Jodorowsky. The music would be composed by Pink Floyd and Magma. Jodorowsky set up a pre-production unit in Paris consisting of Chris Foss, a British artist who designed covers for science fiction publications, Jean Giraud (Moebius), a French illustrator who created and also wrote and drew for Métal Hurlant magazine, and H. R. Giger. Frank Herbert travelled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2 million of the $9.5 million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled). Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship. The production for the film collapsed when no film studio could be found willing to fund the movie to Jodorowsky's terms. The aborted production was chronicled in the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune. Subsequently, the rights for filming were sold to Dino de Laurentiis, who employed the American filmmaker David Lynch to direct, creating the film Dune in 1984. The documentary does not include any original film footage of what was to be Jodorowsky's Dune but does make extraordinary claims as to the influence this unmade film had on other actual science fiction films, such as Star Wars, Alien, Terminator, Flash Gordon, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
After the collapse of the Dune project, Jodorowsky completely changed course and, in 1980, premiered his children's fable Tusk, shot in India. Taken from Reginald Campbell's novel Poo Lorn of the Elephants, the film explores the soul-mate relationship between a young British woman living in India and a highly prized elephant. The film exhibited little of the director's outlandish visual style and was never given wide release.
Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981–1990)
In 1982, Jodorowsky divorced his wife.
In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's The Hands of Orlac. It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors.
He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Domínguez D., wrote the screenplay).
That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to France to live.
In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where he once again met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again.
Attempts to return to filmmaking (1990–2011)
In 2000, Jodorowsky won the Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF). Jodorowsky attended the festival and his films were shown, including El Topo and The Holy Mountain, which at the time had grey legal status. According to festival director Bryan Wendorf, it was an open question of whether CUFF would be allowed to show both films, or whether the police would show up and shut the festival down.
Until 2007, Fando y Lis and Santa Sangre were the only Jodorowsky works available on DVD. Neither El Topo nor The Holy Mountain were available on videocassette or DVD in the United States or the United Kingdom, due to ownership disputes with distributor Allen Klein. After settlement of the dispute in 2004, however, plans to re-release Jodorowsky's films were announced by ABKCO Films. On 19 January 2007, it was announced online that Anchor Bay would release a box set including El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and Fando y Lis on 1 May 2007. A limited edition of the set includes both the El Topo and The Holy Mountain soundtracks. And, in early February 2007, Tartan Video announced its 14 May 2007, release date for the UK PAL DVD editions of El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and the six-disc box set which, alongside the aforementioned feature films, includes the two soundtrack CDs, as well as separate DVD editions of Jodorowsky's 1968 debut feature Fando y Lis (with his 1957 short La cravate a.k.a. Les têtes interverties, included as an extra) and the 1994 feature-length documentary La constellation Jodorowsky. Notably, Fando y Lis and La cravate were digitally restored extensively and remastered in London during late 2006, thus providing a suitable complement to the quality restoration work undertaken on El Topo and The Holy Mountain in the States by ABKCO, and ensuring that the presentation of Fando y Lis is a significant improvement over the 2001 Fantoma DVD edition. Prior to the availability of these legitimate releases, only inferior quality, optically censored, bootleg copies of both El Topo and The Holy Mountain have been circulated on the Internet and on DVD.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Jodorowsky attempted to make a sequel to El Topo, called at different times The Sons of El Topo and Abel Cain, but did not find investors for the project.
In an interview with Premiere Magazine, Jodorowsky said he intended his next project to be a gangster film called King Shot. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper in November 2009, however, Jodorowsky revealed that he was unable to find the funds to make King Shot, and instead would be entering preparations on Sons of El Topo, for which he claimed to have signed a contract with "some Russian producers".
In 2010, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City staged the first American cinema retrospective of Alejandro Jodorowsky entitled Blood into Gold: The Cinematic Alchemy of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky would attend the retrospective and hold a master class on art as a way of transformation. This retrospective would inspire the museum MoMA PS1 to present the exhibition Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Holy Mountain in 2011.
The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry (2011–present)
In August 2011, Alejandro arrived in a town in Chile where he grew up, also the setting of his autobiography The Dance of Reality, to promote an autobiographical film based upon his book.
On 31 October 2011, Halloween night, the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) honored Jodorowsky by showing The Holy Mountain. He attended and spoke about his work and life. The next evening, he presented El Topo at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center.
Alejandro has stated that after finishing The Dance of Reality he was preparing to shoot his long-gestating El Topo sequel, Abel Cain. By January 2013, Alejandro finished filming on The Dance of Reality and entered into post-production. Alejandro's son and co-star in the film, Brontis, claimed the film was to be finished by March 2013, and that the film was "very different than the other films he made". On 23 April, it was announced that the film would have its world premiere at the Film Festival in Cannes. coinciding with The Dance of Reality premiered alongside the documentary film Jodorowsky's Dune, which premiered in May 2013 at the Cannes Film Festival, creating a "Jodorowsky double bill".
In 2015, Jodorowsky began a new film entitled Endless Poetry, the sequel to his last "auto-biopic", The Dance of Reality. His Paris-based production company, Satori Films, launched two successful crowdfunding campaigns to finance the film. The Indiegogo campaign has been left open indefinitely, receiving donations from fans and movie-goers in support of the independent production. The film was shot between June and August 2015, in the streets of Matucana in Santiago, Chile, where Jodorowsky lived for a period in his life. The film portrays his young adulthood in Santiago, years during which he became a core member of the Chilean poetic avant-garde alongside artists such as Hugo Marín, Gustavo Becerra, Enrique Lihn, Stella Díaz Varín, Nicanor Parra and others. Jodorowsky's son, Adan Jodorowsky, plays him as an adult and Brontis Jodorowsky, plays as his father Jaime. Jeremias Herskovitz, from The Dance of Reality, portrays Jodorowsky as a teenager. Pamela Flores plays Sara (his mother) and Stella Díaz Varín (poetess and young Jodorowsky's girlfriend). Leandro Taub portrays Jodorowsky's best friend, the poet and novelist Enrique Lihn. The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival on 14 May 2016. Variety's review was overwhelmingly positive, calling it "...the most accessible movie he has ever made, and it may also be the best."
During an interview at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, Jodorowsky announced his plans to finally make The Son of El Topo as soon as financial backing is obtained.
Other work
Jodorowsky is a weekly contributor of "good news" to the nightly "author news report" of his friend, Fernando Sánchez Dragó in Telemadrid.
He also released a 12" vinyl with the Original Soundtrack of Zarathustra (Discos Tizoc, Mexico, 1970).
He has cited the filmmaker Federico Fellini as his primary cinematic influence; other artistic influences included George Gurdjieff, Antonin Artaud, and Luis Buñuel. He has been described as an influence on such figures as Marilyn Manson, David Lynch, Nicolas Winding Refn, Jan Kounen, Dennis Hopper, and Kanye West.
Comics
Jodorowsky started his comic career in Mexico with the creation of Anibal 5 series in mid-1966 with illustrations by Manuel Moro. He also drew his own comic strip in the weekly series Fabulas pánicas that appeared in the Mexican newspaper, El Heraldo de México. He also wrote original stories for at least two or three other comic books in Mexico during those days: Los insoportables Borbolla was one of them. After his fourth film, Tusk, he started The Incal, with Jean Giraud (Mœbius). This graphic novel has its roots deep in the tarot and its symbols, e.g., the protagonist of The Incal, John Difool, is linked to the Fool card. The Incal (which would branch off into a prequel and sequel) forms the first in a sequence of several science fiction comic book series, all set in the same space opera Jodoverse (or "Metabarons Universe") published by Humanoids Publishing.
Comic books set in this milieu are Incal (trilogy: Before the Incal/ Incal/ Final Incal), Metabarons (trilogy: Castaka/ The Caste of the Metabarons/ Weapons of the Metabaron), and The Technopriests and also an RPG adaptation, The Metabarons Roleplaying Game. Many ideas and concepts derived from Jodorowsky's planned adaptation of Dune (which he would have been loosely based upon Frank Herbert's original novel) are featured in this universe.
Mœbius and Jodorowsky sued Luc Besson, director of The Fifth Element, claiming that the 1997 film borrowed graphic and story elements from The Incal, but they lost their case. The suit was plagued by ambiguity since Mœbius had willingly participated in the creation of the film, having been hired by Besson as a contributing artist, but had done so without gaining the approval of Incal co-creator Jodorowsky, whose services Besson did not call upon. For more than a decade, Jodorowsky pressured his publisher Les Humanoïdes Associés to sue Luc Besson for plagiarism, but the publisher refused, fearing the inevitability of the final outcome. In a 2002 interview with the Danish comic book magazine Strip!, Jodorowsky stated that he considered it an honour that somebody stole his ideas.
Other comics by Jodorowsky include the Western Bouncer illustrated by Francois Boucq, Juan Solo (Son of the Gun), and Le Lama blanc (The White Lama), the latter were illustrated by Georges Bess.
Le Cœur couronné (The Crowned Heart, translated into English as The Madwoman of the Sacred Heart), a racy satire on religion set in contemporary times, won Jodorowsky and his collaborator, Jean Giraud, the 2001 Haxtur Award for Best Long Strip. He is currently working on a new graphic novel for the U.S. market.
Jodorowsky's comic book work also appears in Taboo volume 4 (ed. Stephen R. Bissette), which features an interview with the director, designs for his version of Frank Herbert's Dune, comic storyboards for El Topo, and a collaboration with Moebius with the illustrated Eyes of the Cat.
Jodorowsky collaborated with Milo Manara in Borgia (2006), a graphic novel about the history of the House of Borgia.
Psychomagic
Jodorowsky spent almost a decade reconstructing the original form of the Tarot de Marseille. From this work he moved into more therapeutic work in three areas: psychomagic, psychogenealogy and initiatic massage. Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which practitioners of the therapy believe are passed down from generation to generation. Psychogenealogy includes the studying of the patient's personality and family tree in order to best address their specific sources. It is similar, in its phenomenological approach to genealogy, to the Constellations pioneered by Bert Hellinger.
Jodorowsky has several books on his therapeutic methods, including Psicomagia: La trampa sagrada (Psychomagic: The Sacred Trap) and his autobiography, La danza de la realidad (The Dance of Reality), which he was filming as a feature-length film in March 2012. To date he has published more than 23 novels and philosophical treatises, along with dozens of articles and interviews. His books are widely read in Spanish and French, but are for the most part unknown to English-speaking audiences.
For a quarter of a century, Jodorowsky held classes and lectures for free, in cafés and universities all over the city of Paris. Typically, such courses or talks would begin on Wednesday evenings as tarot divination lessons, and would culminate in an hour long conference, also free, where at times hundreds of attendees would be treated to live demonstrations of a psychological "arbre généalogique" ("tree of genealogy") involving volunteers from the audience. In these conferences, Jodorowsky would pave the way to building a strong base of students of his philosophy, which deals with understanding the unconscious as the "over-self", composed of many generations of family relatives, living or deceased, acting on the psyche, well into adult lives, and causing compulsions. Of all his work, Jodorowsky considers these activities to be the most important of his life. Though such activities only take place in the insular world of Parisian cafés, he has devoted thousands of hours of his life to teaching and helping people "become more conscious," as he puts it.
Since 2011 these talks have dwindled to once a month and take place at the Librairie Les Cent Ciels in Paris.
His film Psychomagic, a Healing Art premiered in Lyon on 3 September 2019. It was then released on streaming services on 1 August 2020.
Personal life
Jodorowsky's first wife was the actress Valérie Tremblay. He is currently married to the artist and costume designer Pascale Montandon.
He has five children: Brontis Jodorowsky, an actor who worked with his father in El Topo, The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry; Teo, who played in Santa Sangre; Cristóbal, a psychoshaman and an actor (interpreter in Santa Sangre and the main character in the shamanic documentary Quantum Men); Eugenia Jodorowsky; and the youngest, Adan Jodorowsky, a musician known by his stage name of Adanowsky. The fashion model Alma Jodorowsky is the granddaughter of Alejandro.
On his religious views, Jodorowsky has called himself an "atheist mystic".
He does not drink or smoke, and has stated that he does not eat red meat or poultry because he "does not like corpses", basing his diet on vegetables, fruits, grains and occasionally marine products.
In 2005, Jodorowsky officiated at the wedding of Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese.
Fans included musicians Peter Gabriel, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore (of the pop-duo Empire of the Sun). Wes Borland, guitarist of Limp Bizkit, said that the film Holy Mountain was a big influence on him, especially as a visual artist, and that the concept album Lotus Island of his band Black Light Burns was a tribute to it.
Jodorowsky was interviewed by Daniel Pinchbeck for the Franco-German television show Durch die Nacht mit … on the TV station Arte, in a very personal discussion, spending a night together in France, continuing the interview in different locations such as a park and a hotel.
Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in the ending titles of his 2011 film Drive, and dedicated his 2013 Thai crime thriller, Only God Forgives, to Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky also appeared in the documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, directed by Refn's wife Liv, giving the couple a tarot reading.
Argentinean actor Leandro Taub thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in his book La Mente Oculta, for which Jodorowsky wrote the prologue.
Criticism and controversy
When Jodorowsky's first feature film, Fando y Lis, premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, the screening was controversial and erupted into a riot, due to its graphic content. Jodorowsky had to leave the theatre by sneaking outside to a waiting limousine, and when the crowd outside the theatre recognized him, the car was pelted with rocks. The following week, the film opened to sell-out crowds in Mexico City, but more fights broke out, and the film was banned by the Mexican government. Jodorowsky himself was nearly deported and the controversy provided a great deal of fodder for the Mexican newspapers.
In regard to the making of El Topo, Jodorowsky allegedly stated in the early 1970s:
In the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune, Jodorowsky states:
As a result of these alleged statements, Jodorowsky has been criticised. Matt Brown of Screen Anarchy wrote that "it's easier to wall off a certain type of criminality behind the buffer of time—sure, Alejandro Jodorowsky is on the record in his book on the making of the film as having raped Mara Lorenzio while making El Topo—though he later denied it—but nowadays he's just that hilarious old kook from Jodorowsky's Dune!" Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com called Jodorowsky "an artist who condones rape as a means to an end for the purpose of creating art. A man who seems to believe that rape is something that women 'need' if they can't accept male sexual power on their own". Jude Doyle of Elle wrote that Jodorowsky "has been teasing the idea of an unsimulated rape scene in his cult classic film El Topo for decades ... though he's elsewhere described the unsimulated sex in that scene as consensual", and went on to state that the quote "has not endangered his status as an avant-garde icon".
On 26 June 2017, Jodorowsky released a statement on his Facebook account in response to the question: "Did you rape an actress during the filming of El Topo?" The following excerpts are from said statement:
Filmography
As director
As actor
Bibliography
Selected bibliography of comics, novels and non-fiction writings:
Graphic novels and comics
Anibal 5 {Original Mexican edition with Manuel Moro} (1966)
Los Insoportables Borbolla (with Manuel Moro) (1966)
The Panic Fables (; 1967–1970), comic strip published in El Heraldo de México.
The Eyes of the Cat (1978)
The Jealous God (1984)
The Magical Twins (1987)
Anibal 5 {French edition with Mœbius} (1990)
Diosamente (1992)
Moonface (1992)
Angel Claws (1994)
Son of the Gun (1995)
Madwoman of the Sacred Heart (1998)
The Shadow's Treasure (1999)
Bouncer (2001)
The White Lama (2004)
Borgia (2004)
Screaming Planet (2006)
Royal Blood (2010)
Showman Killer (2010)
Pietrolino (2013)
The Son of El Topo (2016- ongoing)
Knights of Heliopolis (2017)
Metabarons Universe
Beginning with The Incal in 1981, Jodorowsky has co-written and produced a series of linked comics series and graphic novels () for the French-language market known colloquially as the Jodoverse. The series was initially developed with Jean Giraud using concepts and designs created for Jodorowky's unfinished Dune project. Many of the comics and novels have been translated into Spanish, English, and German under Jodorowsky supervision.
The Incal (1981–1988)
Before the Incal (1988–1995)
The Metabarons (1992–2003)
The Technopriests (1998–2006)
Megalex (1999–2007)
After the Incal (2000), incomplete series.
Metabarons Genesis: Castaka (2007–2013)
Weapons of the Metabaron (2008)
Final Incal (2008–2014), revised version of the After the Incal series with new art and text.
The Metabaron (2015–2018)
Simak (2019)
Fiction
Jodorowsky's Spanish-language novels translated into English include:
Where the Bird Sings Best (1992)
Albina and the Dog Men (1999)
The Son of Black Thursday (1999)
Non-fiction
Psychomagic (1995)
The Dance of Reality (2001)
The Way of Tarot (2004), with Marianne Costa
The Manual of Psychomagic (2009)
Metageneaology (2012), with Marianne Costa
pascALEjandro: Alchemical Androgynous (2017), with Pascale Montandon
Autobiography
The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky (2005)
The Dance of Reality: A Psychomagical Autobiography (2014)
Sacred Trickery and the Way of Kindness: The Radical Wisdom of Jodo (2016)
The Finger and the Moon: Zen Teachings and Koans (2016)
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading
Cobb, Ben (2007). Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Persistence of Vision 6), ed. Louise Brealey, pref. Alan Jones, int. Stephen Barber. London, April 2007 / New York, August 2007, Creation Books.
Coillard, Jean-Paul (2009), De la cage au grand écran. Entretiens avec Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paris. K-Inite Editions.
Chignoli, Andrea (2009), Zoom back, Camera! El cine de Alejandro Jodorowsky, Santiago de Chile, Uqbar Editores.
Dominguez Aragones, Edmundo (1980). Tres extraordinarios: Luis Spota, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Emilio "Indio" Fernández; Mexicali, Mexico DF, Juan Pablos Editor. P. 109–146.
Gonzalez, Házael (2011), Alejandro Jodorowsky: Danzando con la realidad, Palma de Mallorca, Dolmen Editorial.
Larouche, Michel (1985). Alexandre Jodorowsky, cinéaste panique, París, ça cinéma, Albatros.
Moldes, Diego, (2012). Alejandro Jodorowsky, Madrid, Col. Signo e Imagen / Cineastas, Ediciones Cátedra. Prologue by Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Monteleone, Massimo (1993). La Talpa e la Fenice. Il cinema di Alejandro Jodorowsky, Bologna, Granata Press.
External links
Jodorowsky publications in Métal Hurlant. BDoubliées
Jodorowsky albums. Bedetheque
Jodorowsky publications in English. Europeancomics.net
1929 births
Living people
20th-century alchemists
20th-century atheists
21st-century alchemists
21st-century atheists
Chilean comics writers
Chilean emigrants to France
Chilean expatriates in Mexico
Chilean film directors
Chilean experimental filmmakers
Esotericists
French-language film directors
French comics writers
French film directors
Chilean mimes
Chilean surrealist artists
Chilean surrealist writers
French surrealist artists
French surrealist writers
Surrealist filmmakers
Horror film directors
Anarchist writers
Chilean speculative fiction writers
Chilean autobiographers
Chilean Jews
Chilean people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Jewish anarchists
Jewish atheists
Jewish feminists
Jewish mimes
Mystics
Naturalized citizens of France
Chilean occultists
People from Tocopilla
Chilean performance artists
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychotherapists
Tarot readers
Polish Ashkenazi Jews | true | [
"Olallo Rubio is a Mexican filmmaker and broadcaster. He is known for his documentaries So, What's Your Price?, Gimme the Power and Ilusión Nacional, and the feature film This Is Not a Movie\n\nCareer \n\nRubio's career began in radio at XHDL-FM. His first film, So, What's Your Price?, a documentary film critical of consumerism, premiered at the 2007 Guadalajara International Film Festival. His next film, This Is Not a Movie, stars Edward Furlong as a man who grapples with existential questions during the end of the world. It premiered at the Morelia International Film Festival in 2010 and had a budget of $3 million. Gimme the Power, released just before the 2012 Mexican general election, is a rockumentary about the Mexican band Molotov that is also critical of Mexican politics. His latest film, released in 2014 just prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, is Ilusión Nacional, a documentary about football in Mexico.\n\nFilmography \n So, What's Your Price? (2007)\n This Is Not a Movie (2010)\n Gimme the Power (2012)\n Ilusión Nacional (2014)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\nLiving people\nMexican documentary filmmakers\nMexican film producers\nMexican radio personalities\nMexican screenwriters\nYear of birth missing (living people)",
"Outside the Law is a 2002 American direct-to-video action film, starring Cynthia Rothrock, Seamus Dever, Jessica Stier, Jeff Wincott and Stephen Macht. It was directed by Jorge Montesi.\n\nPlot\nA secret agent is about to face her most dangerous mission yet.\n\nCast\n Cynthia Rothrock as Julie Cosgrove\n Seamus Dever as Rick Michell\n Jessica Stier as Rita\n Jeff Wincott as Michael Peyton\n Stephen Macht as Dick Dawson\n Brad Greenquist as Agent McKenzie\n\nReception\nThe Move Scene gave the movie a bad review stating that: \"What this all boils down to is that \"Outside the Law\" is not a great Cynthia Rothrock movie and unfortunately the editing and camera work robs the audience of what they watch the movie for which is Rothrock kicking butt. But for action fans it is just about watchable even if it is all incredibly familiar\". Robert Pardi from TV Guide the film two of four possible stars, concluding: \"A well-constructed star vehicle, this vigorous action flick exploits Rothrock's athletic prowess without taxing her acting skill. Her unique niche as a female action icon remains secure in this fast-paced, escapist trifle\".\n\nOutside the Law currently holds an 86% score on Rotten Tomatoes and is regarded as \"Fresh\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n Outside the Law at The Movie Scene\n\n2002 films\nAmerican films\nEnglish-language films"
]
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"1982",
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"as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim."
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| C_beba32b7d5a84d95bf24ade3480043d3_1 | Who acted in the film | 8 | Who acted in the film Santa Sangre (Holy Blood) | Alejandro Jodorowsky | In 1982 Jodorowsky divorced his wife. In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's "The Hands of Orlac". It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors. He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Dominguez D., wrote the screenplay). That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to live in France. In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where once again he met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again. CANNOTANSWER | Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors. | Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French filmmaker and artist. Since 1948, he has worked as a novelist, screenwriter, a poet, a playwright, an essayist, a film and theater director and producer, an actor, a film editor, a comics writer, a musician and composer, a philosopher, a puppeteer, a mime, a lay psychologist, a draughtsman, a painter, a sculptor, and a spiritual guru.
Best known for his avant-garde films El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973), Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his work which "is filled with violently surreal images and a hybrid blend of mysticism and religious provocation".
Overview
Born to Jewish-Galician parents (Chodorowski) in Tocopilla, Chile, Jodorowsky experienced an unhappy and alienated childhood, and so immersed himself in reading and writing poetry. Dropping out of college, he became involved in theater and in particular mime, working as a clown before founding his own theater troupe, the Teatro Mimico, in 1947. Moving to Paris in the early 1950s, Jodorowsky studied traditional mime under Étienne Decroux, and put his miming skills to use in the silent film Les têtes interverties (1957), directed with Saul Gilbert and Ruth Michelly. From 1960 he divided his time between Paris and Mexico City, in the former becoming a founding member of the anarchistic avant-garde Panic Movement of performance artists. In 1966 he created his first comic strip, Anibal 5, while in 1967 he directed his first feature film, the surrealist Fando y Lis, which caused a huge scandal in Mexico, eventually being banned.
His next film, the acid western El Topo (1970), became a hit on the midnight movie circuit in the United States, considered as the first-ever midnight cult film, and garnered high praise from John Lennon, who convinced former Beatles manager Allen Klein to provide Jodorowsky with $1 million to finance his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain (1973), a surrealist exploration of western esotericism. Disagreements with Klein, however, led to both The Holy Mountain and El Topo failing to gain widespread distribution, although both became classics on the underground film circuit.
After a cancelled attempt at filming Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune, Jodorowsky produced five more films: the family film Tusk (1980); the surrealist horror Santa Sangre (1989); the failed blockbuster The Rainbow Thief (1990); and the first two films in a planned five-film autobiographical series The Dance of Reality (2013) and Endless Poetry (2016). During the same period, he wrote a series of science fiction comic books, most notably The Incal (1980–1989), which has been described as having a claim to be "the best comic book" ever written, and also The Technopriests and Metabarons. He has also written books and regularly lectures on his own spiritual system, which he calls "psychomagic" and "psychoshamanism" and which borrows from his interests in alchemy, the tarot, Zen Buddhism and shamanism. His son Cristóbal has followed his teachings on psychoshamanism; this work is captured in the feature documentary Quantum Men, directed by Carlos Serrano Azcona.
Early life and education
Jodorowsky was born in 1929 in the coastal town of Tocopilla, Chile, to parents who were Jewish immigrants from Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro), Elisavetgrad (now Kropyvnytskyi) and other cities of the Russian Empire (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russian Partition, now Ukraine). His father, Jaime Jodorowsky Groismann (Jakub Chodorowski), was a merchant, who was largely abusive to his wife Sara Felicidad Prullansky Arcavi, and at one time accused her of flirting with a customer. Angered, he subsequently beat and raped her, getting her pregnant, which led to the birth of Alejandro. Because of this brutal conception, Sara both hated her husband and disliked her son, telling him that "I cannot love you" and rarely showing him tenderness. Alejandro also had an elder sister, Raquel Jodorowsky, but disliked her, for he believed that she was selfish, doing "everything to expel me from the family so that she could be the centre of attention." Alongside his dislike for his family, he also held contempt for many of the local people, who viewed him as an outsider because of his status as the son of immigrants, and also for the American mining industrialists who worked locally and treated the Chilean people badly. It was this treatment at the hands of Americans that led to his later condemnation of American imperialism and neo-colonialism in Latin America in several of his films. Nonetheless he liked his local area, and was greatly unhappy when he was forced to leave it at the age of nine years old, something for which he blamed his father. His family subsequently moved to the city of Santiago, Chile.
He immersed himself in reading, and also began writing poetry, having his first poem published when he was sixteen years old, alongside associating with such Chilean poets as Nicanor Parra, Stella Díaz Varín and Enrique Lihn. Becoming interested in the political ideology of anarchism, he began attending college, studying psychology and philosophy, but stayed for only two years. After dropping out, and having an interest in theatre and particularly mime, he took up employment as a clown in a circus and began a career as a theatre director. Meanwhile, in 1947 he founded his own theatrical troupe, the Teatro Mimico, which by 1952 had fifty members, and the following year he wrote his first play, El Minotaura (The Minotaur). Nonetheless, Jodorowsky felt that there was little for him left in Chile, and so that year he moved to Paris.
It was while in Paris that Jodorowsky began studying mime with Étienne Decroux and joined the troupe of one of Decroux's students, Marcel Marceau. It was with Marceau's troupe that he went on a world tour, and wrote several routines for the group, including "The Cage" and "The Mask Maker". After this, he returned to theatre directing, working on the music hall comeback of Maurice Chevalier in Paris. In 1957, Jodorowsky turned his hand to filmmaking, creating Les têtes interverties (The Severed Heads), a 20-minute adaptation of Thomas Mann's novella. It consisted almost entirely of mime, and told the surreal story of a head-swapping merchant who helps a young man find courtship success. Jodorowsky played the lead role. The director Jean Cocteau admired the film, and wrote an introduction for it. It was considered lost until a print of the film was discovered in 2006.
In 1960, Jodorowsky moved to Mexico, where he settled down in Mexico City. Nonetheless, he continued to return occasionally to France, on one occasion visiting the Surrealist artist André Breton, but he was disillusioned in that he felt Breton had become somewhat conservative in his old age. Continuing his interest in surrealism, in 1962 he founded the Panic Movement along with Fernando Arrabal and Roland Topor. The movement aimed to go beyond the conventional surrealist ideas by embracing absurdism. Its members refused to take themselves seriously, while laughing at those critics who did. In 1966 he produced his first comic strip, Anibal 5, which was related to the Panic Movement. The following year he created a new feature film, Fando y Lis, loosely based on a play written by Fernando Arrabal, who was working with Jodorowsky on performance art at the time. Fando y Lis premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, where it instigated a riot amongst those objecting to the film's content, and subsequently it was banned in Mexico.
It was in Mexico City that he encountered Ejo Takata (1928–1997), a Zen Buddhist monk who had studied at the Horyuji and Shofukuji monasteries in Japan before traveling to Mexico via the United States in 1967 to spread Zen. Jodorowsky became a disciple of Takata and offered his own house to be turned into a zendo. Subsequently, Takata attracted other disciples around him, who spent their time in meditation and the study of koans. Eventually, Takata instructed Jodorowsky that he had to learn more about his feminine side, and so he went and befriended the English surrealist Leonora Carrington, who had recently moved to Mexico.
Career
El Topo and The Holy Mountain (1970–1974)
In 1970, Jodorowsky released the film El Topo, which sometimes is known in English as The Mole, which he had both directed and starred in. An acid western, El Topo tells the story of a wandering Mexican bandit and gunslinger, El Topo (played by Jodorowsky), who is on a search for spiritual enlightenment, taking his young son along with him. Along the way, he violently confronts a number of other individuals, before finally being killed and being resurrected to live within a community of deformed people who are trapped inside a mountain cave. Describing the work, he stated that "I ask of film what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs. The difference being that when one creates a psychedelic film, he need not create a film that shows the visions of a person who has taken a pill; rather, he needs to manufacture the pill." Knowing how Fando y Lis had caused such a scandal in Mexico, Jodorowsky decided not to release El Topo there, instead focusing on its release in other countries across the world, including Mexico's northern neighbour, the United States. It was in New York City where the film would play as a "midnight movie" for several months at Ben Barenholtz's Elgin Theater. It attracted the attention of rock musician and countercultural figure John Lennon, who thought very highly of it, and convinced the president of The Beatles' company Apple Corps, Allen Klein, to distribute it in the United States.
Klein agreed to give Jodorowsky $1 million to go toward creating his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain, released in 1973. It has been suggested that The Holy Mountain may have been inspired by René Daumal's Surrealist novel Mount Analogue. The Holy Mountain was another complex, multi-part story that featured a man credited as "The Thief" and equated with Jesus Christ, a mystical alchemist played by Jodorowsky, seven powerful business people representing seven of the planets (Venus and the six planets from Mars to Pluto), a religious training regimen of spiritual rebirth, and a quest to the top of a holy mountain for the secret of immortality. During the completion of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky received spiritual training from Oscar Ichazo of the Arica School, who encouraged him to take LSD and guided him through the subsequent psychedelic experience. Around the same time (2 November 1973), Jodorowsky participated in an isolation tank experiment conducted by John Lilly.
Shortly thereafter, Allen Klein demanded that Jodorowsky create a film adaptation of Pauline Réage's classic novel of female masochism, Story of O. Klein had promised this adaptation to various investors. Jodorowsky, who had discovered feminism during the filming of The Holy Mountain, refused to make the film, going so far as to leave the country to escape directing duties. In retaliation, Allen Klein made El Topo and The Holy Mountain, to which he held the rights, completely unavailable to the public for more than 30 years. Jodorowsky frequently decried Klein's actions in interviews.
Soon after the release of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky gave a talk at the Teatro Julio Castillo, University of Mexico on the subject of koans (despite the fact that he initially had been booked on the condition that his talk would be about cinematography), at which Ejo Takata appeared. After the talk, Takata gave Jodorowsky his kyosaku, believing that his former student had mastered the art of understanding koans.
Dune and Tusk (1975–1980)
In December 1974, a French consortium led by Jean-Paul Gibon purchased the film rights to Frank Herbert's epic 1965 science fiction novel Dune and asked Jodorowsky to direct a film version. Jodorowsky planned to cast the Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, in what would have been his only speaking role as a film actor, in the role of Emperor Shaddam IV. Dalí agreed when Jodorowsky offered to pay him a fee of $100,000 per hour. He also planned to cast Orson Welles as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen; Welles only agreed when Jodorowsky offered to get his favourite gourmet chef to prepare his meals for him throughout the filming. The book's protagonist, Paul Atreides, was to be played by Jodorowsky's son, Brontis Jodorowsky. The music would be composed by Pink Floyd and Magma. Jodorowsky set up a pre-production unit in Paris consisting of Chris Foss, a British artist who designed covers for science fiction publications, Jean Giraud (Moebius), a French illustrator who created and also wrote and drew for Métal Hurlant magazine, and H. R. Giger. Frank Herbert travelled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2 million of the $9.5 million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled). Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship. The production for the film collapsed when no film studio could be found willing to fund the movie to Jodorowsky's terms. The aborted production was chronicled in the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune. Subsequently, the rights for filming were sold to Dino de Laurentiis, who employed the American filmmaker David Lynch to direct, creating the film Dune in 1984. The documentary does not include any original film footage of what was to be Jodorowsky's Dune but does make extraordinary claims as to the influence this unmade film had on other actual science fiction films, such as Star Wars, Alien, Terminator, Flash Gordon, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
After the collapse of the Dune project, Jodorowsky completely changed course and, in 1980, premiered his children's fable Tusk, shot in India. Taken from Reginald Campbell's novel Poo Lorn of the Elephants, the film explores the soul-mate relationship between a young British woman living in India and a highly prized elephant. The film exhibited little of the director's outlandish visual style and was never given wide release.
Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981–1990)
In 1982, Jodorowsky divorced his wife.
In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's The Hands of Orlac. It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors.
He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Domínguez D., wrote the screenplay).
That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to France to live.
In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where he once again met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again.
Attempts to return to filmmaking (1990–2011)
In 2000, Jodorowsky won the Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF). Jodorowsky attended the festival and his films were shown, including El Topo and The Holy Mountain, which at the time had grey legal status. According to festival director Bryan Wendorf, it was an open question of whether CUFF would be allowed to show both films, or whether the police would show up and shut the festival down.
Until 2007, Fando y Lis and Santa Sangre were the only Jodorowsky works available on DVD. Neither El Topo nor The Holy Mountain were available on videocassette or DVD in the United States or the United Kingdom, due to ownership disputes with distributor Allen Klein. After settlement of the dispute in 2004, however, plans to re-release Jodorowsky's films were announced by ABKCO Films. On 19 January 2007, it was announced online that Anchor Bay would release a box set including El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and Fando y Lis on 1 May 2007. A limited edition of the set includes both the El Topo and The Holy Mountain soundtracks. And, in early February 2007, Tartan Video announced its 14 May 2007, release date for the UK PAL DVD editions of El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and the six-disc box set which, alongside the aforementioned feature films, includes the two soundtrack CDs, as well as separate DVD editions of Jodorowsky's 1968 debut feature Fando y Lis (with his 1957 short La cravate a.k.a. Les têtes interverties, included as an extra) and the 1994 feature-length documentary La constellation Jodorowsky. Notably, Fando y Lis and La cravate were digitally restored extensively and remastered in London during late 2006, thus providing a suitable complement to the quality restoration work undertaken on El Topo and The Holy Mountain in the States by ABKCO, and ensuring that the presentation of Fando y Lis is a significant improvement over the 2001 Fantoma DVD edition. Prior to the availability of these legitimate releases, only inferior quality, optically censored, bootleg copies of both El Topo and The Holy Mountain have been circulated on the Internet and on DVD.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Jodorowsky attempted to make a sequel to El Topo, called at different times The Sons of El Topo and Abel Cain, but did not find investors for the project.
In an interview with Premiere Magazine, Jodorowsky said he intended his next project to be a gangster film called King Shot. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper in November 2009, however, Jodorowsky revealed that he was unable to find the funds to make King Shot, and instead would be entering preparations on Sons of El Topo, for which he claimed to have signed a contract with "some Russian producers".
In 2010, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City staged the first American cinema retrospective of Alejandro Jodorowsky entitled Blood into Gold: The Cinematic Alchemy of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky would attend the retrospective and hold a master class on art as a way of transformation. This retrospective would inspire the museum MoMA PS1 to present the exhibition Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Holy Mountain in 2011.
The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry (2011–present)
In August 2011, Alejandro arrived in a town in Chile where he grew up, also the setting of his autobiography The Dance of Reality, to promote an autobiographical film based upon his book.
On 31 October 2011, Halloween night, the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) honored Jodorowsky by showing The Holy Mountain. He attended and spoke about his work and life. The next evening, he presented El Topo at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center.
Alejandro has stated that after finishing The Dance of Reality he was preparing to shoot his long-gestating El Topo sequel, Abel Cain. By January 2013, Alejandro finished filming on The Dance of Reality and entered into post-production. Alejandro's son and co-star in the film, Brontis, claimed the film was to be finished by March 2013, and that the film was "very different than the other films he made". On 23 April, it was announced that the film would have its world premiere at the Film Festival in Cannes. coinciding with The Dance of Reality premiered alongside the documentary film Jodorowsky's Dune, which premiered in May 2013 at the Cannes Film Festival, creating a "Jodorowsky double bill".
In 2015, Jodorowsky began a new film entitled Endless Poetry, the sequel to his last "auto-biopic", The Dance of Reality. His Paris-based production company, Satori Films, launched two successful crowdfunding campaigns to finance the film. The Indiegogo campaign has been left open indefinitely, receiving donations from fans and movie-goers in support of the independent production. The film was shot between June and August 2015, in the streets of Matucana in Santiago, Chile, where Jodorowsky lived for a period in his life. The film portrays his young adulthood in Santiago, years during which he became a core member of the Chilean poetic avant-garde alongside artists such as Hugo Marín, Gustavo Becerra, Enrique Lihn, Stella Díaz Varín, Nicanor Parra and others. Jodorowsky's son, Adan Jodorowsky, plays him as an adult and Brontis Jodorowsky, plays as his father Jaime. Jeremias Herskovitz, from The Dance of Reality, portrays Jodorowsky as a teenager. Pamela Flores plays Sara (his mother) and Stella Díaz Varín (poetess and young Jodorowsky's girlfriend). Leandro Taub portrays Jodorowsky's best friend, the poet and novelist Enrique Lihn. The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival on 14 May 2016. Variety's review was overwhelmingly positive, calling it "...the most accessible movie he has ever made, and it may also be the best."
During an interview at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, Jodorowsky announced his plans to finally make The Son of El Topo as soon as financial backing is obtained.
Other work
Jodorowsky is a weekly contributor of "good news" to the nightly "author news report" of his friend, Fernando Sánchez Dragó in Telemadrid.
He also released a 12" vinyl with the Original Soundtrack of Zarathustra (Discos Tizoc, Mexico, 1970).
He has cited the filmmaker Federico Fellini as his primary cinematic influence; other artistic influences included George Gurdjieff, Antonin Artaud, and Luis Buñuel. He has been described as an influence on such figures as Marilyn Manson, David Lynch, Nicolas Winding Refn, Jan Kounen, Dennis Hopper, and Kanye West.
Comics
Jodorowsky started his comic career in Mexico with the creation of Anibal 5 series in mid-1966 with illustrations by Manuel Moro. He also drew his own comic strip in the weekly series Fabulas pánicas that appeared in the Mexican newspaper, El Heraldo de México. He also wrote original stories for at least two or three other comic books in Mexico during those days: Los insoportables Borbolla was one of them. After his fourth film, Tusk, he started The Incal, with Jean Giraud (Mœbius). This graphic novel has its roots deep in the tarot and its symbols, e.g., the protagonist of The Incal, John Difool, is linked to the Fool card. The Incal (which would branch off into a prequel and sequel) forms the first in a sequence of several science fiction comic book series, all set in the same space opera Jodoverse (or "Metabarons Universe") published by Humanoids Publishing.
Comic books set in this milieu are Incal (trilogy: Before the Incal/ Incal/ Final Incal), Metabarons (trilogy: Castaka/ The Caste of the Metabarons/ Weapons of the Metabaron), and The Technopriests and also an RPG adaptation, The Metabarons Roleplaying Game. Many ideas and concepts derived from Jodorowsky's planned adaptation of Dune (which he would have been loosely based upon Frank Herbert's original novel) are featured in this universe.
Mœbius and Jodorowsky sued Luc Besson, director of The Fifth Element, claiming that the 1997 film borrowed graphic and story elements from The Incal, but they lost their case. The suit was plagued by ambiguity since Mœbius had willingly participated in the creation of the film, having been hired by Besson as a contributing artist, but had done so without gaining the approval of Incal co-creator Jodorowsky, whose services Besson did not call upon. For more than a decade, Jodorowsky pressured his publisher Les Humanoïdes Associés to sue Luc Besson for plagiarism, but the publisher refused, fearing the inevitability of the final outcome. In a 2002 interview with the Danish comic book magazine Strip!, Jodorowsky stated that he considered it an honour that somebody stole his ideas.
Other comics by Jodorowsky include the Western Bouncer illustrated by Francois Boucq, Juan Solo (Son of the Gun), and Le Lama blanc (The White Lama), the latter were illustrated by Georges Bess.
Le Cœur couronné (The Crowned Heart, translated into English as The Madwoman of the Sacred Heart), a racy satire on religion set in contemporary times, won Jodorowsky and his collaborator, Jean Giraud, the 2001 Haxtur Award for Best Long Strip. He is currently working on a new graphic novel for the U.S. market.
Jodorowsky's comic book work also appears in Taboo volume 4 (ed. Stephen R. Bissette), which features an interview with the director, designs for his version of Frank Herbert's Dune, comic storyboards for El Topo, and a collaboration with Moebius with the illustrated Eyes of the Cat.
Jodorowsky collaborated with Milo Manara in Borgia (2006), a graphic novel about the history of the House of Borgia.
Psychomagic
Jodorowsky spent almost a decade reconstructing the original form of the Tarot de Marseille. From this work he moved into more therapeutic work in three areas: psychomagic, psychogenealogy and initiatic massage. Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which practitioners of the therapy believe are passed down from generation to generation. Psychogenealogy includes the studying of the patient's personality and family tree in order to best address their specific sources. It is similar, in its phenomenological approach to genealogy, to the Constellations pioneered by Bert Hellinger.
Jodorowsky has several books on his therapeutic methods, including Psicomagia: La trampa sagrada (Psychomagic: The Sacred Trap) and his autobiography, La danza de la realidad (The Dance of Reality), which he was filming as a feature-length film in March 2012. To date he has published more than 23 novels and philosophical treatises, along with dozens of articles and interviews. His books are widely read in Spanish and French, but are for the most part unknown to English-speaking audiences.
For a quarter of a century, Jodorowsky held classes and lectures for free, in cafés and universities all over the city of Paris. Typically, such courses or talks would begin on Wednesday evenings as tarot divination lessons, and would culminate in an hour long conference, also free, where at times hundreds of attendees would be treated to live demonstrations of a psychological "arbre généalogique" ("tree of genealogy") involving volunteers from the audience. In these conferences, Jodorowsky would pave the way to building a strong base of students of his philosophy, which deals with understanding the unconscious as the "over-self", composed of many generations of family relatives, living or deceased, acting on the psyche, well into adult lives, and causing compulsions. Of all his work, Jodorowsky considers these activities to be the most important of his life. Though such activities only take place in the insular world of Parisian cafés, he has devoted thousands of hours of his life to teaching and helping people "become more conscious," as he puts it.
Since 2011 these talks have dwindled to once a month and take place at the Librairie Les Cent Ciels in Paris.
His film Psychomagic, a Healing Art premiered in Lyon on 3 September 2019. It was then released on streaming services on 1 August 2020.
Personal life
Jodorowsky's first wife was the actress Valérie Tremblay. He is currently married to the artist and costume designer Pascale Montandon.
He has five children: Brontis Jodorowsky, an actor who worked with his father in El Topo, The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry; Teo, who played in Santa Sangre; Cristóbal, a psychoshaman and an actor (interpreter in Santa Sangre and the main character in the shamanic documentary Quantum Men); Eugenia Jodorowsky; and the youngest, Adan Jodorowsky, a musician known by his stage name of Adanowsky. The fashion model Alma Jodorowsky is the granddaughter of Alejandro.
On his religious views, Jodorowsky has called himself an "atheist mystic".
He does not drink or smoke, and has stated that he does not eat red meat or poultry because he "does not like corpses", basing his diet on vegetables, fruits, grains and occasionally marine products.
In 2005, Jodorowsky officiated at the wedding of Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese.
Fans included musicians Peter Gabriel, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore (of the pop-duo Empire of the Sun). Wes Borland, guitarist of Limp Bizkit, said that the film Holy Mountain was a big influence on him, especially as a visual artist, and that the concept album Lotus Island of his band Black Light Burns was a tribute to it.
Jodorowsky was interviewed by Daniel Pinchbeck for the Franco-German television show Durch die Nacht mit … on the TV station Arte, in a very personal discussion, spending a night together in France, continuing the interview in different locations such as a park and a hotel.
Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in the ending titles of his 2011 film Drive, and dedicated his 2013 Thai crime thriller, Only God Forgives, to Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky also appeared in the documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, directed by Refn's wife Liv, giving the couple a tarot reading.
Argentinean actor Leandro Taub thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in his book La Mente Oculta, for which Jodorowsky wrote the prologue.
Criticism and controversy
When Jodorowsky's first feature film, Fando y Lis, premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, the screening was controversial and erupted into a riot, due to its graphic content. Jodorowsky had to leave the theatre by sneaking outside to a waiting limousine, and when the crowd outside the theatre recognized him, the car was pelted with rocks. The following week, the film opened to sell-out crowds in Mexico City, but more fights broke out, and the film was banned by the Mexican government. Jodorowsky himself was nearly deported and the controversy provided a great deal of fodder for the Mexican newspapers.
In regard to the making of El Topo, Jodorowsky allegedly stated in the early 1970s:
In the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune, Jodorowsky states:
As a result of these alleged statements, Jodorowsky has been criticised. Matt Brown of Screen Anarchy wrote that "it's easier to wall off a certain type of criminality behind the buffer of time—sure, Alejandro Jodorowsky is on the record in his book on the making of the film as having raped Mara Lorenzio while making El Topo—though he later denied it—but nowadays he's just that hilarious old kook from Jodorowsky's Dune!" Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com called Jodorowsky "an artist who condones rape as a means to an end for the purpose of creating art. A man who seems to believe that rape is something that women 'need' if they can't accept male sexual power on their own". Jude Doyle of Elle wrote that Jodorowsky "has been teasing the idea of an unsimulated rape scene in his cult classic film El Topo for decades ... though he's elsewhere described the unsimulated sex in that scene as consensual", and went on to state that the quote "has not endangered his status as an avant-garde icon".
On 26 June 2017, Jodorowsky released a statement on his Facebook account in response to the question: "Did you rape an actress during the filming of El Topo?" The following excerpts are from said statement:
Filmography
As director
As actor
Bibliography
Selected bibliography of comics, novels and non-fiction writings:
Graphic novels and comics
Anibal 5 {Original Mexican edition with Manuel Moro} (1966)
Los Insoportables Borbolla (with Manuel Moro) (1966)
The Panic Fables (; 1967–1970), comic strip published in El Heraldo de México.
The Eyes of the Cat (1978)
The Jealous God (1984)
The Magical Twins (1987)
Anibal 5 {French edition with Mœbius} (1990)
Diosamente (1992)
Moonface (1992)
Angel Claws (1994)
Son of the Gun (1995)
Madwoman of the Sacred Heart (1998)
The Shadow's Treasure (1999)
Bouncer (2001)
The White Lama (2004)
Borgia (2004)
Screaming Planet (2006)
Royal Blood (2010)
Showman Killer (2010)
Pietrolino (2013)
The Son of El Topo (2016- ongoing)
Knights of Heliopolis (2017)
Metabarons Universe
Beginning with The Incal in 1981, Jodorowsky has co-written and produced a series of linked comics series and graphic novels () for the French-language market known colloquially as the Jodoverse. The series was initially developed with Jean Giraud using concepts and designs created for Jodorowky's unfinished Dune project. Many of the comics and novels have been translated into Spanish, English, and German under Jodorowsky supervision.
The Incal (1981–1988)
Before the Incal (1988–1995)
The Metabarons (1992–2003)
The Technopriests (1998–2006)
Megalex (1999–2007)
After the Incal (2000), incomplete series.
Metabarons Genesis: Castaka (2007–2013)
Weapons of the Metabaron (2008)
Final Incal (2008–2014), revised version of the After the Incal series with new art and text.
The Metabaron (2015–2018)
Simak (2019)
Fiction
Jodorowsky's Spanish-language novels translated into English include:
Where the Bird Sings Best (1992)
Albina and the Dog Men (1999)
The Son of Black Thursday (1999)
Non-fiction
Psychomagic (1995)
The Dance of Reality (2001)
The Way of Tarot (2004), with Marianne Costa
The Manual of Psychomagic (2009)
Metageneaology (2012), with Marianne Costa
pascALEjandro: Alchemical Androgynous (2017), with Pascale Montandon
Autobiography
The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky (2005)
The Dance of Reality: A Psychomagical Autobiography (2014)
Sacred Trickery and the Way of Kindness: The Radical Wisdom of Jodo (2016)
The Finger and the Moon: Zen Teachings and Koans (2016)
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading
Cobb, Ben (2007). Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Persistence of Vision 6), ed. Louise Brealey, pref. Alan Jones, int. Stephen Barber. London, April 2007 / New York, August 2007, Creation Books.
Coillard, Jean-Paul (2009), De la cage au grand écran. Entretiens avec Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paris. K-Inite Editions.
Chignoli, Andrea (2009), Zoom back, Camera! El cine de Alejandro Jodorowsky, Santiago de Chile, Uqbar Editores.
Dominguez Aragones, Edmundo (1980). Tres extraordinarios: Luis Spota, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Emilio "Indio" Fernández; Mexicali, Mexico DF, Juan Pablos Editor. P. 109–146.
Gonzalez, Házael (2011), Alejandro Jodorowsky: Danzando con la realidad, Palma de Mallorca, Dolmen Editorial.
Larouche, Michel (1985). Alexandre Jodorowsky, cinéaste panique, París, ça cinéma, Albatros.
Moldes, Diego, (2012). Alejandro Jodorowsky, Madrid, Col. Signo e Imagen / Cineastas, Ediciones Cátedra. Prologue by Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Monteleone, Massimo (1993). La Talpa e la Fenice. Il cinema di Alejandro Jodorowsky, Bologna, Granata Press.
External links
Jodorowsky publications in Métal Hurlant. BDoubliées
Jodorowsky albums. Bedetheque
Jodorowsky publications in English. Europeancomics.net
1929 births
Living people
20th-century alchemists
20th-century atheists
21st-century alchemists
21st-century atheists
Chilean comics writers
Chilean emigrants to France
Chilean expatriates in Mexico
Chilean film directors
Chilean experimental filmmakers
Esotericists
French-language film directors
French comics writers
French film directors
Chilean mimes
Chilean surrealist artists
Chilean surrealist writers
French surrealist artists
French surrealist writers
Surrealist filmmakers
Horror film directors
Anarchist writers
Chilean speculative fiction writers
Chilean autobiographers
Chilean Jews
Chilean people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Jewish anarchists
Jewish atheists
Jewish feminists
Jewish mimes
Mystics
Naturalized citizens of France
Chilean occultists
People from Tocopilla
Chilean performance artists
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychotherapists
Tarot readers
Polish Ashkenazi Jews | true | [
"Krishnam Raju is an Indian actor who acted in more than 190 films. Krishnam Raju entered Tollywood in 1966 with the film Chilaka Gorinka, directed by Kotayya Pratyagatma alongside Krishna Kumari. The film won the Nandi Award for Best Feature Film - Silver for that year. Later he acted in the mythological film Shri Krishnavataram, which also stars N. T. Rama Rao. He acted in many films with the established actors N. T. Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageswara Rao. He also acted in many films with the established actresses Krishna Kumari, Rajasulochana, Jamuna and Kanchana.\n\nKrishnam Raju acted alongside Kanchana in Nenante Nene and later he acted in Bhale Abbayilu, the Telugu remake of Yash Chopra's 1965 film Waqt. Later he acted in films such as Buddhimantudu, Marali, Mallee Pelli and Jai Jawan. He acted opposite Bollywood actress Rekha in Amma Kosam, which was her first film as an actress. Later he acted in films such as Anuradha, Bhagyavantudu and Bangaru Talli, the remake of critically acclaimed 1957 Hindi film Mother India. Later he acted in films such as Muhammad bin Tughluq portraying the role of Islamic scholar Ibn Battuta, Raj Mahal, Hantakulu Devaantakulu opposite Rajasulochana, Manavudu Danavudu opposite Krishna Kumari, Neeti Nijayitee opposite Kanchana and Vinta Dampatulu opposite Jamuna. Later he acted in films such as Badi Panthulu, Bala Mitrula Katha, Jeevana Tarangalu and Kanna Koduku. In most of the films he acted as antihero, villain and supporting roles and in lead roles in a few films.\n\nKrishnam acted in Bantrotu Bharya, which marks the first collaboration of Krishnam Raju with Dasari Narayana Rao. Later he acted in the critically acclaimed film Krishnaveni opposite Vanisri, directed by V. Madhusudhan Rao. The film marks the debut of Krishnam Raju as a producer under his own production house Gopi Krishna Movies. Later he acted in Parivartana opposite Jamuna, Kanchana and Lakshmi and in Bharati opposite Jamuna, Iddaru Iddare and Yavvanam Katesindi. Later he acted in Bhakta Kannappa portraying the roles of Arjuna and Kannappa Nayanar directed by Bapu, which is the unique Telugu film to win the National Film Award for Best Audiography. Later he acted in Kurukshetram portraying the role of Karna, directed by Kamalakara Kameswara Rao. Later he acted in Amaradeepam, which marks the first collaboration of Krishnam Raju with K. Raghavendra Rao. The film earned him the Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu) and the Nandi Award for Best Actor for the year 1977. Later he acted in films such as Jeevana Teeralu, Manushulu Chesina Dongalu and Sati Savitri. Later he acted in the lavishly made Katakataala Rudraiah, which grossed , made on a budget of . Later he acted in Mana Voori Pandavulu, produced by him and Jaya Krishna. The film garnered the Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) for the year 1978 and Krishnam Raju shared the award with Jaya Krishna. Katakataala Rudraiah and Mana Voori Pandavulu were released within a gap of 10 days and both the films became blockbusters. Later he acted in films such as Ramabanam, Andadu Aagadu in which he acts in a role of a spy which is parallel to James Bond and the film became a smash hit. Later he acted in Rangoon Rowdy, Shri Vinayaka Vijayamu portraying the role of Lord Shiva. Later he acted in films such as Shivamettina Satyam, Kalyana Chakravarti and Alludu Pattina Bharatam, which was directed by K. Viswanath. Later he acted in Sita Ramulu, Bebbuli and Prema Tarangalu, the Telugu remake of 1978 Bollywood blockbuster Muqaddar Ka Sikandar. In 1981, he acted in Aadavaallu Meeku Joharlu directed by K. Balachander. In the same year he acted in Agni Poolu which was based on Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani's novel of the same name. Later he acted in the musical hit, Puli Bidda, Taxi Driver, Ragile Jwala, Guvvala Janta, Rama Lakshmanulu, Madhura Swapnam, Talli Kodukula Anubandham, Nipputo Chelagaatam, Golconda Abbulu, Jaggu, Pralaya Rudrudu and critically acclaimed Trishulam. Later he acted in Nijam Chebite Nerama!, Adavi Simhalu, Puli Bebbuli, Kotikokkadu and Dharmaatmudu.\n\nIn 1984, Krishnam Raju acted in Yuddham, Sardar, Babulugaadi Debba, Kondaveeti Nagulu and S. P. Bhayankar. Later, he acted in the Tollywood industrial hit Bobbili Brahmanna, which earned him the Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu) and the Nandi Award for Best Actor. He also remade the film in Hindi as Dharm Adhikari with Dilip Kumar and Jeetendra in 1986. Later, he acted in films such as Raraju, Bharatamlo Shankaravam, Rowdy, Bandee, Tirugubatu, Aggi Raju, Bullet, Ukku Manishi, Ravana Brahma, Neti Yugadharmam and Ugra Narasimham. In 1986, he acted in Tandra Paparayudu portraying the role of Tandra Paparayudu which earned him Filmfare Best Actor Award for the year 1986. The film was premiered at the 11th International Film Festival of India. Later, he acted in films such as Brahma Nayudu, Sardar Dharmanna and Marana Shasanam which earned him Filmfare Best Actor Award for the year 1987. In 1987, he acted in Vishwanatha Nayakudu portraying the role of Srikrishnadevaraya. Later, he acted in films such as Maarana Homam, Kirai Dada, Maa Inti Maha Raju, Antima Teerpu, Prithvi Raj, Prachanda Bharatam, Dharma Teja, Prana Snehitulu, Simha Swapnam, Shri Ramachandrudu, Bhagawan, Two Town Rowdy, Yama Dharma Raju and Neti Siddhartha.\n\nIn 1991, Krishnam Raju acted in Vidhata, Bava Bavamaridi, Jailor Gaari Abbayi, Andaroo Andare, Gangmaster. In 1994, he acted in Palnati Pourusham which earned him Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu). Later he acted in Rikshaw Rudraiah, Simha Garjana, Nayudugaari Kutumbam, Tata Manavadu, Kutumba Gowravam and Maa Nannaki Pelli which won Nandi Award for Akkineni Award for Best Home-viewing Feature Film. In 1997, he entered Sandalwood and acted in two Kannada films viz Hai Bangalore and Simhada Mari. Later he acted in Sultan, Vanshoddharakudu and Neeku Nenu Naaku Nuvvu, which won Nandi Award for Akkineni Award for Best Home-viewing Feature Film. Later he acted in Raam and Billa, a film of the Don film series and acted with Prabhas for the first time.\nLater he acted in Thakita Thakita and Rebel. Rebel marks the second innings of his production house, Gopi Krishna Movies. Krishnam Raju said in an interview that he would produce films continuously under the banner. Later he acted in Chandee and India's first 3D historical film, Rudramadevi, where he portrays the role of Ganapati Devudu, the father of Rudramadevi.\n\nAs an actor\n\nAs a producer\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nFilmography\nIndian filmographies\nMale actor filmographies",
"Mammootty is an Indian actor, producer and distributor who acts mainly in Malayalam films and also in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and English films. In a career spanning five decades, has appeared in over 400 films including cameo appearances.\n\nMammootty debuted through the 1971 film Anubhavangal Paalichakal which was directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan. In the film, he acted as a Junior Artist.\n\nHis next film was the K. Narayanan directorial Kalachakram which was released in the year 1973. In this film also, Mammootty played a minor role.\n\nHis first film in a lead role was in Devalokam which was never released.\n\nHe played one of the lead roles in the K. G. George directed Drama film, Mela. This film is credited as the third film of Mammootty.\n\nMammootty rose to stardom with the movie Sphodanam directed by P.G. Viswambharan. He adopted the stage name \"Sajin\" during this time as suggested by P.G. Viswambharan and Mammootty was known by the alias \"Sajin\" for a brief period of time. The duo later worked together to make hits like Pinnilavu, Ee Sabdam Innathe Sabdam and Sandhyakku Virinja Poovu \n\nIn the next year, he acted in Ahimsa. For this film, he won the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actor.\n\nIn the next year he acted in the film Padayottam. In this film, he acted as the Antagonist. Padayottam was the first 70 mm film in malayalam. He played the role of a police officer in Yavanika.\n\nIn 1984, he acted in the I. V. Sasi directorial Athirathram, in which he played Tharadas, a smuggler. In the same year, he acted in Adiyozhukkukal. For this film he won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor.\n\nAs a producer he co-founded Casino Films and he produced the films Adiyozhukkukal, Karimpin Poovinakkare, Gandhinagar Second Street and Nadodikkattu.\nIn 1986, he acted in Aavanazhi. It was followed by Inspector Balram 1991 and Balram Vs Tharadas. These all are directed by I. V. Sasi.\n\nMalayalam\n\n1970s\n\n1980s\n\n1990s\n\n2000s\n\n2010s\n\n2020s\n\nOther languages\n\nUnreleased films\n\nTelevision\n\nSee also\n List of awards and nominations received by Mammootty\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nIndian filmographies\nMale actor filmographies"
]
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"Alejandro Jodorowsky",
"Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981-1990)",
"What family issues was he facing",
"Jodorowsky divorced his wife.",
"what year was this",
"1982",
"What year did he begin working again",
"1989,",
"What film was this",
"Santa Sangre (Holy Blood",
"What is the film compared too",
"Psycho",
"What other mvie is it compared too",
"The Hands of Orlac",
"What is the movie about",
"as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim.",
"Who acted in the film",
"Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors."
]
| C_beba32b7d5a84d95bf24ade3480043d3_1 | What did he do next | 9 | What did Jodorowsky do after filming Santa Sangre (Holy Blood) | Alejandro Jodorowsky | In 1982 Jodorowsky divorced his wife. In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's "The Hands of Orlac". It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors. He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Dominguez D., wrote the screenplay). That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to live in France. In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where once again he met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again. CANNOTANSWER | He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky | Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French filmmaker and artist. Since 1948, he has worked as a novelist, screenwriter, a poet, a playwright, an essayist, a film and theater director and producer, an actor, a film editor, a comics writer, a musician and composer, a philosopher, a puppeteer, a mime, a lay psychologist, a draughtsman, a painter, a sculptor, and a spiritual guru.
Best known for his avant-garde films El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973), Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his work which "is filled with violently surreal images and a hybrid blend of mysticism and religious provocation".
Overview
Born to Jewish-Galician parents (Chodorowski) in Tocopilla, Chile, Jodorowsky experienced an unhappy and alienated childhood, and so immersed himself in reading and writing poetry. Dropping out of college, he became involved in theater and in particular mime, working as a clown before founding his own theater troupe, the Teatro Mimico, in 1947. Moving to Paris in the early 1950s, Jodorowsky studied traditional mime under Étienne Decroux, and put his miming skills to use in the silent film Les têtes interverties (1957), directed with Saul Gilbert and Ruth Michelly. From 1960 he divided his time between Paris and Mexico City, in the former becoming a founding member of the anarchistic avant-garde Panic Movement of performance artists. In 1966 he created his first comic strip, Anibal 5, while in 1967 he directed his first feature film, the surrealist Fando y Lis, which caused a huge scandal in Mexico, eventually being banned.
His next film, the acid western El Topo (1970), became a hit on the midnight movie circuit in the United States, considered as the first-ever midnight cult film, and garnered high praise from John Lennon, who convinced former Beatles manager Allen Klein to provide Jodorowsky with $1 million to finance his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain (1973), a surrealist exploration of western esotericism. Disagreements with Klein, however, led to both The Holy Mountain and El Topo failing to gain widespread distribution, although both became classics on the underground film circuit.
After a cancelled attempt at filming Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune, Jodorowsky produced five more films: the family film Tusk (1980); the surrealist horror Santa Sangre (1989); the failed blockbuster The Rainbow Thief (1990); and the first two films in a planned five-film autobiographical series The Dance of Reality (2013) and Endless Poetry (2016). During the same period, he wrote a series of science fiction comic books, most notably The Incal (1980–1989), which has been described as having a claim to be "the best comic book" ever written, and also The Technopriests and Metabarons. He has also written books and regularly lectures on his own spiritual system, which he calls "psychomagic" and "psychoshamanism" and which borrows from his interests in alchemy, the tarot, Zen Buddhism and shamanism. His son Cristóbal has followed his teachings on psychoshamanism; this work is captured in the feature documentary Quantum Men, directed by Carlos Serrano Azcona.
Early life and education
Jodorowsky was born in 1929 in the coastal town of Tocopilla, Chile, to parents who were Jewish immigrants from Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro), Elisavetgrad (now Kropyvnytskyi) and other cities of the Russian Empire (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russian Partition, now Ukraine). His father, Jaime Jodorowsky Groismann (Jakub Chodorowski), was a merchant, who was largely abusive to his wife Sara Felicidad Prullansky Arcavi, and at one time accused her of flirting with a customer. Angered, he subsequently beat and raped her, getting her pregnant, which led to the birth of Alejandro. Because of this brutal conception, Sara both hated her husband and disliked her son, telling him that "I cannot love you" and rarely showing him tenderness. Alejandro also had an elder sister, Raquel Jodorowsky, but disliked her, for he believed that she was selfish, doing "everything to expel me from the family so that she could be the centre of attention." Alongside his dislike for his family, he also held contempt for many of the local people, who viewed him as an outsider because of his status as the son of immigrants, and also for the American mining industrialists who worked locally and treated the Chilean people badly. It was this treatment at the hands of Americans that led to his later condemnation of American imperialism and neo-colonialism in Latin America in several of his films. Nonetheless he liked his local area, and was greatly unhappy when he was forced to leave it at the age of nine years old, something for which he blamed his father. His family subsequently moved to the city of Santiago, Chile.
He immersed himself in reading, and also began writing poetry, having his first poem published when he was sixteen years old, alongside associating with such Chilean poets as Nicanor Parra, Stella Díaz Varín and Enrique Lihn. Becoming interested in the political ideology of anarchism, he began attending college, studying psychology and philosophy, but stayed for only two years. After dropping out, and having an interest in theatre and particularly mime, he took up employment as a clown in a circus and began a career as a theatre director. Meanwhile, in 1947 he founded his own theatrical troupe, the Teatro Mimico, which by 1952 had fifty members, and the following year he wrote his first play, El Minotaura (The Minotaur). Nonetheless, Jodorowsky felt that there was little for him left in Chile, and so that year he moved to Paris.
It was while in Paris that Jodorowsky began studying mime with Étienne Decroux and joined the troupe of one of Decroux's students, Marcel Marceau. It was with Marceau's troupe that he went on a world tour, and wrote several routines for the group, including "The Cage" and "The Mask Maker". After this, he returned to theatre directing, working on the music hall comeback of Maurice Chevalier in Paris. In 1957, Jodorowsky turned his hand to filmmaking, creating Les têtes interverties (The Severed Heads), a 20-minute adaptation of Thomas Mann's novella. It consisted almost entirely of mime, and told the surreal story of a head-swapping merchant who helps a young man find courtship success. Jodorowsky played the lead role. The director Jean Cocteau admired the film, and wrote an introduction for it. It was considered lost until a print of the film was discovered in 2006.
In 1960, Jodorowsky moved to Mexico, where he settled down in Mexico City. Nonetheless, he continued to return occasionally to France, on one occasion visiting the Surrealist artist André Breton, but he was disillusioned in that he felt Breton had become somewhat conservative in his old age. Continuing his interest in surrealism, in 1962 he founded the Panic Movement along with Fernando Arrabal and Roland Topor. The movement aimed to go beyond the conventional surrealist ideas by embracing absurdism. Its members refused to take themselves seriously, while laughing at those critics who did. In 1966 he produced his first comic strip, Anibal 5, which was related to the Panic Movement. The following year he created a new feature film, Fando y Lis, loosely based on a play written by Fernando Arrabal, who was working with Jodorowsky on performance art at the time. Fando y Lis premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, where it instigated a riot amongst those objecting to the film's content, and subsequently it was banned in Mexico.
It was in Mexico City that he encountered Ejo Takata (1928–1997), a Zen Buddhist monk who had studied at the Horyuji and Shofukuji monasteries in Japan before traveling to Mexico via the United States in 1967 to spread Zen. Jodorowsky became a disciple of Takata and offered his own house to be turned into a zendo. Subsequently, Takata attracted other disciples around him, who spent their time in meditation and the study of koans. Eventually, Takata instructed Jodorowsky that he had to learn more about his feminine side, and so he went and befriended the English surrealist Leonora Carrington, who had recently moved to Mexico.
Career
El Topo and The Holy Mountain (1970–1974)
In 1970, Jodorowsky released the film El Topo, which sometimes is known in English as The Mole, which he had both directed and starred in. An acid western, El Topo tells the story of a wandering Mexican bandit and gunslinger, El Topo (played by Jodorowsky), who is on a search for spiritual enlightenment, taking his young son along with him. Along the way, he violently confronts a number of other individuals, before finally being killed and being resurrected to live within a community of deformed people who are trapped inside a mountain cave. Describing the work, he stated that "I ask of film what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs. The difference being that when one creates a psychedelic film, he need not create a film that shows the visions of a person who has taken a pill; rather, he needs to manufacture the pill." Knowing how Fando y Lis had caused such a scandal in Mexico, Jodorowsky decided not to release El Topo there, instead focusing on its release in other countries across the world, including Mexico's northern neighbour, the United States. It was in New York City where the film would play as a "midnight movie" for several months at Ben Barenholtz's Elgin Theater. It attracted the attention of rock musician and countercultural figure John Lennon, who thought very highly of it, and convinced the president of The Beatles' company Apple Corps, Allen Klein, to distribute it in the United States.
Klein agreed to give Jodorowsky $1 million to go toward creating his next film. The result was The Holy Mountain, released in 1973. It has been suggested that The Holy Mountain may have been inspired by René Daumal's Surrealist novel Mount Analogue. The Holy Mountain was another complex, multi-part story that featured a man credited as "The Thief" and equated with Jesus Christ, a mystical alchemist played by Jodorowsky, seven powerful business people representing seven of the planets (Venus and the six planets from Mars to Pluto), a religious training regimen of spiritual rebirth, and a quest to the top of a holy mountain for the secret of immortality. During the completion of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky received spiritual training from Oscar Ichazo of the Arica School, who encouraged him to take LSD and guided him through the subsequent psychedelic experience. Around the same time (2 November 1973), Jodorowsky participated in an isolation tank experiment conducted by John Lilly.
Shortly thereafter, Allen Klein demanded that Jodorowsky create a film adaptation of Pauline Réage's classic novel of female masochism, Story of O. Klein had promised this adaptation to various investors. Jodorowsky, who had discovered feminism during the filming of The Holy Mountain, refused to make the film, going so far as to leave the country to escape directing duties. In retaliation, Allen Klein made El Topo and The Holy Mountain, to which he held the rights, completely unavailable to the public for more than 30 years. Jodorowsky frequently decried Klein's actions in interviews.
Soon after the release of The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky gave a talk at the Teatro Julio Castillo, University of Mexico on the subject of koans (despite the fact that he initially had been booked on the condition that his talk would be about cinematography), at which Ejo Takata appeared. After the talk, Takata gave Jodorowsky his kyosaku, believing that his former student had mastered the art of understanding koans.
Dune and Tusk (1975–1980)
In December 1974, a French consortium led by Jean-Paul Gibon purchased the film rights to Frank Herbert's epic 1965 science fiction novel Dune and asked Jodorowsky to direct a film version. Jodorowsky planned to cast the Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, in what would have been his only speaking role as a film actor, in the role of Emperor Shaddam IV. Dalí agreed when Jodorowsky offered to pay him a fee of $100,000 per hour. He also planned to cast Orson Welles as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen; Welles only agreed when Jodorowsky offered to get his favourite gourmet chef to prepare his meals for him throughout the filming. The book's protagonist, Paul Atreides, was to be played by Jodorowsky's son, Brontis Jodorowsky. The music would be composed by Pink Floyd and Magma. Jodorowsky set up a pre-production unit in Paris consisting of Chris Foss, a British artist who designed covers for science fiction publications, Jean Giraud (Moebius), a French illustrator who created and also wrote and drew for Métal Hurlant magazine, and H. R. Giger. Frank Herbert travelled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2 million of the $9.5 million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour movie ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled). Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship. The production for the film collapsed when no film studio could be found willing to fund the movie to Jodorowsky's terms. The aborted production was chronicled in the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune. Subsequently, the rights for filming were sold to Dino de Laurentiis, who employed the American filmmaker David Lynch to direct, creating the film Dune in 1984. The documentary does not include any original film footage of what was to be Jodorowsky's Dune but does make extraordinary claims as to the influence this unmade film had on other actual science fiction films, such as Star Wars, Alien, Terminator, Flash Gordon, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
After the collapse of the Dune project, Jodorowsky completely changed course and, in 1980, premiered his children's fable Tusk, shot in India. Taken from Reginald Campbell's novel Poo Lorn of the Elephants, the film explores the soul-mate relationship between a young British woman living in India and a highly prized elephant. The film exhibited little of the director's outlandish visual style and was never given wide release.
Santa Sangre and The Rainbow Thief (1981–1990)
In 1982, Jodorowsky divorced his wife.
In 1989, Jodorowsky completed the Mexican-Italian production Santa Sangre (Holy Blood). The film received limited theatrical distribution, putting Jodorowsky back on the cultural map despite its mixed critical reviews. Santa Sangre was a surrealistic slasher film with a plot like a mix of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with Robert Wiene's The Hands of Orlac. It featured a protagonist who, as a child, saw his mother lose both her arms, and as an adult let his own arms act as hers, and so was forced to commit murders at her whim. Several of Jodorowsky's sons were recruited as actors.
He followed in 1990 with a very different film, The Rainbow Thief. Though it gave Jodorowsky a chance to work with the "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, the executive producer, Alexander Salkind, effectively curtailed most of Jodorowsky's artistic inclinations, threatening to fire him on the spot if anything in the script was changed (Salkind's wife, Berta Domínguez D., wrote the screenplay).
That same year (1990), Jodorowsky and his family returned to France to live.
In 1995, Alejandro's son, Teo, died in an accident while his father was busy preparing for a trip to Mexico City to promote his new book. Upon arriving in Mexico City, he gave a lecture at the Julio Castillo Theatre where he once again met Ejo Takata, who at this time had moved into a poor suburb of the city where he had continued to teach meditation and Zen. Takata would die two years later, and Jodorowsky would never get to see his old friend again.
Attempts to return to filmmaking (1990–2011)
In 2000, Jodorowsky won the Jack Smith Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF). Jodorowsky attended the festival and his films were shown, including El Topo and The Holy Mountain, which at the time had grey legal status. According to festival director Bryan Wendorf, it was an open question of whether CUFF would be allowed to show both films, or whether the police would show up and shut the festival down.
Until 2007, Fando y Lis and Santa Sangre were the only Jodorowsky works available on DVD. Neither El Topo nor The Holy Mountain were available on videocassette or DVD in the United States or the United Kingdom, due to ownership disputes with distributor Allen Klein. After settlement of the dispute in 2004, however, plans to re-release Jodorowsky's films were announced by ABKCO Films. On 19 January 2007, it was announced online that Anchor Bay would release a box set including El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and Fando y Lis on 1 May 2007. A limited edition of the set includes both the El Topo and The Holy Mountain soundtracks. And, in early February 2007, Tartan Video announced its 14 May 2007, release date for the UK PAL DVD editions of El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and the six-disc box set which, alongside the aforementioned feature films, includes the two soundtrack CDs, as well as separate DVD editions of Jodorowsky's 1968 debut feature Fando y Lis (with his 1957 short La cravate a.k.a. Les têtes interverties, included as an extra) and the 1994 feature-length documentary La constellation Jodorowsky. Notably, Fando y Lis and La cravate were digitally restored extensively and remastered in London during late 2006, thus providing a suitable complement to the quality restoration work undertaken on El Topo and The Holy Mountain in the States by ABKCO, and ensuring that the presentation of Fando y Lis is a significant improvement over the 2001 Fantoma DVD edition. Prior to the availability of these legitimate releases, only inferior quality, optically censored, bootleg copies of both El Topo and The Holy Mountain have been circulated on the Internet and on DVD.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Jodorowsky attempted to make a sequel to El Topo, called at different times The Sons of El Topo and Abel Cain, but did not find investors for the project.
In an interview with Premiere Magazine, Jodorowsky said he intended his next project to be a gangster film called King Shot. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper in November 2009, however, Jodorowsky revealed that he was unable to find the funds to make King Shot, and instead would be entering preparations on Sons of El Topo, for which he claimed to have signed a contract with "some Russian producers".
In 2010, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City staged the first American cinema retrospective of Alejandro Jodorowsky entitled Blood into Gold: The Cinematic Alchemy of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky would attend the retrospective and hold a master class on art as a way of transformation. This retrospective would inspire the museum MoMA PS1 to present the exhibition Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Holy Mountain in 2011.
The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry (2011–present)
In August 2011, Alejandro arrived in a town in Chile where he grew up, also the setting of his autobiography The Dance of Reality, to promote an autobiographical film based upon his book.
On 31 October 2011, Halloween night, the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) honored Jodorowsky by showing The Holy Mountain. He attended and spoke about his work and life. The next evening, he presented El Topo at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center.
Alejandro has stated that after finishing The Dance of Reality he was preparing to shoot his long-gestating El Topo sequel, Abel Cain. By January 2013, Alejandro finished filming on The Dance of Reality and entered into post-production. Alejandro's son and co-star in the film, Brontis, claimed the film was to be finished by March 2013, and that the film was "very different than the other films he made". On 23 April, it was announced that the film would have its world premiere at the Film Festival in Cannes. coinciding with The Dance of Reality premiered alongside the documentary film Jodorowsky's Dune, which premiered in May 2013 at the Cannes Film Festival, creating a "Jodorowsky double bill".
In 2015, Jodorowsky began a new film entitled Endless Poetry, the sequel to his last "auto-biopic", The Dance of Reality. His Paris-based production company, Satori Films, launched two successful crowdfunding campaigns to finance the film. The Indiegogo campaign has been left open indefinitely, receiving donations from fans and movie-goers in support of the independent production. The film was shot between June and August 2015, in the streets of Matucana in Santiago, Chile, where Jodorowsky lived for a period in his life. The film portrays his young adulthood in Santiago, years during which he became a core member of the Chilean poetic avant-garde alongside artists such as Hugo Marín, Gustavo Becerra, Enrique Lihn, Stella Díaz Varín, Nicanor Parra and others. Jodorowsky's son, Adan Jodorowsky, plays him as an adult and Brontis Jodorowsky, plays as his father Jaime. Jeremias Herskovitz, from The Dance of Reality, portrays Jodorowsky as a teenager. Pamela Flores plays Sara (his mother) and Stella Díaz Varín (poetess and young Jodorowsky's girlfriend). Leandro Taub portrays Jodorowsky's best friend, the poet and novelist Enrique Lihn. The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival on 14 May 2016. Variety's review was overwhelmingly positive, calling it "...the most accessible movie he has ever made, and it may also be the best."
During an interview at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, Jodorowsky announced his plans to finally make The Son of El Topo as soon as financial backing is obtained.
Other work
Jodorowsky is a weekly contributor of "good news" to the nightly "author news report" of his friend, Fernando Sánchez Dragó in Telemadrid.
He also released a 12" vinyl with the Original Soundtrack of Zarathustra (Discos Tizoc, Mexico, 1970).
He has cited the filmmaker Federico Fellini as his primary cinematic influence; other artistic influences included George Gurdjieff, Antonin Artaud, and Luis Buñuel. He has been described as an influence on such figures as Marilyn Manson, David Lynch, Nicolas Winding Refn, Jan Kounen, Dennis Hopper, and Kanye West.
Comics
Jodorowsky started his comic career in Mexico with the creation of Anibal 5 series in mid-1966 with illustrations by Manuel Moro. He also drew his own comic strip in the weekly series Fabulas pánicas that appeared in the Mexican newspaper, El Heraldo de México. He also wrote original stories for at least two or three other comic books in Mexico during those days: Los insoportables Borbolla was one of them. After his fourth film, Tusk, he started The Incal, with Jean Giraud (Mœbius). This graphic novel has its roots deep in the tarot and its symbols, e.g., the protagonist of The Incal, John Difool, is linked to the Fool card. The Incal (which would branch off into a prequel and sequel) forms the first in a sequence of several science fiction comic book series, all set in the same space opera Jodoverse (or "Metabarons Universe") published by Humanoids Publishing.
Comic books set in this milieu are Incal (trilogy: Before the Incal/ Incal/ Final Incal), Metabarons (trilogy: Castaka/ The Caste of the Metabarons/ Weapons of the Metabaron), and The Technopriests and also an RPG adaptation, The Metabarons Roleplaying Game. Many ideas and concepts derived from Jodorowsky's planned adaptation of Dune (which he would have been loosely based upon Frank Herbert's original novel) are featured in this universe.
Mœbius and Jodorowsky sued Luc Besson, director of The Fifth Element, claiming that the 1997 film borrowed graphic and story elements from The Incal, but they lost their case. The suit was plagued by ambiguity since Mœbius had willingly participated in the creation of the film, having been hired by Besson as a contributing artist, but had done so without gaining the approval of Incal co-creator Jodorowsky, whose services Besson did not call upon. For more than a decade, Jodorowsky pressured his publisher Les Humanoïdes Associés to sue Luc Besson for plagiarism, but the publisher refused, fearing the inevitability of the final outcome. In a 2002 interview with the Danish comic book magazine Strip!, Jodorowsky stated that he considered it an honour that somebody stole his ideas.
Other comics by Jodorowsky include the Western Bouncer illustrated by Francois Boucq, Juan Solo (Son of the Gun), and Le Lama blanc (The White Lama), the latter were illustrated by Georges Bess.
Le Cœur couronné (The Crowned Heart, translated into English as The Madwoman of the Sacred Heart), a racy satire on religion set in contemporary times, won Jodorowsky and his collaborator, Jean Giraud, the 2001 Haxtur Award for Best Long Strip. He is currently working on a new graphic novel for the U.S. market.
Jodorowsky's comic book work also appears in Taboo volume 4 (ed. Stephen R. Bissette), which features an interview with the director, designs for his version of Frank Herbert's Dune, comic storyboards for El Topo, and a collaboration with Moebius with the illustrated Eyes of the Cat.
Jodorowsky collaborated with Milo Manara in Borgia (2006), a graphic novel about the history of the House of Borgia.
Psychomagic
Jodorowsky spent almost a decade reconstructing the original form of the Tarot de Marseille. From this work he moved into more therapeutic work in three areas: psychomagic, psychogenealogy and initiatic massage. Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which practitioners of the therapy believe are passed down from generation to generation. Psychogenealogy includes the studying of the patient's personality and family tree in order to best address their specific sources. It is similar, in its phenomenological approach to genealogy, to the Constellations pioneered by Bert Hellinger.
Jodorowsky has several books on his therapeutic methods, including Psicomagia: La trampa sagrada (Psychomagic: The Sacred Trap) and his autobiography, La danza de la realidad (The Dance of Reality), which he was filming as a feature-length film in March 2012. To date he has published more than 23 novels and philosophical treatises, along with dozens of articles and interviews. His books are widely read in Spanish and French, but are for the most part unknown to English-speaking audiences.
For a quarter of a century, Jodorowsky held classes and lectures for free, in cafés and universities all over the city of Paris. Typically, such courses or talks would begin on Wednesday evenings as tarot divination lessons, and would culminate in an hour long conference, also free, where at times hundreds of attendees would be treated to live demonstrations of a psychological "arbre généalogique" ("tree of genealogy") involving volunteers from the audience. In these conferences, Jodorowsky would pave the way to building a strong base of students of his philosophy, which deals with understanding the unconscious as the "over-self", composed of many generations of family relatives, living or deceased, acting on the psyche, well into adult lives, and causing compulsions. Of all his work, Jodorowsky considers these activities to be the most important of his life. Though such activities only take place in the insular world of Parisian cafés, he has devoted thousands of hours of his life to teaching and helping people "become more conscious," as he puts it.
Since 2011 these talks have dwindled to once a month and take place at the Librairie Les Cent Ciels in Paris.
His film Psychomagic, a Healing Art premiered in Lyon on 3 September 2019. It was then released on streaming services on 1 August 2020.
Personal life
Jodorowsky's first wife was the actress Valérie Tremblay. He is currently married to the artist and costume designer Pascale Montandon.
He has five children: Brontis Jodorowsky, an actor who worked with his father in El Topo, The Dance of Reality and Endless Poetry; Teo, who played in Santa Sangre; Cristóbal, a psychoshaman and an actor (interpreter in Santa Sangre and the main character in the shamanic documentary Quantum Men); Eugenia Jodorowsky; and the youngest, Adan Jodorowsky, a musician known by his stage name of Adanowsky. The fashion model Alma Jodorowsky is the granddaughter of Alejandro.
On his religious views, Jodorowsky has called himself an "atheist mystic".
He does not drink or smoke, and has stated that he does not eat red meat or poultry because he "does not like corpses", basing his diet on vegetables, fruits, grains and occasionally marine products.
In 2005, Jodorowsky officiated at the wedding of Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese.
Fans included musicians Peter Gabriel, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore (of the pop-duo Empire of the Sun). Wes Borland, guitarist of Limp Bizkit, said that the film Holy Mountain was a big influence on him, especially as a visual artist, and that the concept album Lotus Island of his band Black Light Burns was a tribute to it.
Jodorowsky was interviewed by Daniel Pinchbeck for the Franco-German television show Durch die Nacht mit … on the TV station Arte, in a very personal discussion, spending a night together in France, continuing the interview in different locations such as a park and a hotel.
Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in the ending titles of his 2011 film Drive, and dedicated his 2013 Thai crime thriller, Only God Forgives, to Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky also appeared in the documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, directed by Refn's wife Liv, giving the couple a tarot reading.
Argentinean actor Leandro Taub thanks Alejandro Jodorowsky in his book La Mente Oculta, for which Jodorowsky wrote the prologue.
Criticism and controversy
When Jodorowsky's first feature film, Fando y Lis, premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, the screening was controversial and erupted into a riot, due to its graphic content. Jodorowsky had to leave the theatre by sneaking outside to a waiting limousine, and when the crowd outside the theatre recognized him, the car was pelted with rocks. The following week, the film opened to sell-out crowds in Mexico City, but more fights broke out, and the film was banned by the Mexican government. Jodorowsky himself was nearly deported and the controversy provided a great deal of fodder for the Mexican newspapers.
In regard to the making of El Topo, Jodorowsky allegedly stated in the early 1970s:
In the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune, Jodorowsky states:
As a result of these alleged statements, Jodorowsky has been criticised. Matt Brown of Screen Anarchy wrote that "it's easier to wall off a certain type of criminality behind the buffer of time—sure, Alejandro Jodorowsky is on the record in his book on the making of the film as having raped Mara Lorenzio while making El Topo—though he later denied it—but nowadays he's just that hilarious old kook from Jodorowsky's Dune!" Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com called Jodorowsky "an artist who condones rape as a means to an end for the purpose of creating art. A man who seems to believe that rape is something that women 'need' if they can't accept male sexual power on their own". Jude Doyle of Elle wrote that Jodorowsky "has been teasing the idea of an unsimulated rape scene in his cult classic film El Topo for decades ... though he's elsewhere described the unsimulated sex in that scene as consensual", and went on to state that the quote "has not endangered his status as an avant-garde icon".
On 26 June 2017, Jodorowsky released a statement on his Facebook account in response to the question: "Did you rape an actress during the filming of El Topo?" The following excerpts are from said statement:
Filmography
As director
As actor
Bibliography
Selected bibliography of comics, novels and non-fiction writings:
Graphic novels and comics
Anibal 5 {Original Mexican edition with Manuel Moro} (1966)
Los Insoportables Borbolla (with Manuel Moro) (1966)
The Panic Fables (; 1967–1970), comic strip published in El Heraldo de México.
The Eyes of the Cat (1978)
The Jealous God (1984)
The Magical Twins (1987)
Anibal 5 {French edition with Mœbius} (1990)
Diosamente (1992)
Moonface (1992)
Angel Claws (1994)
Son of the Gun (1995)
Madwoman of the Sacred Heart (1998)
The Shadow's Treasure (1999)
Bouncer (2001)
The White Lama (2004)
Borgia (2004)
Screaming Planet (2006)
Royal Blood (2010)
Showman Killer (2010)
Pietrolino (2013)
The Son of El Topo (2016- ongoing)
Knights of Heliopolis (2017)
Metabarons Universe
Beginning with The Incal in 1981, Jodorowsky has co-written and produced a series of linked comics series and graphic novels () for the French-language market known colloquially as the Jodoverse. The series was initially developed with Jean Giraud using concepts and designs created for Jodorowky's unfinished Dune project. Many of the comics and novels have been translated into Spanish, English, and German under Jodorowsky supervision.
The Incal (1981–1988)
Before the Incal (1988–1995)
The Metabarons (1992–2003)
The Technopriests (1998–2006)
Megalex (1999–2007)
After the Incal (2000), incomplete series.
Metabarons Genesis: Castaka (2007–2013)
Weapons of the Metabaron (2008)
Final Incal (2008–2014), revised version of the After the Incal series with new art and text.
The Metabaron (2015–2018)
Simak (2019)
Fiction
Jodorowsky's Spanish-language novels translated into English include:
Where the Bird Sings Best (1992)
Albina and the Dog Men (1999)
The Son of Black Thursday (1999)
Non-fiction
Psychomagic (1995)
The Dance of Reality (2001)
The Way of Tarot (2004), with Marianne Costa
The Manual of Psychomagic (2009)
Metageneaology (2012), with Marianne Costa
pascALEjandro: Alchemical Androgynous (2017), with Pascale Montandon
Autobiography
The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky (2005)
The Dance of Reality: A Psychomagical Autobiography (2014)
Sacred Trickery and the Way of Kindness: The Radical Wisdom of Jodo (2016)
The Finger and the Moon: Zen Teachings and Koans (2016)
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading
Cobb, Ben (2007). Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Persistence of Vision 6), ed. Louise Brealey, pref. Alan Jones, int. Stephen Barber. London, April 2007 / New York, August 2007, Creation Books.
Coillard, Jean-Paul (2009), De la cage au grand écran. Entretiens avec Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paris. K-Inite Editions.
Chignoli, Andrea (2009), Zoom back, Camera! El cine de Alejandro Jodorowsky, Santiago de Chile, Uqbar Editores.
Dominguez Aragones, Edmundo (1980). Tres extraordinarios: Luis Spota, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Emilio "Indio" Fernández; Mexicali, Mexico DF, Juan Pablos Editor. P. 109–146.
Gonzalez, Házael (2011), Alejandro Jodorowsky: Danzando con la realidad, Palma de Mallorca, Dolmen Editorial.
Larouche, Michel (1985). Alexandre Jodorowsky, cinéaste panique, París, ça cinéma, Albatros.
Moldes, Diego, (2012). Alejandro Jodorowsky, Madrid, Col. Signo e Imagen / Cineastas, Ediciones Cátedra. Prologue by Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Monteleone, Massimo (1993). La Talpa e la Fenice. Il cinema di Alejandro Jodorowsky, Bologna, Granata Press.
External links
Jodorowsky publications in Métal Hurlant. BDoubliées
Jodorowsky albums. Bedetheque
Jodorowsky publications in English. Europeancomics.net
1929 births
Living people
20th-century alchemists
20th-century atheists
21st-century alchemists
21st-century atheists
Chilean comics writers
Chilean emigrants to France
Chilean expatriates in Mexico
Chilean film directors
Chilean experimental filmmakers
Esotericists
French-language film directors
French comics writers
French film directors
Chilean mimes
Chilean surrealist artists
Chilean surrealist writers
French surrealist artists
French surrealist writers
Surrealist filmmakers
Horror film directors
Anarchist writers
Chilean speculative fiction writers
Chilean autobiographers
Chilean Jews
Chilean people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Jewish anarchists
Jewish atheists
Jewish feminists
Jewish mimes
Mystics
Naturalized citizens of France
Chilean occultists
People from Tocopilla
Chilean performance artists
Psychedelic drug advocates
Psychotherapists
Tarot readers
Polish Ashkenazi Jews | true | [
"Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday? is a 1963 children's book published by Beginner Books and written by Helen Palmer Geisel, the first wife of Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss). Unlike most of the Beginner Books, Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday? did not follow the format of text with inline drawings, being illustrated with black-and-white photographs by Lynn Fayman, featuring a boy named Rawli Davis. It is sometimes misattributed to Dr. Seuss himself. The book's cover features a photograph of a young boy sitting at a breakfast table with a huge pile of pancakes.\n\nActivities mentioned in the book include bowling, water skiing, marching, boxing, and shooting guns with the United States Marines, and eating more spaghetti \"than anyone else has eaten before.\n\nHelen Palmer's photograph-based children's books did not prove to be as popular as the more traditional text-and-illustrations format; however, Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday received positive reviews and was listed by The New York Times as one of the best children's books of 1963. The book is currently out of print.\n\nReferences\n\n1963 children's books\nAmerican picture books",
"Daniel S. Burt is an American author and literary critic.\n\nCareer\n\nDaniel S. Burt, Ph.D. received his doctorate in English and American Literature with a specialization in Victorian fiction from New York University. He taught undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in writing and literature at New York University, Wesleyan University, Trinity College, Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Cape Cod Community College. At Wentworth Institute of Technology, he served as a dean for almost a decade. During his time at New York University, he was director of the NYU in London program, wherein he traveled with students to Russia, Spain, Britain and Ireland. \n\nSince 2003, Burt has served as the Academic Director for the Irish Academic Enrichment Workshops, which are held in Ireland every summer.\n\nBibliography\n\nThe Literary 100: A Ranking Of The Most Influential Novelists, Playwrights, And Poets Of All Time. Checkmark Books. October 1, 1999.\nThe Biography Book: A Reader's Guide To Nonfiction, Fictional, And Film Biographies Of More Than 500 Of The Most Fascinating Individuals Of All Time. Oryx Press. February 1, 2001.\nThe Novel 100: A Ranking Of The Greatest Novels Of All Time. Checkmark Books. November 1, 2003.\nThe Chronology of American Literature: America's Literary Achievements from the Colonial Era to Modern Times. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. February 10, 2004.\nThe Drama 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Plays of All Time. Checkmark Books. December 1, 2007.\nThe Handy Literature Answer Book: An Engaging Guide to Unraveling Symbols, Signs and Meanings in Great Works with Deborah G. Felder. Visible Ink Press. July 1, 2018.\n\nWhat Do I Read Next? Series \n\n What Historical Novel Do I Read Next? Gale Cengage.1997.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2000, Volume 1 with Neil Barron. Gale Cengage. June 1, 2000.\nWhat Fantastic Fiction Do I Read Next? 2001, Volume 1 with Neil Barron and Tom Barton. Gale Cengage. June 1, 2001. \nWhat Do I Read Next? 2003, Volume 2 with Neil Barron and Tom Barton. Gale Cengage. October 17, 20013.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2005, Volume 1 with Neil Barron and Tom Barton. Thomson Gale. May 27, 2005.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2005, Volume 2 with Neil Barron. Gale. October 21, 2005. \nWhat Do I Read Next? 2006, Volume 1 with Neil Barron and Tom Barton. Thomson Gale. May 25, 2006.\n What Do I Read Next? 2007, Volume 1 with Natalie Danford and Don D'Ammassa. Gale Cengage. June 8, 2007.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2007, Volume 2: A Reader's Guide to Current Genre Fiction with Don D'Ammassa, Natalie Danford, Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, Jim Huang, and Melissa Hudak. Gale Cengage. October 19, 2007. \nWhat Do I Read Next? 2008, Volume 1 with Natalie Danford and Don D'Ammassa. Gale. May 23, 2008. \n What Do I Read Next? 2009. Volume 1 with Michelle Kazensky, Marie Toft, and Hazel Rumney. Gale Cengage. June 12, 2009.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2010, Volume 1 with Neil Barron. Gale. 2010.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nBibliography on GoodReads\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nAmerican male non-fiction writers\nAmerican literary critics\nNew York University alumni\nWesleyan University faculty"
]
|
[
"Gisele Bündchen",
"1997-2000: Career beginnings"
]
| C_e6582aeda7d44f54b6d7d722a705480a_1 | What happened to Gisele Bundchen in her career beginnings? | 1 | What happened to Gisele Bundchen in her career beginnings? | Gisele Bündchen | Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows. She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 "rain" ready-to-wear show. Echoing similar accolades for Elle Macpherson a decade earlier, McQueen dubbed Bundchen "the Body", immediately boosting her bookings. In 1998, she posed for Missoni, Chloe, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferre, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She made the cover of the French edition of Vogue, and fashion magazine i-D featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele." The Vogue online encyclopedia of models states, "As the year 2000 approached, Gisele Bundchen was the world's hottest model, opening up a new category in the popular imagination: the Brazilian bombshell." She appeared on the cover of Vogue in July, November and December 1999. She won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and a January 2000 cover gave her three consecutive Vogue covers. In 2000, she became the fourth model to appear on the cover of the music magazine Rolling Stone when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Bundchen has appeared on the covers of many top fashion magazines, including W, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Allure, as well as style and lifestyle publications such as The Face, Arena, Citizen K, Flair, GQ, Esquire, and Marie Claire, and in the Pirelli Calendar in 2001 and 2006. She has also been seen in TIME, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Newsweek, and Veja. Bundchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers throughout the world. She simultaneously featured on the covers of both the US and British editions of Vogue in January 2000. Take the case of 18-year-old Gisele Bundchen, a.k.a. Gisele, fashion's new uber- (not super-) model. Gisele is currently shooting five massive advertising campaigns, starring on the cover of W, and playing the muse to t/bersnappers Steven Meisel and Mario Testino. In short, Gisele is huge. CANNOTANSWER | Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows. | Gisele Caroline Bündchen (, , born 20 July 1980) is a Brazilian fashion model. Since 2001, she has been one of the highest-paid models in the world. In 2007, Bündchen was the 16th richest woman in the entertainment industry and earned the top spot on Forbes top-earning models list in 2012. In 2014, she was listed as the 89th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes.
Vogue credited Bündchen with ending the heroin chic era of modelling in 1999. Bündchen was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 until 2006. She is credited with pioneering and popularizing the horse walk, a stomping movement created by a model lifting her knees high and kicking her feet to step. In 2007, Claudia Schiffer called Bündchen the only remaining supermodel. Bündchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers.
Bündchen was nominated for Choice Movie Female Breakout Star and for Choice Movie Villain at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards for her supporting role in Taxi (2004). She had a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and was the executive producer of an educational environmental cartoon, Gisele & the Green Team, in 2010 to 2011.
In 2016, she appeared in the Emmy award-winning documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, in the episode "Fueling the Fire".
Bündchen's charitable endeavors include Save the Children, Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program since 2009.
Family and early life
Born in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, Bündchen is a sixth-generation German Brazilian, born to Vânia (née Nonnenmacher), a bank clerk pensioner, and Valdir Bündchen, a sociologist and writer. Her grandfather, Walter Bündchen, once served as mayor of Horizontina. She grew up with five sisters, Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela and her fraternal twin, Patrícia. The family was Roman Catholic. Although her parents speak German and Bündchen learned German in school, she no longer speaks the language. Bündchen speaks Portuguese, English, Italian, Spanish and French.
Bündchen aspired to be a volleyball player, but in 1993 her mother enrolled her and sisters Patrícia and Gabriela in a modelling course to teach them confidence and better posture. After the course ended, the girls were rewarded by a trip to Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where she was discovered by Elite Model Management at a shopping mall. Bündchen was placed second in a national contest, Elite Model Look, that was then known as Look of the Year. In 1995, Bündchen moved to São Paulo to launch her modelling career. She debuted at New York Fashion Week in 1996.
Career
1997–2000: Career beginnings
In 1997, Bündchen was rejected 42 times in London before being cast in an Alexander McQueen runway show in 1998. In 1998, Bündchen posed for Missoni, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferré, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She appeared on the cover of Vogue Paris, her first cover of British Vogue, and i-D, which featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele". Dissatisfied with Elite Model Management's work environment, Bündchen signed with IMG Models in 1999.
Bündchen's first U.S Vogue cover, where Vogue announced Bündchen was "the return of the sexy model", was the first of three Vogue covers for her in 1999. In November she appeared in a group Vogue cover with Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Christy Turlington, Iman, Lauren Hutton, Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Claudia Schiffer, Lisa Taylor, Paulina Porizkova, Carolyn Murphy, and Patti Hansen, and appeared in a solo U.S. Vogue cover in December. Bündchen won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year in 1999. After Bündchen appeared in five major campaigns at age 18, New York magazine editor Sally Singer deemed her an "über" model. She became the fourth model to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" in 2000. In 2000, Vogues online encyclopedia of models called Bündchen the world's hottest model and called Bündchen "the Brazilian bombshell".
2000–2009: Modelling breakthrough, international success, and acting debut
In 2000, Bündchen appeared on 37 international Vogue covers, including three in the American edition. In January 2000, Bündchen was featured on the covers of the U.S. and British editions of Vogue. For spring 2000 fashion week, she opened shows for Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior, and Valentino in New York, Milan and Paris. From 1998 to 2003, Bündchen was in 11 consecutive Dolce & Gabbana fashion campaigns. From 2006 to 2009 she became the face of Dolce & Gabbana's fragrance "The One". Bündchen retired from the runway after signing a five-year contract with Victoria's Secret.
In 2000, Bündchen wore Victoria's Secret's Red Hot Fantasy Bra worth $15 million and listed in Guinness World Records as the most expensive lingerie ever created. Bündchen modeled the Sexy Splendor Fantasy Bra in 2005, the second-most expensive bra valued at $12.5 million.
In 2004, she appeared on a group U.S. Vogue cover, with Daria Werbowy, Natalia Vodianova, Isabeli Fontana, Karolina Kurkova, Liya Kebede, Hana Soukupova, Gemma Ward, and Karen Elson. Bündchen appeared on the covers of W, Allure, GQ, Forbes, Marie Claire, TIME, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and in the Pirelli Calendar.
Bündchen co-starred with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon in the 2004 remake of Taxi, and Bündchen played Serena in The Devil Wears Prada in 2006. In 2007, Mario Testino photographed Bündchen for the cover of Vanity Fairs style issue. In 2008, she appeared on the controversial cover of Vogue with NBA player LeBron James. The cover was criticized for perpetuating racial stereotypes after James bared his teeth in a gorilla-type pose.
Forbes listed Bündchen as No. 53 on their 2007 list of the most powerful celebrities. In 2010, Bündchen's flip-flop line for Ipanema sold more than 250 pairs for an estimated $197 million. In May 2007, Bündchen ended her contract with Victoria's Secret. In her memoir, "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life," Bündchen said she left Victoria's Secret because she was uncomfortable being photographed in lingerie. In August 2008, the New York Daily News named Bündchen as the one of the most powerful people in the fashion world.
2009–2011: Continued success
The Independent referred to Bündchen the biggest star in fashion history in May 2009. In April 2010, Bündchen appeared on the cover of American Vogue for the 11th time. Bündchen closed Balenciaga's 2010 show in a surprise appearance. In 2011, CEOWorld Magazine ranked Bündchen among their Top Accomplished Women Entertainers. She was ranked No. 95 in FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011. In 2007, Bündchen was named by Forbes as the World's Richest Supermodel. On April 11, 2008, a black-and-white photo of Bündchen shot by Irving Penn was auctioned for $193,000.
By 2010, Bündchen had appeared on two Vogue Shape issue covers, more than any other celebrity or model. She ranked No. 45 in the 2011 FHM Australia list of 100 Sexiest Women in the World. In 2011, Men's Health named Bündchen as No. 25 of the 100 Hottest Women of All Time. Bündchen closed the 2011 Givenchy spring-summer fashion show in a surprise appearance during Paris Fashion Week. That year, Bündchen launched eco-friendly Sejaa Pure Skincare, a skin care product line using all-natural ingredients.
She appeared on eight Vogue covers in 2011, more than any other model or celebrity that year. Her July Vogue Brasil 2011 cover that was shot in the Amazon sold 70,743 copies, making it the magazine's highest-selling issue. In early 2011, Procter & Gamble's Pantene shampoo sales increased 40 percent in Latin America after Bündchen started representing the product.
2012–present: Modelling campaigns and music endeavors
In spring 2012, Bündchen was featured in three spring campaigns, Versace, Givenchy, and Salvatore Ferragamo. She became the face of Banco do Brasil's first global ad campaign in 2012.
In April 2012, Time listed Bündchen on its All-TIME 100 Fashion Icons list, which highlighted the most influential fashion icons since 1923. Vogue included Bündchen in its spotlight of the 10 women who had most appeared on its covers to honor the magazine's 120th anniversary in August 2012.
Bündchen made 5,600 appearances in commercials in Brazil in 2012. She replaced Kate Moss as the face of David Yurman in August 2012. She was photographed by Peter Lindbergh for the fall 2012 campaign. By 2012, Bündchen had appeared on 120 Vogue covers. She holds the record for appearing on the most Vogue Brasil covers.
In February 2013, Bündchen became the face of Chanel's make-up line, Les Beiges. The campaign was photographed by Mario Testino. For Louis Vuitton's spring/summer 2014 campaign, Marc Jacobs chose Bündchen, Catherine Deneuve, Sofia Coppola, Fan Bingbing, Caroline de Maigret and Edie Campbell as his muses. In December 2013, Bündchen became Pantene's ambassador, a deal worth $4 million per year.
Bündchen released a cover of the Kinks "All Day and All of the Night" as a contribution to H&M's 2013 charity campaign. She contributed to H&M's 2014 charity campaign by teaming with French music producer and DJ Bob Sinclar to record a cover of Blondie's 1979 classic "Heart of Glass", on which she was credited as Gisele. The single charted in France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Belgium.
In May 2014, Bündchen was chosen as the spokeswoman for Chanel No. 5. Within the first quarter of 2014, Bündchen appeared on 17 international editions of Elle, including the Brazilian, German, Italian, Canadian, Japanese and Chinese editions. Under Armour signed Bündchen to a multiyear deal in September 2014. In 2014 and 2015, Bündchen appeared in more television commercial spots than any other Brazilian celebrity in the course of one year in Brazil.
Bündchen was featured in the 2015 Guinness World Record book as the model who earned the most money from June 2014 to June 2015.
Bündchen's $700 Taschen book released in celebration of her 20th year career sold out in one day.
By 2015, Bündchen appeared in more than 550 ad campaigns, 2000 magazine covers, 3500 magazine editorials and 800 fashion shows.
Bündchen appeared at the Maracanã Stadium at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on 5 August 2016.
Forbes ranked Bündchen No. 61 on its Most Powerful Celebrities list in 2012.
Forbes ranked her fourth on the World's Most Powerful Latino Celebrity list in May 2012. In 2013, she ranked No. 5 on the Forbes 10 Most Powerful Businesswomen in Brazil.
In 2013, Bündchen's Ipanema sandals sold about 25 million pairs annually and accounted for more than 60 percent of shoe manufacturer Grendene's annual exports of about $250 million.
In 2014, Bündchen signed a contract with Under Armour, which is reportedly on par with the endorsement compensations of professional athletes and exceeds her former Victoria's Secret contract. In 2016, Under Armour's CEO Kevin Plank said sales for the company's women's brand had increased because of its association with Bündchen.
In 2018, Gisele released her book called Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life, which was a New York Times bestseller and was the best selling book for over six months in the non-fiction category in Brazil. The proceeds from her book went to support social and environmental causes.
In February 2021, it was reported that Bündchen was leaving IMG Models after 22 years and that her twin sister, Patricia would be taking over as her manager.
Public image
In September 2000, Newsweek reported on a survey conducted by Brazilian magazine Capricho, where 86 percent of Brazilian teenagers said they wanted to become fashion models. Capricho attributed the interest in modelling to Bündchen.
By 2014, Bündchen was listed by Forbes as the 89th most powerful woman in the world.
Forbes Brasil listed Bündchen as the No. 2 biggest Brazilian celebrity of 2015 based on media presence and influence in Brazil.
In a 2006 Elle survey, more than 50 percent of American stylists asked gave Bündchen the title of the best hair in Hollywood. A February 2008 survey of more than 20,000 plastic surgeons in 84 countries revealed Bündchen was the celebrity most mentioned for patients having work done on their abdomens and hair, and the second-most mentioned celebrity in the breasts category.
Bündchen was second on Vanity Fairs World's Most Beautiful poll in 2009.
In January 2011, Bündchen's was the most desired female body on the 14th Annual Famed Hottest Looks survey. In 2011, Bündchen was one of three women to make AskMen.com's annual "Most Desirable Women" list every year for 10 consecutive years.
Bündchen is ranked No. 4 on Forbes Brasils list of the 100 most influential Brazilian celebrities.
In May 2014, Bündchen was ranked No. 89 on Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the world, the only model on the list.
In November 2014, Forbes Brasil ranked Bündchen fifth of the 25 biggest celebrities in Brazil, moving her up to second in 2015.
Vogue Italia called Bündchen the "King Midas of fashion" in February 2012, saying companies that invest in her reap the awards of her representation. An Esprit public awareness campaign featuring Bündchen helped raise consumer awareness 9 percent in Germany and 19 percent in China.
In 2016, Bündchen participated in The Beginning of Life, a documentary about "the crucial role that the early years of children’s lives play in determining their futures successes".
Philanthropy
Since the 2000s, Bündchen's main focus has been social and environmental causes. She has also supported the Breast Cancer Campaign to educate women on how to perform a breast self-exam.
Charitable activities
Bündchen donated $150,000 to Brazil's Zero Hunger program. She designed a limited necklace edition for Harper's Bazaar, crafted by jewelers Gumuchian Fils, which were sold to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
An iPod autographed by Bündchen and loaded with her personal playlist was auctioned, and proceeds were donated to Music Rising, a campaign founded in 2005, to replace lost or destroyed instruments of musicians in the Gulf Coast Region after hurricane disasters.
Bündchen became the face of American Express's Product Red-affiliated card in 2006. A portion of earnings from the credit card are donated to HIV/AIDS victims in Africa. In the same year she took part in the I am African fundraising campaign to make AIDS treatment accessible to all of Africa. In 2009, she appeared on 30 covers of the international issues of Elle wearing Product Red clothing and posing with products from companies that support its mission.
Bündchen started The Luz Foundation in 2007, a project to empower girls and help them deal with self-esteem issues.
In 2008, Bündchen auctioned a collection of diamonds to benefit the Diamond Empowerment Fund, a nonprofit organization to education initiatives in countries where diamonds are a natural resource. The collection featured the Ponahalo Diamonds which were valued at $2 million to $4 million, a 6-carat diamond ring worth $120,000–$150,000 and a 3.35-carat Sabbadini diamond ring worth $15,000–$20,000. In 2010, she donated $1.5 million to the Red Cross to aid the relief effort in Haiti after seeing the devastation done by the earthquake. The donation put Bündchen tied for 14th on The Giving Back Fund's list of 30 celebrities who made the largest donations to charity in 2011.
In 2010, together with former president Bill Clinton, Bündchen joined the event that partnered Pantene and the Children's Safe Drinking Water Program to provide clean water to people in need. Bündchen and Indonesian singer-songwriter Anggun announced the kick-off of the Healthy Hair for Healthy Water program at P&G's reception that was held in conjunction with the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Bündchen also attended the Brazil Foundation's 8th Annual Gala to raise funds for fighting challenges faced by poor communities in Brazil. Bündchen created an exclusive design for SIGG water bottles, with proceeds going to WaterCan NGO, a humanitarian organization in Canada that provides the poorest people in the world access to clean water, toilets, and information on hygiene.
In 2020, Bündchen formed the Luz Alliance fund in partnership with the Brazil Foundation with a donation of 1,000,000 reals. The fund supports the purchase of hygiene kits, food, and financial assistance to families in Brazil through eight different charitable organizations and emergency-response efforts to offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bündchen, along with her husband Brady, partnered with Wheels Up to donate 10 million meals to Feeding America for their "Meals Up" initiative and helped fund thousands of meals for Feeding Tampa Bay and The Greater Boston Food Bank to alleviate food insecurity. Bündchen also partnered with the "All in Challenge" by donated an experience with her at a photo shoot in New York, with all proceeds going to Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry.
Environmental work
In 2004, after visiting an Amerindian tribe at the Xingu region in Brazil and seeing firsthand the problems those communities were facing due to water pollution and deforestation, Bündchen decided she had to do something to help bring attention to social and environmental issues. She advocated for the cause and through the years she has supported different projects, especially forest and water related projects in the Amazon rainforest and Atlantic Forest.
In 2007, she signed a "Hotter than I Should Be" T-shirt that was auctioned on eBay for the World Wide Fund for Nature to support the charity's campaign to raise awareness about the causes and impacts of climate change.
Bündchen returned to her hometown of Horizontina in 2008 and with her family launched Projeto Água Limpa (Clean Water Project), which implements sustainable environmental management and promotes the recovery of riparian vegetation and the micro basins of the region. More than one million trees were planted in Bündchen's name following her 2008 American Photo cover to promote Forests of the Future, a project to assist in the reforestation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
In May 2009, Bündchen co-hosted the annual gala of the Rainforest Alliance to honor leaders in sustainability. In May 2011, Bündchen received the Global Environmental Citizen Award in recognition of her eco-efforts. In November 2011, she was awarded Greenest Celebrity at the 2011 International Green awards at the Natural History Museum, London.
Bündchen donates proceeds from the sales from her Ipanema sandals to a different charity each year. Starting in 2006, Bündchen dedicated a percentage of the sales of her line of sandals to environmental projects including "Y Ikatu Xingu", meaning "Save the Good Water of Xingu", the project aimed to recover and protect springs and headwaters of the Xingu River in Brazil. In 2007, she supported World Wildlife Fund project "Nascentes do Brasil" and "De olho nos manaciais" from ISA. In 2008, the project supported was "Florestas do futuro" from SOS Mata Atlantica, a reforestation program for recovery of native species, which contributes to water conservation and biodiversity. A forest was named after her, the Gisele Bündchen Forest, where more than 25000 seedlings of 100 different tree species were planted in her honor, which recovered more than 15 hectares of Atlantic Forest. In 2011, the donation went to the Socio-Environmental Institute. In 2009, she also helped the "Tamar Project", a research initiative and environmental protection of the five species of sea turtles along the Brazilian coast.
In 2012, Bündchen planted a sapling of Sapucaia tree during her visit to Green Nation Fest, an event that occurs every year during the Environment Week and, that year, prior to the realization of Rio +20. Over the years Bündchen participated in several United Nations campaigns to fight against climate change. She participated in challenges on World Environment Day to mobilize people to take action in helping protect the forest, the wildlife, the green economy and to encourage people to reduce their food waste. Bündchen attended Champions of the Earth and Equator Prize ceremonies multiples times.
In 2013, Bündchen supported the United Nations campaign against food waste, THINK.EAT.SAVE. Bündchen and chef Eric Ripert participated in the Today Show program where they showed that it is possible to cook more efficiently.
Bündchen and her husband promote the Earth Hour global movement, a symbolic act promoted worldwide by the World Wildlife Foundation in which governments, companies, and people demonstrate concern for the environment, turning off their lights for sixty minutes.
In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors. Later that year she attended, as a guest of honor the spring annual gala, a ceremony that recognized the industry champions that have sustainability as a priority. In 2014 Bündchen supported the SOKO + The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women partnership to support the financial and physical security of women and girls around the world. SOKO artisans in Kenya created a pair of handmade bracelets to raise awareness for the fund. Bündchen had her work in the defense of the environment recognized and was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Since then, Bündchen has helped UNEP in the mission of raising awareness and inspiring action to protect the environment.
In 2016, she joined the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously as one of its celebrity correspondents.
In addition to using her social networks to share information about different subjects related to the importance of preserving all forms of life, Bündchen also attended a meeting to discuss the matter at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, which happened on the World Wildlife Day in 2016. The date was celebrated with the theme "Wildlife Future is in Our Hands". She also participated in the Wild For Life campaign against the illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife, including the campaign that won the People's Choice Award in the green category of 2019 Webby Awards.
In 2019, Bündchen executive produced a documentary entitled Kiss the Ground. The feature focuses on a group of activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians who band together in a global movement of "Regenerative Agriculture" to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. The film features Bündchen alongside Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, Patricia Arquette, David Arquette, Tom Brady, and Jason Mraz. The documentary premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. In 2020 on her birthday Bündchen launched the Viva a Vida initiative and donated funds to plant 40,000 trees along the Xingu and Araguaia River in Brazil.
Goodwill ambassador
Bündchen and her husband, Tom Brady, served Thanksgiving dinner to more than 400 job trainees at Goodwill Industries International's headquarters in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in November 2008.
In September 2009, Bündchen was designated Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. She made her first visit to Africa as UNEP Goodwill Ambassador in January 2012.
In January 2012, Bündchen visited Kenya to experience the reality of energy poverty as part of the Energy for All 2030 project. On the eve of World Environment Day in June 2012, Bündchen, planted the first of a series of 50,000 trees in Rio de Janeiro. In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors.
Personal life
From 2000 to 2005, Bündchen was in a relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2004, Bündchen and DiCaprio made Peoples annual Most Beautiful Couples List. After experiencing a period of depression, Bündchen decided to end her relationship with DiCaprio after she felt their lifestyles no longer complemented, saying in her memoir Lessons, "[...] I was becoming more and more aware of things that I'd chosen not to look at. Was I alone in wanting to do some serious soul-searching while he stayed the same? In the end, unfortunately, the answer was yes."
In December 2006, Bündchen began dating NFL quarterback Tom Brady, after a mutual friend introduced them on a blind date. The couple married on 26 February 2009 in a small ceremony at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California. In April 2009, the couple had a second marriage ceremony, in Costa Rica. Bündchen and Brady have two children: son Benjamin Rein (born 2009), and daughter Vivian Lake (born 2012). She is the stepmother of Brady's first son (born 2007) from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan. Bündchen and Brady are Roman Catholics.
Bündchen practices Transcendental Meditation. She and her family adhere to a primarily plant-based diet developed by their personal chef Allen Campbell. They have lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, when Tom Brady played for the New England Patriots, and reside part-time in New York City. They have since moved to Tampa, Florida, after Brady went to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In December 2020, the couple reportedly bought a home in Indian Creek, Florida.
Wealth
In August 2011, Bündchen ranked 60th on the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. At age 31, she ranked third on The 20 Youngest Power Women of 2011 List. In 2011, Forbes named Bündchen and Brady as the World's Highest-Paid Celebrity couple. In August 2012, Bündchen was one of four people in the fashion industry and the only model to be ranked on the Forbes list of "The World's Most Powerful Women", at No. 83. She ranked eighth in the top 10 of the Forbes list of "Entertainment's Highest-Paid Women" in 2012.
Forbes ranked Bündchen as the world's top-earning model for the fifth consecutive time in May 2011. Bündchen disputed the number used by Forbes, telling Brazilian website MdeMulher that the inflated estimates have made her a subject of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service. In 2013, Bündchen ranked third on the 16 Most Successful Female Entrepreneurs list by Forbes. Forbes estimated Bündchen's 2016 income at $30.5 million. Bündchen was the highest-paid model in the world from 2002 to 2017.
Filmography
Discography
Singles
Music videos
Awards and nominations
See also
List of Brazilians
References
External links
Voguepedia
1980 births
Living people
Brazilian bloggers
Brazilian expatriates in the United States
Brazilian environmentalists
Brazilian women environmentalists
Brazilian female models
Brazilian people of German descent
Brazilian models of German descent
Breastfeeding activists
Brazilian Roman Catholics
Environmental bloggers
IMG Models models
People from Rio Grande do Sul
Victoria's Secret
Women bloggers
Twin models
Brazilian health activists
Victoria's Secret Angels
American footballers' wives and girlfriends
Brazilian women activists
The Lions (agency) models
Tom Brady | false | [
"Gisele Yashar is a fictional character portrayed by Gal Gadot who appears in The Fast and The Furious franchise. Introduced in the 2009 film Fast & Furious, she helps Dominic Toretto's team while forming a romantic relationship with team member Han Lue. The character is killed in the 2013 film Fast & Furious 6. Gisele was Gadot's first major film role, and American director Justin Lin hired her due to her past military experience. Gadot performed her own stunts while shooting the films.\n\nMedia outlets characterized Gisele through her sexuality. Reactions to the character were mixed: some critics praised the representation of Gisele's sexuality and her relationship with Han while others felt her character was either unrealistic or represented a part of the franchise's poor treatment of women. Gadot's performance received positive feedback, and several commentators requested she reprise the role in a future film.\n\nAppearances\nIn Fast & Furious (2009), Gisele Yashar (Gal Gadot) is introduced as a liaison for drug trafficker Arturo Braga (John Ortiz). She develops romantic feelings for Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), but he rejects her advances. She advises him about the dangers involved in smuggling heroin across the Mexico–United States border to complete a deal with Braga. The drug exchange results in an ambush instigated by Braga, with Toretto protecting Gisele. She helps Toretto by providing him with the location of Braga's hideout in Mexico.\n\nGisele becomes part of Toretto's team as a weapons expert in the 2011 film Fast Five. She is later revealed to be an ex-Mossad agent. She helps the team with a heist, during which she works closely with Han Lue (Sung Kang), and the two develop a romantic relationship. Following the completion of the mission, Gisele and Han are last shown speeding down the Autobahn, with Gisele sitting in his lap in a Lexus LFA.\n\nAt the start of Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Gisele and Han are living together in Hong Kong. Toretto recruits the couple to prevent a heist planned by Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), which could potentially kill millions of people. For the mission Gisele draws on her Mossad experience with interrogation, weapons, and retrieval. While attempting to stop a plane, she is left hanging from the back of a Range Rover. Han attempts to rescue her, but Adolfson (Benjamin Davies), a member of Shaw's gang, uses the opportunity to try and kill him. Gisele lets go of Han's hand to shoot Adolfson, and she falls to her death. Han later kills Adolfson in revenge for Gisele's death. At the end of the film, Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) says a blessing in Gisele's honor during grace.\n\nIn the 2015 film Furious 7, a photo of Gisele is shown in Han's personal belongings, and it is later placed in his coffin as part of his memorial service. A deleted scene revealed Gisele had found Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) after she was nearly killed by Fenix Calderon (Laz Alonso) and took her to the hospital. Ortiz asked Gisele why she saved her, and Gisele responded: \"Maybe you are the one saving me.\"\n\nThe 2021 film F9 reveals that Gisele had worked with the team's 'future' government contact 'Mr Nobody' (Kurt Russell) during his time running drug operations for the CIA in South America. After her death, Nobody tracked down Han in Tokyo to ask for his help with a vital mission, reasoning that Gisele's faith in Han was enough for Nobody to be assured that Han could be trusted in turn.\n\nDevelopment\n\nGisele Yashar was Gal Gadot's first major film role, and the actress felt that it had a major impact on her career. She said that her unsuccessful experiences when trying out for Bond girl Camille Montes in the 22nd James Bond film Quantum of Solace (2008) had led to other auditions, specifically the one for Gisele. Gadot was cast by American director Justin Lin. The actress said that her background in the military helped with the audition, explaining: \"I think the main reason was that Justin really liked that I was in the Israeli military, and he wanted to use my knowledge of weapons.\" In 2017, Gadot also thanked Vin Diesel for his input over her selection for the role. Vanity Fair's Yohana Desta identified Gisele as \"a breakthrough part that gave Gadot some mainstream recognition\".\n\nWhen discussing her initial response to The Fast and The Furious franchise, Gadot said: \"We don't do those kind of movies [in Israel], with those kind of standards\". She performed her own stunts during the films, saying: \"The adrenaline was just incredible and I enjoyed being able to do the stuff that in real life you can't.\" Gadot explained that she wanted to feel like a \"tough girl\" while shooting her scenes. For the character's return in Fast & Furious 6, Gadot told Lin that she wanted Gisele to \"be more of a badass\", and was given more stunt work for the film. Some of the stunts involved jumping from a moving motorcycle onto a Jeep, being suspended in a harness, and riding a Ducati Monster motorcycle. Media outlets also characterized Gisele through her sexuality; Fuse's Bianca Gracie referred to her as \"sensual and intimidating\", and The Stranger's Erik Henriksen called her a \"villainous seductress\".\n\nCritical reception\n\nGisele Yashar has received a mixed response from film critics. Decider's Meghan O'Keefe praised Gisele as a new type of female character for The Fast and The Furious franchise, writing that she provided a more \"sophisticated, and unapologetically femme vibe\" when compared to the rougher Ortiz. O'Keefe responded positively to Gisele's use of her sexuality and femininity as a tactic to manipulate men, as well as to her romance and partnership with Han. Nerdist News's Sydney Bucksbaum also identified the character's relationship with Han as a highlight, writing that they became \"one of the most iconic couples from all the movies\". Some commentators had a more negative response to the character. The A.V. Club's Tom Breihan felt that Gisele's transformation from \"a drug lord's envoy to a former Mossad agent and a badass killer\" was part of how the franchise gave \"implausible makeovers\" to certain characters. IndieWire's Kate Erbland included Gisele's death as an example of the franchise's poor treatment of women; she explained that female characters, such as Gisele, \"primarily exist to round out the storylines of the films' male characters, often as love interests\" and are rarely brought into focus as individuals.\n\nGadot's performance received positive feedback from critics. In a 2017 article, Heavy.com's Brendan Marrow listed Gisele as one of Gadot's best performances prior to her starring role as Wonder Woman in the 2017 film of the same name. O’Keefe of Decider described Gadot and her character as the \"secret weapon\" of The Fast and The Furious franchise, praising the actress for her \"totally kickass contribution to the bonkers, high-octane, super-charged [films]\". O'Keefe described Gadot's performance as \"balanc[ing] unbridled badassery with unabashedly feminine charm\". Joe Reid, also writing for Decider, recommended that Gisele should be revived for future installments of the franchise, but questioned if the producers could afford to have Gadot return for another film. Bucksbaum campaigned for the character's return, and wrote that she could likely be featured in a future film through a flashback sequence.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nFast & Furious characters\nFictional Israeli Jews\nFictional drug dealers\nFictional Mossad agents\nFilm characters introduced in 2009\nFemale characters in film",
"Lorenza Francesca Izzo Parsons (born September 19, 1989) is a Chilean actress and model. She has appeared in films, including Aftershock (2012), The Green Inferno (2013), Knock, Knock (2015), and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).\n\nEarly life \nIzzo was born in Santiago, Chile, to Chilean model . She is of Italian descent on her father's side. She has a younger sister, Clara Lyons Parsons, who is a model as well. When she was twelve years old, she moved to Atlanta with her father, then working towards a Ph.D. at Georgia Institute of Technology. She was bullied over her strong Chilean accent as a child, but stated she \"got over [her] accent pretty fast\" after watching the 2002 sports film Blue Crush several times. Izzo recalls becoming \"obsessed with [Blue Crush star] Kate Bosworth.\"\n\nCareer \nIn 2007, Izzo was modeling and studying journalism at the University of the Andes (Universidad de los Andes) when she moved to New York City to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.\n\nIn 2010, she made her debut as an actress in Instrucciones para mi funeral (Instructions for my Funeral), an independent film made by Sebastián Radic as a graduation project.\n\nIzzo's modeling career reached its peak in 2011 when Izzo and her mother were invited to São Paulo Fashion Week where they met Gisele Bundchen. The meeting resulted in Izzo becoming the new face of Colcci, a Brazilian fashion company. The same year, Izzo appeared in (Sorry About Your Wedding) a comedy by Chilean director Nicolás López.\n\nIn 2012, with one commercial feature movie to her name and three more then-about to be released Que pena tu familia (What a Pity About Your Family), Aftershock, and The Green Inferno (directed by her then-future husband, now ex-husband, Eli Roth), Izzo moved to Los Angeles, when she soon secured small roles in Hemlock Grove and the failed television pilot I Am Victor.\n\nIn 2015, Izzo starred alongside Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas in Knock Knock (her second horror film directed by Eli Roth), filmed in Santiago's Chicureo neighbourhood.\n\nPersonal life \nOn November 8, 2014, Izzo married American actor and director Eli Roth on the beach of Zapallar, Chile. The pair were introduced through mutual friend and director Nicolás López during production of 2013's The Green Inferno. López was unaware Izzo could speak English and she was originally to play a small role in the film. After Izzo revealed she could speak English fluently, Roth ended up casting her in the lead, where they \"spent the whole shooting process together\". She attributes the start of their relationship to \"the randomness of the world\". In July 2018, the couple filed for divorce, and settled their divorce in August 2019.\nIzzo publicly came out as pansexual in an online interview with actress Emily Hampshire.\n\nFilmography\n\nFilm\n\nTelevision\n\nAwards and nominations\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1989 births\nChilean television actresses\nChilean female models\nChilean film actresses\nChilean people of Italian descent\nLiving people\nPeople from Santiago\n20th-century Chilean actresses\n21st-century Chilean actresses\nChilean emigrants to the United States\nPansexual actresses\nLGBT models"
]
|
[
"Gisele Bündchen",
"1997-2000: Career beginnings",
"What happened to Gisele Bundchen in her career beginnings?",
"Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows."
]
| C_e6582aeda7d44f54b6d7d722a705480a_1 | Did she get a role in either of those shows? | 2 | Did Gisele Bündchen get a role in any of the shows Gisele Bündchen auditioned for in 1997? | Gisele Bündchen | Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows. She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 "rain" ready-to-wear show. Echoing similar accolades for Elle Macpherson a decade earlier, McQueen dubbed Bundchen "the Body", immediately boosting her bookings. In 1998, she posed for Missoni, Chloe, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferre, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She made the cover of the French edition of Vogue, and fashion magazine i-D featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele." The Vogue online encyclopedia of models states, "As the year 2000 approached, Gisele Bundchen was the world's hottest model, opening up a new category in the popular imagination: the Brazilian bombshell." She appeared on the cover of Vogue in July, November and December 1999. She won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and a January 2000 cover gave her three consecutive Vogue covers. In 2000, she became the fourth model to appear on the cover of the music magazine Rolling Stone when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Bundchen has appeared on the covers of many top fashion magazines, including W, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Allure, as well as style and lifestyle publications such as The Face, Arena, Citizen K, Flair, GQ, Esquire, and Marie Claire, and in the Pirelli Calendar in 2001 and 2006. She has also been seen in TIME, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Newsweek, and Veja. Bundchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers throughout the world. She simultaneously featured on the covers of both the US and British editions of Vogue in January 2000. Take the case of 18-year-old Gisele Bundchen, a.k.a. Gisele, fashion's new uber- (not super-) model. Gisele is currently shooting five massive advertising campaigns, starring on the cover of W, and playing the muse to t/bersnappers Steven Meisel and Mario Testino. In short, Gisele is huge. CANNOTANSWER | She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 "rain" ready-to-wear show. | Gisele Caroline Bündchen (, , born 20 July 1980) is a Brazilian fashion model. Since 2001, she has been one of the highest-paid models in the world. In 2007, Bündchen was the 16th richest woman in the entertainment industry and earned the top spot on Forbes top-earning models list in 2012. In 2014, she was listed as the 89th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes.
Vogue credited Bündchen with ending the heroin chic era of modelling in 1999. Bündchen was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 until 2006. She is credited with pioneering and popularizing the horse walk, a stomping movement created by a model lifting her knees high and kicking her feet to step. In 2007, Claudia Schiffer called Bündchen the only remaining supermodel. Bündchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers.
Bündchen was nominated for Choice Movie Female Breakout Star and for Choice Movie Villain at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards for her supporting role in Taxi (2004). She had a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and was the executive producer of an educational environmental cartoon, Gisele & the Green Team, in 2010 to 2011.
In 2016, she appeared in the Emmy award-winning documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, in the episode "Fueling the Fire".
Bündchen's charitable endeavors include Save the Children, Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program since 2009.
Family and early life
Born in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, Bündchen is a sixth-generation German Brazilian, born to Vânia (née Nonnenmacher), a bank clerk pensioner, and Valdir Bündchen, a sociologist and writer. Her grandfather, Walter Bündchen, once served as mayor of Horizontina. She grew up with five sisters, Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela and her fraternal twin, Patrícia. The family was Roman Catholic. Although her parents speak German and Bündchen learned German in school, she no longer speaks the language. Bündchen speaks Portuguese, English, Italian, Spanish and French.
Bündchen aspired to be a volleyball player, but in 1993 her mother enrolled her and sisters Patrícia and Gabriela in a modelling course to teach them confidence and better posture. After the course ended, the girls were rewarded by a trip to Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where she was discovered by Elite Model Management at a shopping mall. Bündchen was placed second in a national contest, Elite Model Look, that was then known as Look of the Year. In 1995, Bündchen moved to São Paulo to launch her modelling career. She debuted at New York Fashion Week in 1996.
Career
1997–2000: Career beginnings
In 1997, Bündchen was rejected 42 times in London before being cast in an Alexander McQueen runway show in 1998. In 1998, Bündchen posed for Missoni, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferré, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She appeared on the cover of Vogue Paris, her first cover of British Vogue, and i-D, which featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele". Dissatisfied with Elite Model Management's work environment, Bündchen signed with IMG Models in 1999.
Bündchen's first U.S Vogue cover, where Vogue announced Bündchen was "the return of the sexy model", was the first of three Vogue covers for her in 1999. In November she appeared in a group Vogue cover with Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Christy Turlington, Iman, Lauren Hutton, Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Claudia Schiffer, Lisa Taylor, Paulina Porizkova, Carolyn Murphy, and Patti Hansen, and appeared in a solo U.S. Vogue cover in December. Bündchen won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year in 1999. After Bündchen appeared in five major campaigns at age 18, New York magazine editor Sally Singer deemed her an "über" model. She became the fourth model to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" in 2000. In 2000, Vogues online encyclopedia of models called Bündchen the world's hottest model and called Bündchen "the Brazilian bombshell".
2000–2009: Modelling breakthrough, international success, and acting debut
In 2000, Bündchen appeared on 37 international Vogue covers, including three in the American edition. In January 2000, Bündchen was featured on the covers of the U.S. and British editions of Vogue. For spring 2000 fashion week, she opened shows for Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior, and Valentino in New York, Milan and Paris. From 1998 to 2003, Bündchen was in 11 consecutive Dolce & Gabbana fashion campaigns. From 2006 to 2009 she became the face of Dolce & Gabbana's fragrance "The One". Bündchen retired from the runway after signing a five-year contract with Victoria's Secret.
In 2000, Bündchen wore Victoria's Secret's Red Hot Fantasy Bra worth $15 million and listed in Guinness World Records as the most expensive lingerie ever created. Bündchen modeled the Sexy Splendor Fantasy Bra in 2005, the second-most expensive bra valued at $12.5 million.
In 2004, she appeared on a group U.S. Vogue cover, with Daria Werbowy, Natalia Vodianova, Isabeli Fontana, Karolina Kurkova, Liya Kebede, Hana Soukupova, Gemma Ward, and Karen Elson. Bündchen appeared on the covers of W, Allure, GQ, Forbes, Marie Claire, TIME, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and in the Pirelli Calendar.
Bündchen co-starred with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon in the 2004 remake of Taxi, and Bündchen played Serena in The Devil Wears Prada in 2006. In 2007, Mario Testino photographed Bündchen for the cover of Vanity Fairs style issue. In 2008, she appeared on the controversial cover of Vogue with NBA player LeBron James. The cover was criticized for perpetuating racial stereotypes after James bared his teeth in a gorilla-type pose.
Forbes listed Bündchen as No. 53 on their 2007 list of the most powerful celebrities. In 2010, Bündchen's flip-flop line for Ipanema sold more than 250 pairs for an estimated $197 million. In May 2007, Bündchen ended her contract with Victoria's Secret. In her memoir, "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life," Bündchen said she left Victoria's Secret because she was uncomfortable being photographed in lingerie. In August 2008, the New York Daily News named Bündchen as the one of the most powerful people in the fashion world.
2009–2011: Continued success
The Independent referred to Bündchen the biggest star in fashion history in May 2009. In April 2010, Bündchen appeared on the cover of American Vogue for the 11th time. Bündchen closed Balenciaga's 2010 show in a surprise appearance. In 2011, CEOWorld Magazine ranked Bündchen among their Top Accomplished Women Entertainers. She was ranked No. 95 in FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011. In 2007, Bündchen was named by Forbes as the World's Richest Supermodel. On April 11, 2008, a black-and-white photo of Bündchen shot by Irving Penn was auctioned for $193,000.
By 2010, Bündchen had appeared on two Vogue Shape issue covers, more than any other celebrity or model. She ranked No. 45 in the 2011 FHM Australia list of 100 Sexiest Women in the World. In 2011, Men's Health named Bündchen as No. 25 of the 100 Hottest Women of All Time. Bündchen closed the 2011 Givenchy spring-summer fashion show in a surprise appearance during Paris Fashion Week. That year, Bündchen launched eco-friendly Sejaa Pure Skincare, a skin care product line using all-natural ingredients.
She appeared on eight Vogue covers in 2011, more than any other model or celebrity that year. Her July Vogue Brasil 2011 cover that was shot in the Amazon sold 70,743 copies, making it the magazine's highest-selling issue. In early 2011, Procter & Gamble's Pantene shampoo sales increased 40 percent in Latin America after Bündchen started representing the product.
2012–present: Modelling campaigns and music endeavors
In spring 2012, Bündchen was featured in three spring campaigns, Versace, Givenchy, and Salvatore Ferragamo. She became the face of Banco do Brasil's first global ad campaign in 2012.
In April 2012, Time listed Bündchen on its All-TIME 100 Fashion Icons list, which highlighted the most influential fashion icons since 1923. Vogue included Bündchen in its spotlight of the 10 women who had most appeared on its covers to honor the magazine's 120th anniversary in August 2012.
Bündchen made 5,600 appearances in commercials in Brazil in 2012. She replaced Kate Moss as the face of David Yurman in August 2012. She was photographed by Peter Lindbergh for the fall 2012 campaign. By 2012, Bündchen had appeared on 120 Vogue covers. She holds the record for appearing on the most Vogue Brasil covers.
In February 2013, Bündchen became the face of Chanel's make-up line, Les Beiges. The campaign was photographed by Mario Testino. For Louis Vuitton's spring/summer 2014 campaign, Marc Jacobs chose Bündchen, Catherine Deneuve, Sofia Coppola, Fan Bingbing, Caroline de Maigret and Edie Campbell as his muses. In December 2013, Bündchen became Pantene's ambassador, a deal worth $4 million per year.
Bündchen released a cover of the Kinks "All Day and All of the Night" as a contribution to H&M's 2013 charity campaign. She contributed to H&M's 2014 charity campaign by teaming with French music producer and DJ Bob Sinclar to record a cover of Blondie's 1979 classic "Heart of Glass", on which she was credited as Gisele. The single charted in France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Belgium.
In May 2014, Bündchen was chosen as the spokeswoman for Chanel No. 5. Within the first quarter of 2014, Bündchen appeared on 17 international editions of Elle, including the Brazilian, German, Italian, Canadian, Japanese and Chinese editions. Under Armour signed Bündchen to a multiyear deal in September 2014. In 2014 and 2015, Bündchen appeared in more television commercial spots than any other Brazilian celebrity in the course of one year in Brazil.
Bündchen was featured in the 2015 Guinness World Record book as the model who earned the most money from June 2014 to June 2015.
Bündchen's $700 Taschen book released in celebration of her 20th year career sold out in one day.
By 2015, Bündchen appeared in more than 550 ad campaigns, 2000 magazine covers, 3500 magazine editorials and 800 fashion shows.
Bündchen appeared at the Maracanã Stadium at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on 5 August 2016.
Forbes ranked Bündchen No. 61 on its Most Powerful Celebrities list in 2012.
Forbes ranked her fourth on the World's Most Powerful Latino Celebrity list in May 2012. In 2013, she ranked No. 5 on the Forbes 10 Most Powerful Businesswomen in Brazil.
In 2013, Bündchen's Ipanema sandals sold about 25 million pairs annually and accounted for more than 60 percent of shoe manufacturer Grendene's annual exports of about $250 million.
In 2014, Bündchen signed a contract with Under Armour, which is reportedly on par with the endorsement compensations of professional athletes and exceeds her former Victoria's Secret contract. In 2016, Under Armour's CEO Kevin Plank said sales for the company's women's brand had increased because of its association with Bündchen.
In 2018, Gisele released her book called Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life, which was a New York Times bestseller and was the best selling book for over six months in the non-fiction category in Brazil. The proceeds from her book went to support social and environmental causes.
In February 2021, it was reported that Bündchen was leaving IMG Models after 22 years and that her twin sister, Patricia would be taking over as her manager.
Public image
In September 2000, Newsweek reported on a survey conducted by Brazilian magazine Capricho, where 86 percent of Brazilian teenagers said they wanted to become fashion models. Capricho attributed the interest in modelling to Bündchen.
By 2014, Bündchen was listed by Forbes as the 89th most powerful woman in the world.
Forbes Brasil listed Bündchen as the No. 2 biggest Brazilian celebrity of 2015 based on media presence and influence in Brazil.
In a 2006 Elle survey, more than 50 percent of American stylists asked gave Bündchen the title of the best hair in Hollywood. A February 2008 survey of more than 20,000 plastic surgeons in 84 countries revealed Bündchen was the celebrity most mentioned for patients having work done on their abdomens and hair, and the second-most mentioned celebrity in the breasts category.
Bündchen was second on Vanity Fairs World's Most Beautiful poll in 2009.
In January 2011, Bündchen's was the most desired female body on the 14th Annual Famed Hottest Looks survey. In 2011, Bündchen was one of three women to make AskMen.com's annual "Most Desirable Women" list every year for 10 consecutive years.
Bündchen is ranked No. 4 on Forbes Brasils list of the 100 most influential Brazilian celebrities.
In May 2014, Bündchen was ranked No. 89 on Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the world, the only model on the list.
In November 2014, Forbes Brasil ranked Bündchen fifth of the 25 biggest celebrities in Brazil, moving her up to second in 2015.
Vogue Italia called Bündchen the "King Midas of fashion" in February 2012, saying companies that invest in her reap the awards of her representation. An Esprit public awareness campaign featuring Bündchen helped raise consumer awareness 9 percent in Germany and 19 percent in China.
In 2016, Bündchen participated in The Beginning of Life, a documentary about "the crucial role that the early years of children’s lives play in determining their futures successes".
Philanthropy
Since the 2000s, Bündchen's main focus has been social and environmental causes. She has also supported the Breast Cancer Campaign to educate women on how to perform a breast self-exam.
Charitable activities
Bündchen donated $150,000 to Brazil's Zero Hunger program. She designed a limited necklace edition for Harper's Bazaar, crafted by jewelers Gumuchian Fils, which were sold to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
An iPod autographed by Bündchen and loaded with her personal playlist was auctioned, and proceeds were donated to Music Rising, a campaign founded in 2005, to replace lost or destroyed instruments of musicians in the Gulf Coast Region after hurricane disasters.
Bündchen became the face of American Express's Product Red-affiliated card in 2006. A portion of earnings from the credit card are donated to HIV/AIDS victims in Africa. In the same year she took part in the I am African fundraising campaign to make AIDS treatment accessible to all of Africa. In 2009, she appeared on 30 covers of the international issues of Elle wearing Product Red clothing and posing with products from companies that support its mission.
Bündchen started The Luz Foundation in 2007, a project to empower girls and help them deal with self-esteem issues.
In 2008, Bündchen auctioned a collection of diamonds to benefit the Diamond Empowerment Fund, a nonprofit organization to education initiatives in countries where diamonds are a natural resource. The collection featured the Ponahalo Diamonds which were valued at $2 million to $4 million, a 6-carat diamond ring worth $120,000–$150,000 and a 3.35-carat Sabbadini diamond ring worth $15,000–$20,000. In 2010, she donated $1.5 million to the Red Cross to aid the relief effort in Haiti after seeing the devastation done by the earthquake. The donation put Bündchen tied for 14th on The Giving Back Fund's list of 30 celebrities who made the largest donations to charity in 2011.
In 2010, together with former president Bill Clinton, Bündchen joined the event that partnered Pantene and the Children's Safe Drinking Water Program to provide clean water to people in need. Bündchen and Indonesian singer-songwriter Anggun announced the kick-off of the Healthy Hair for Healthy Water program at P&G's reception that was held in conjunction with the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Bündchen also attended the Brazil Foundation's 8th Annual Gala to raise funds for fighting challenges faced by poor communities in Brazil. Bündchen created an exclusive design for SIGG water bottles, with proceeds going to WaterCan NGO, a humanitarian organization in Canada that provides the poorest people in the world access to clean water, toilets, and information on hygiene.
In 2020, Bündchen formed the Luz Alliance fund in partnership with the Brazil Foundation with a donation of 1,000,000 reals. The fund supports the purchase of hygiene kits, food, and financial assistance to families in Brazil through eight different charitable organizations and emergency-response efforts to offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bündchen, along with her husband Brady, partnered with Wheels Up to donate 10 million meals to Feeding America for their "Meals Up" initiative and helped fund thousands of meals for Feeding Tampa Bay and The Greater Boston Food Bank to alleviate food insecurity. Bündchen also partnered with the "All in Challenge" by donated an experience with her at a photo shoot in New York, with all proceeds going to Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry.
Environmental work
In 2004, after visiting an Amerindian tribe at the Xingu region in Brazil and seeing firsthand the problems those communities were facing due to water pollution and deforestation, Bündchen decided she had to do something to help bring attention to social and environmental issues. She advocated for the cause and through the years she has supported different projects, especially forest and water related projects in the Amazon rainforest and Atlantic Forest.
In 2007, she signed a "Hotter than I Should Be" T-shirt that was auctioned on eBay for the World Wide Fund for Nature to support the charity's campaign to raise awareness about the causes and impacts of climate change.
Bündchen returned to her hometown of Horizontina in 2008 and with her family launched Projeto Água Limpa (Clean Water Project), which implements sustainable environmental management and promotes the recovery of riparian vegetation and the micro basins of the region. More than one million trees were planted in Bündchen's name following her 2008 American Photo cover to promote Forests of the Future, a project to assist in the reforestation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
In May 2009, Bündchen co-hosted the annual gala of the Rainforest Alliance to honor leaders in sustainability. In May 2011, Bündchen received the Global Environmental Citizen Award in recognition of her eco-efforts. In November 2011, she was awarded Greenest Celebrity at the 2011 International Green awards at the Natural History Museum, London.
Bündchen donates proceeds from the sales from her Ipanema sandals to a different charity each year. Starting in 2006, Bündchen dedicated a percentage of the sales of her line of sandals to environmental projects including "Y Ikatu Xingu", meaning "Save the Good Water of Xingu", the project aimed to recover and protect springs and headwaters of the Xingu River in Brazil. In 2007, she supported World Wildlife Fund project "Nascentes do Brasil" and "De olho nos manaciais" from ISA. In 2008, the project supported was "Florestas do futuro" from SOS Mata Atlantica, a reforestation program for recovery of native species, which contributes to water conservation and biodiversity. A forest was named after her, the Gisele Bündchen Forest, where more than 25000 seedlings of 100 different tree species were planted in her honor, which recovered more than 15 hectares of Atlantic Forest. In 2011, the donation went to the Socio-Environmental Institute. In 2009, she also helped the "Tamar Project", a research initiative and environmental protection of the five species of sea turtles along the Brazilian coast.
In 2012, Bündchen planted a sapling of Sapucaia tree during her visit to Green Nation Fest, an event that occurs every year during the Environment Week and, that year, prior to the realization of Rio +20. Over the years Bündchen participated in several United Nations campaigns to fight against climate change. She participated in challenges on World Environment Day to mobilize people to take action in helping protect the forest, the wildlife, the green economy and to encourage people to reduce their food waste. Bündchen attended Champions of the Earth and Equator Prize ceremonies multiples times.
In 2013, Bündchen supported the United Nations campaign against food waste, THINK.EAT.SAVE. Bündchen and chef Eric Ripert participated in the Today Show program where they showed that it is possible to cook more efficiently.
Bündchen and her husband promote the Earth Hour global movement, a symbolic act promoted worldwide by the World Wildlife Foundation in which governments, companies, and people demonstrate concern for the environment, turning off their lights for sixty minutes.
In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors. Later that year she attended, as a guest of honor the spring annual gala, a ceremony that recognized the industry champions that have sustainability as a priority. In 2014 Bündchen supported the SOKO + The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women partnership to support the financial and physical security of women and girls around the world. SOKO artisans in Kenya created a pair of handmade bracelets to raise awareness for the fund. Bündchen had her work in the defense of the environment recognized and was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Since then, Bündchen has helped UNEP in the mission of raising awareness and inspiring action to protect the environment.
In 2016, she joined the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously as one of its celebrity correspondents.
In addition to using her social networks to share information about different subjects related to the importance of preserving all forms of life, Bündchen also attended a meeting to discuss the matter at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, which happened on the World Wildlife Day in 2016. The date was celebrated with the theme "Wildlife Future is in Our Hands". She also participated in the Wild For Life campaign against the illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife, including the campaign that won the People's Choice Award in the green category of 2019 Webby Awards.
In 2019, Bündchen executive produced a documentary entitled Kiss the Ground. The feature focuses on a group of activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians who band together in a global movement of "Regenerative Agriculture" to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. The film features Bündchen alongside Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, Patricia Arquette, David Arquette, Tom Brady, and Jason Mraz. The documentary premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. In 2020 on her birthday Bündchen launched the Viva a Vida initiative and donated funds to plant 40,000 trees along the Xingu and Araguaia River in Brazil.
Goodwill ambassador
Bündchen and her husband, Tom Brady, served Thanksgiving dinner to more than 400 job trainees at Goodwill Industries International's headquarters in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in November 2008.
In September 2009, Bündchen was designated Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. She made her first visit to Africa as UNEP Goodwill Ambassador in January 2012.
In January 2012, Bündchen visited Kenya to experience the reality of energy poverty as part of the Energy for All 2030 project. On the eve of World Environment Day in June 2012, Bündchen, planted the first of a series of 50,000 trees in Rio de Janeiro. In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors.
Personal life
From 2000 to 2005, Bündchen was in a relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2004, Bündchen and DiCaprio made Peoples annual Most Beautiful Couples List. After experiencing a period of depression, Bündchen decided to end her relationship with DiCaprio after she felt their lifestyles no longer complemented, saying in her memoir Lessons, "[...] I was becoming more and more aware of things that I'd chosen not to look at. Was I alone in wanting to do some serious soul-searching while he stayed the same? In the end, unfortunately, the answer was yes."
In December 2006, Bündchen began dating NFL quarterback Tom Brady, after a mutual friend introduced them on a blind date. The couple married on 26 February 2009 in a small ceremony at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California. In April 2009, the couple had a second marriage ceremony, in Costa Rica. Bündchen and Brady have two children: son Benjamin Rein (born 2009), and daughter Vivian Lake (born 2012). She is the stepmother of Brady's first son (born 2007) from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan. Bündchen and Brady are Roman Catholics.
Bündchen practices Transcendental Meditation. She and her family adhere to a primarily plant-based diet developed by their personal chef Allen Campbell. They have lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, when Tom Brady played for the New England Patriots, and reside part-time in New York City. They have since moved to Tampa, Florida, after Brady went to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In December 2020, the couple reportedly bought a home in Indian Creek, Florida.
Wealth
In August 2011, Bündchen ranked 60th on the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. At age 31, she ranked third on The 20 Youngest Power Women of 2011 List. In 2011, Forbes named Bündchen and Brady as the World's Highest-Paid Celebrity couple. In August 2012, Bündchen was one of four people in the fashion industry and the only model to be ranked on the Forbes list of "The World's Most Powerful Women", at No. 83. She ranked eighth in the top 10 of the Forbes list of "Entertainment's Highest-Paid Women" in 2012.
Forbes ranked Bündchen as the world's top-earning model for the fifth consecutive time in May 2011. Bündchen disputed the number used by Forbes, telling Brazilian website MdeMulher that the inflated estimates have made her a subject of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service. In 2013, Bündchen ranked third on the 16 Most Successful Female Entrepreneurs list by Forbes. Forbes estimated Bündchen's 2016 income at $30.5 million. Bündchen was the highest-paid model in the world from 2002 to 2017.
Filmography
Discography
Singles
Music videos
Awards and nominations
See also
List of Brazilians
References
External links
Voguepedia
1980 births
Living people
Brazilian bloggers
Brazilian expatriates in the United States
Brazilian environmentalists
Brazilian women environmentalists
Brazilian female models
Brazilian people of German descent
Brazilian models of German descent
Breastfeeding activists
Brazilian Roman Catholics
Environmental bloggers
IMG Models models
People from Rio Grande do Sul
Victoria's Secret
Women bloggers
Twin models
Brazilian health activists
Victoria's Secret Angels
American footballers' wives and girlfriends
Brazilian women activists
The Lions (agency) models
Tom Brady | false | [
"Ernestine Wade (August 7, 1906 – April 15, 1983) was an American actress who is best known for playing the role of Sapphire Stevens on both the radio and TV versions of The Amos 'n' Andy Show.\n\nCareer\nBorn in Jackson, Mississippi, Wade was trained as a singer and organist. Her family had a strong connection to the theater. Her mother, Hazel Wade, worked in vaudeville as a performer, while her maternal grandmother, Mrs. Johnson, worked for the Lincoln Theater in Baltimore, Maryland. \n\nErnestine grew up in Los Angeles and started her acting career at age four. In 1935, Ernestine was a member of the Four Hot Chocolates singing group. She appeared in bit parts in films and did the voice performance of a butterfly in the 1946 Walt Disney production Song of the South. Wade was a member of the choir organized by actress-singer Anne Brown for the filming of the George Gershwin biographical film Rhapsody in Blue (1945) and appeared in the film as one of the \"Catfish Row\" residents in the Porgy and Bess segment. She enjoyed the highest level of prominence on Amos 'n Andy by playing the shrewish, demanding and manipulative wife of George “Kingfish” Stevens. Wade, Johnny Lee, and Lillian Randolph, Amanda Randolph, Jester Hairston, Roy Glenn (and several others) were among the Amos 'n' Andy radio cast members to also appear in the TV series.\n\nErnestine began playing Sapphire Stevens in 1939, but originally came to the Amos 'n' Andy radio show in the role of Valada Green, a lady who believed she had married Andy. In her interview that is part of the documentary Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy, Wade related how she got the job with the radio show. Initially there for a singing role, she was asked if she could \"do lines\". When the answer was yes, she was first asked to say \"I do\" and then to scream; the scream got her the role of Valada Green. Ernestine also played the radio roles of The Widow Armbruster, Sara Fletcher, and Mrs. Van Porter.\n\nIn a 1979 interview, Ernestine related that she would often be stopped by strangers who recognized her from the television show, saying \"I know who you are and I want to ask you, is that your real husband?\" At her home, she had framed signed photos from the members of the Amos 'n' Andy television show cast. Tim Moore, her TV husband, wrote the following on his photo: \"My Best Wishes to My Darling Battle Ax from the Kingfish\nTim Moore\".\n\nWade defended her character against criticism of being a negative stereotype of African American women. In a 1973 interview, she stated “I know there were those who were offended by it, but I still have people stop me on the street to tell me how much they enjoyed it. And many of those people are black members of the NAACP.” The documentary Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy covered the history of the radio and television shows as well as interviews with surviving cast members. Ernestine was among them, and she continued her defense of the show and those with roles in it. She believed that the roles she and her colleagues played made it possible for African-American actors who came later to be cast in a wider variety of roles. She also considered the early typecast roles, where women most often were cast as maids, not to be damaging, seeing them in the sense of someone being either given the role of the hero or the part of the villain.\n\nIn later years, she continued as an actress, doing more voice work for radio and cartoons. After Amos 'n' Andy, Wade did voice work in television and radio commercials. Ernestine also did office work and played the organ.\n\nShe also appeared in a 1967 episode of TV's Family Affair as a maid working for a stage actress played by Joan Blondell.\n\nDeath\nErnestine Wade is buried in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Because she had no headstone, the West Adams Heritage Association marked her grave with a plaque.\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nIndex of radio shows Ernestine Wade performed in David Goldin\n\nWatch\nAmos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy Video by Hulu\n\n1906 births\n1983 deaths\nActresses from Mississippi\nActors from Jackson, Mississippi\nAmerican radio actresses\nAmerican television actresses\nAfrican-American actresses\nAmerican film actresses\n20th-century American actresses\n20th-century African-American women\n20th-century African-American people",
"Sharon Ann Leal (born October 17, 1972) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles in movies such as Dreamgirls, This Christmas, Why Did I Get Married?, Why Did I Get Married Too? and her roles on the television shows Legacy, Guiding Light, and Boston Public.\n\nEarly life\nLeal was born in Tucson, Arizona. Her mother, Angelita, is Filipina. Her father was an African-American military policeman who broke up with her mother before Sharon was born. Shortly after, her mother married Jesse Leal, a Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force and a police officer at Clark Air Base, Philippines; he legally adopted Sharon.\n\nCareer\nLeal's career began with the role of Dahlia Crede in the CBS daytime serial Guiding Light. Later, she joined the Broadway company of Rent. Soon after, she was cast as Mimi for the San Francisco leg of the first national tour of Rent. Leal also appeared on the 1999 original cast recording of the Off-Broadway musical Bright Lights, Big City alongside Patrick Wilson and Jesse L. Martin. She also appeared on the 2001 cast recording of Making Tracks.\n\nFrom 2000 to 2004, Leal starred in the Fox prime time TV series Boston Public. Leal also had a role in the theatrical release Face the Music. She also appeared in a recurring role in the short-lived NBC series LAX, as the wife of airport co-director, Roger de Souza.\n\nShe also co-starred in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls as Michelle Morris, Effie White's replacement in the pop group The Dreams, with Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx. In 2007 Leal also starred in This Christmas and in the Tyler Perry production Why Did I Get Married?. She played the character Vanessa Lodge in the series Hellcats, until it was cancelled in 2011. Leal played the supporting role in the movie 1982. A story of a drug addicted mother and a father's fight to protect his daughter.\n\nLeal appears in seasons 2, 3, 5 and 6 of Supergirl as M'gann M'orzz (Megan in human form).\n\nPersonal life\nIn October 2001, Leal married Bev Land. Their son Kai Miles Land was born in September 2001. The couple divorced in 2009.\n\nIn 2009, Leal posed nude for the May issue of Allure magazine - alongside Padma Lakshmi, Lynn Collins, Chelsea Handler, and Eliza Dushku.\n\nFormer Guiding Light co-star Yvonna Wright has said that she and Leal are close friends; the two starred together in a community production of Dreamgirls in their hometown.\n\nFilmography\n\nFilms\n\nTelevision\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1972 births\nActresses from Arizona\nAfrican-American actresses\nAmerican adoptees\nAmerican film actresses\nAmerican soap opera actresses\nAmerican actresses of Filipino descent\nActresses from Tucson, Arizona\nLiving people\n20th-century American actresses\n21st-century American actresses\n20th-century African-American women\n20th-century African-American people\n21st-century African-American women\n21st-century African-American people"
]
|
[
"Gisele Bündchen",
"1997-2000: Career beginnings",
"What happened to Gisele Bundchen in her career beginnings?",
"Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows.",
"Did she get a role in either of those shows?",
"She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 \"rain\" ready-to-wear show."
]
| C_e6582aeda7d44f54b6d7d722a705480a_1 | How well did that show go? | 3 | How well did Alexander McQueen's Spring 1998 "Rain" ready-to-wear show go? | Gisele Bündchen | Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows. She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 "rain" ready-to-wear show. Echoing similar accolades for Elle Macpherson a decade earlier, McQueen dubbed Bundchen "the Body", immediately boosting her bookings. In 1998, she posed for Missoni, Chloe, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferre, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She made the cover of the French edition of Vogue, and fashion magazine i-D featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele." The Vogue online encyclopedia of models states, "As the year 2000 approached, Gisele Bundchen was the world's hottest model, opening up a new category in the popular imagination: the Brazilian bombshell." She appeared on the cover of Vogue in July, November and December 1999. She won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and a January 2000 cover gave her three consecutive Vogue covers. In 2000, she became the fourth model to appear on the cover of the music magazine Rolling Stone when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Bundchen has appeared on the covers of many top fashion magazines, including W, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Allure, as well as style and lifestyle publications such as The Face, Arena, Citizen K, Flair, GQ, Esquire, and Marie Claire, and in the Pirelli Calendar in 2001 and 2006. She has also been seen in TIME, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Newsweek, and Veja. Bundchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers throughout the world. She simultaneously featured on the covers of both the US and British editions of Vogue in January 2000. Take the case of 18-year-old Gisele Bundchen, a.k.a. Gisele, fashion's new uber- (not super-) model. Gisele is currently shooting five massive advertising campaigns, starring on the cover of W, and playing the muse to t/bersnappers Steven Meisel and Mario Testino. In short, Gisele is huge. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Gisele Caroline Bündchen (, , born 20 July 1980) is a Brazilian fashion model. Since 2001, she has been one of the highest-paid models in the world. In 2007, Bündchen was the 16th richest woman in the entertainment industry and earned the top spot on Forbes top-earning models list in 2012. In 2014, she was listed as the 89th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes.
Vogue credited Bündchen with ending the heroin chic era of modelling in 1999. Bündchen was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 until 2006. She is credited with pioneering and popularizing the horse walk, a stomping movement created by a model lifting her knees high and kicking her feet to step. In 2007, Claudia Schiffer called Bündchen the only remaining supermodel. Bündchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers.
Bündchen was nominated for Choice Movie Female Breakout Star and for Choice Movie Villain at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards for her supporting role in Taxi (2004). She had a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and was the executive producer of an educational environmental cartoon, Gisele & the Green Team, in 2010 to 2011.
In 2016, she appeared in the Emmy award-winning documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, in the episode "Fueling the Fire".
Bündchen's charitable endeavors include Save the Children, Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program since 2009.
Family and early life
Born in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, Bündchen is a sixth-generation German Brazilian, born to Vânia (née Nonnenmacher), a bank clerk pensioner, and Valdir Bündchen, a sociologist and writer. Her grandfather, Walter Bündchen, once served as mayor of Horizontina. She grew up with five sisters, Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela and her fraternal twin, Patrícia. The family was Roman Catholic. Although her parents speak German and Bündchen learned German in school, she no longer speaks the language. Bündchen speaks Portuguese, English, Italian, Spanish and French.
Bündchen aspired to be a volleyball player, but in 1993 her mother enrolled her and sisters Patrícia and Gabriela in a modelling course to teach them confidence and better posture. After the course ended, the girls were rewarded by a trip to Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where she was discovered by Elite Model Management at a shopping mall. Bündchen was placed second in a national contest, Elite Model Look, that was then known as Look of the Year. In 1995, Bündchen moved to São Paulo to launch her modelling career. She debuted at New York Fashion Week in 1996.
Career
1997–2000: Career beginnings
In 1997, Bündchen was rejected 42 times in London before being cast in an Alexander McQueen runway show in 1998. In 1998, Bündchen posed for Missoni, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferré, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She appeared on the cover of Vogue Paris, her first cover of British Vogue, and i-D, which featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele". Dissatisfied with Elite Model Management's work environment, Bündchen signed with IMG Models in 1999.
Bündchen's first U.S Vogue cover, where Vogue announced Bündchen was "the return of the sexy model", was the first of three Vogue covers for her in 1999. In November she appeared in a group Vogue cover with Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Christy Turlington, Iman, Lauren Hutton, Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Claudia Schiffer, Lisa Taylor, Paulina Porizkova, Carolyn Murphy, and Patti Hansen, and appeared in a solo U.S. Vogue cover in December. Bündchen won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year in 1999. After Bündchen appeared in five major campaigns at age 18, New York magazine editor Sally Singer deemed her an "über" model. She became the fourth model to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" in 2000. In 2000, Vogues online encyclopedia of models called Bündchen the world's hottest model and called Bündchen "the Brazilian bombshell".
2000–2009: Modelling breakthrough, international success, and acting debut
In 2000, Bündchen appeared on 37 international Vogue covers, including three in the American edition. In January 2000, Bündchen was featured on the covers of the U.S. and British editions of Vogue. For spring 2000 fashion week, she opened shows for Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior, and Valentino in New York, Milan and Paris. From 1998 to 2003, Bündchen was in 11 consecutive Dolce & Gabbana fashion campaigns. From 2006 to 2009 she became the face of Dolce & Gabbana's fragrance "The One". Bündchen retired from the runway after signing a five-year contract with Victoria's Secret.
In 2000, Bündchen wore Victoria's Secret's Red Hot Fantasy Bra worth $15 million and listed in Guinness World Records as the most expensive lingerie ever created. Bündchen modeled the Sexy Splendor Fantasy Bra in 2005, the second-most expensive bra valued at $12.5 million.
In 2004, she appeared on a group U.S. Vogue cover, with Daria Werbowy, Natalia Vodianova, Isabeli Fontana, Karolina Kurkova, Liya Kebede, Hana Soukupova, Gemma Ward, and Karen Elson. Bündchen appeared on the covers of W, Allure, GQ, Forbes, Marie Claire, TIME, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and in the Pirelli Calendar.
Bündchen co-starred with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon in the 2004 remake of Taxi, and Bündchen played Serena in The Devil Wears Prada in 2006. In 2007, Mario Testino photographed Bündchen for the cover of Vanity Fairs style issue. In 2008, she appeared on the controversial cover of Vogue with NBA player LeBron James. The cover was criticized for perpetuating racial stereotypes after James bared his teeth in a gorilla-type pose.
Forbes listed Bündchen as No. 53 on their 2007 list of the most powerful celebrities. In 2010, Bündchen's flip-flop line for Ipanema sold more than 250 pairs for an estimated $197 million. In May 2007, Bündchen ended her contract with Victoria's Secret. In her memoir, "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life," Bündchen said she left Victoria's Secret because she was uncomfortable being photographed in lingerie. In August 2008, the New York Daily News named Bündchen as the one of the most powerful people in the fashion world.
2009–2011: Continued success
The Independent referred to Bündchen the biggest star in fashion history in May 2009. In April 2010, Bündchen appeared on the cover of American Vogue for the 11th time. Bündchen closed Balenciaga's 2010 show in a surprise appearance. In 2011, CEOWorld Magazine ranked Bündchen among their Top Accomplished Women Entertainers. She was ranked No. 95 in FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011. In 2007, Bündchen was named by Forbes as the World's Richest Supermodel. On April 11, 2008, a black-and-white photo of Bündchen shot by Irving Penn was auctioned for $193,000.
By 2010, Bündchen had appeared on two Vogue Shape issue covers, more than any other celebrity or model. She ranked No. 45 in the 2011 FHM Australia list of 100 Sexiest Women in the World. In 2011, Men's Health named Bündchen as No. 25 of the 100 Hottest Women of All Time. Bündchen closed the 2011 Givenchy spring-summer fashion show in a surprise appearance during Paris Fashion Week. That year, Bündchen launched eco-friendly Sejaa Pure Skincare, a skin care product line using all-natural ingredients.
She appeared on eight Vogue covers in 2011, more than any other model or celebrity that year. Her July Vogue Brasil 2011 cover that was shot in the Amazon sold 70,743 copies, making it the magazine's highest-selling issue. In early 2011, Procter & Gamble's Pantene shampoo sales increased 40 percent in Latin America after Bündchen started representing the product.
2012–present: Modelling campaigns and music endeavors
In spring 2012, Bündchen was featured in three spring campaigns, Versace, Givenchy, and Salvatore Ferragamo. She became the face of Banco do Brasil's first global ad campaign in 2012.
In April 2012, Time listed Bündchen on its All-TIME 100 Fashion Icons list, which highlighted the most influential fashion icons since 1923. Vogue included Bündchen in its spotlight of the 10 women who had most appeared on its covers to honor the magazine's 120th anniversary in August 2012.
Bündchen made 5,600 appearances in commercials in Brazil in 2012. She replaced Kate Moss as the face of David Yurman in August 2012. She was photographed by Peter Lindbergh for the fall 2012 campaign. By 2012, Bündchen had appeared on 120 Vogue covers. She holds the record for appearing on the most Vogue Brasil covers.
In February 2013, Bündchen became the face of Chanel's make-up line, Les Beiges. The campaign was photographed by Mario Testino. For Louis Vuitton's spring/summer 2014 campaign, Marc Jacobs chose Bündchen, Catherine Deneuve, Sofia Coppola, Fan Bingbing, Caroline de Maigret and Edie Campbell as his muses. In December 2013, Bündchen became Pantene's ambassador, a deal worth $4 million per year.
Bündchen released a cover of the Kinks "All Day and All of the Night" as a contribution to H&M's 2013 charity campaign. She contributed to H&M's 2014 charity campaign by teaming with French music producer and DJ Bob Sinclar to record a cover of Blondie's 1979 classic "Heart of Glass", on which she was credited as Gisele. The single charted in France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Belgium.
In May 2014, Bündchen was chosen as the spokeswoman for Chanel No. 5. Within the first quarter of 2014, Bündchen appeared on 17 international editions of Elle, including the Brazilian, German, Italian, Canadian, Japanese and Chinese editions. Under Armour signed Bündchen to a multiyear deal in September 2014. In 2014 and 2015, Bündchen appeared in more television commercial spots than any other Brazilian celebrity in the course of one year in Brazil.
Bündchen was featured in the 2015 Guinness World Record book as the model who earned the most money from June 2014 to June 2015.
Bündchen's $700 Taschen book released in celebration of her 20th year career sold out in one day.
By 2015, Bündchen appeared in more than 550 ad campaigns, 2000 magazine covers, 3500 magazine editorials and 800 fashion shows.
Bündchen appeared at the Maracanã Stadium at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on 5 August 2016.
Forbes ranked Bündchen No. 61 on its Most Powerful Celebrities list in 2012.
Forbes ranked her fourth on the World's Most Powerful Latino Celebrity list in May 2012. In 2013, she ranked No. 5 on the Forbes 10 Most Powerful Businesswomen in Brazil.
In 2013, Bündchen's Ipanema sandals sold about 25 million pairs annually and accounted for more than 60 percent of shoe manufacturer Grendene's annual exports of about $250 million.
In 2014, Bündchen signed a contract with Under Armour, which is reportedly on par with the endorsement compensations of professional athletes and exceeds her former Victoria's Secret contract. In 2016, Under Armour's CEO Kevin Plank said sales for the company's women's brand had increased because of its association with Bündchen.
In 2018, Gisele released her book called Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life, which was a New York Times bestseller and was the best selling book for over six months in the non-fiction category in Brazil. The proceeds from her book went to support social and environmental causes.
In February 2021, it was reported that Bündchen was leaving IMG Models after 22 years and that her twin sister, Patricia would be taking over as her manager.
Public image
In September 2000, Newsweek reported on a survey conducted by Brazilian magazine Capricho, where 86 percent of Brazilian teenagers said they wanted to become fashion models. Capricho attributed the interest in modelling to Bündchen.
By 2014, Bündchen was listed by Forbes as the 89th most powerful woman in the world.
Forbes Brasil listed Bündchen as the No. 2 biggest Brazilian celebrity of 2015 based on media presence and influence in Brazil.
In a 2006 Elle survey, more than 50 percent of American stylists asked gave Bündchen the title of the best hair in Hollywood. A February 2008 survey of more than 20,000 plastic surgeons in 84 countries revealed Bündchen was the celebrity most mentioned for patients having work done on their abdomens and hair, and the second-most mentioned celebrity in the breasts category.
Bündchen was second on Vanity Fairs World's Most Beautiful poll in 2009.
In January 2011, Bündchen's was the most desired female body on the 14th Annual Famed Hottest Looks survey. In 2011, Bündchen was one of three women to make AskMen.com's annual "Most Desirable Women" list every year for 10 consecutive years.
Bündchen is ranked No. 4 on Forbes Brasils list of the 100 most influential Brazilian celebrities.
In May 2014, Bündchen was ranked No. 89 on Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the world, the only model on the list.
In November 2014, Forbes Brasil ranked Bündchen fifth of the 25 biggest celebrities in Brazil, moving her up to second in 2015.
Vogue Italia called Bündchen the "King Midas of fashion" in February 2012, saying companies that invest in her reap the awards of her representation. An Esprit public awareness campaign featuring Bündchen helped raise consumer awareness 9 percent in Germany and 19 percent in China.
In 2016, Bündchen participated in The Beginning of Life, a documentary about "the crucial role that the early years of children’s lives play in determining their futures successes".
Philanthropy
Since the 2000s, Bündchen's main focus has been social and environmental causes. She has also supported the Breast Cancer Campaign to educate women on how to perform a breast self-exam.
Charitable activities
Bündchen donated $150,000 to Brazil's Zero Hunger program. She designed a limited necklace edition for Harper's Bazaar, crafted by jewelers Gumuchian Fils, which were sold to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
An iPod autographed by Bündchen and loaded with her personal playlist was auctioned, and proceeds were donated to Music Rising, a campaign founded in 2005, to replace lost or destroyed instruments of musicians in the Gulf Coast Region after hurricane disasters.
Bündchen became the face of American Express's Product Red-affiliated card in 2006. A portion of earnings from the credit card are donated to HIV/AIDS victims in Africa. In the same year she took part in the I am African fundraising campaign to make AIDS treatment accessible to all of Africa. In 2009, she appeared on 30 covers of the international issues of Elle wearing Product Red clothing and posing with products from companies that support its mission.
Bündchen started The Luz Foundation in 2007, a project to empower girls and help them deal with self-esteem issues.
In 2008, Bündchen auctioned a collection of diamonds to benefit the Diamond Empowerment Fund, a nonprofit organization to education initiatives in countries where diamonds are a natural resource. The collection featured the Ponahalo Diamonds which were valued at $2 million to $4 million, a 6-carat diamond ring worth $120,000–$150,000 and a 3.35-carat Sabbadini diamond ring worth $15,000–$20,000. In 2010, she donated $1.5 million to the Red Cross to aid the relief effort in Haiti after seeing the devastation done by the earthquake. The donation put Bündchen tied for 14th on The Giving Back Fund's list of 30 celebrities who made the largest donations to charity in 2011.
In 2010, together with former president Bill Clinton, Bündchen joined the event that partnered Pantene and the Children's Safe Drinking Water Program to provide clean water to people in need. Bündchen and Indonesian singer-songwriter Anggun announced the kick-off of the Healthy Hair for Healthy Water program at P&G's reception that was held in conjunction with the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Bündchen also attended the Brazil Foundation's 8th Annual Gala to raise funds for fighting challenges faced by poor communities in Brazil. Bündchen created an exclusive design for SIGG water bottles, with proceeds going to WaterCan NGO, a humanitarian organization in Canada that provides the poorest people in the world access to clean water, toilets, and information on hygiene.
In 2020, Bündchen formed the Luz Alliance fund in partnership with the Brazil Foundation with a donation of 1,000,000 reals. The fund supports the purchase of hygiene kits, food, and financial assistance to families in Brazil through eight different charitable organizations and emergency-response efforts to offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bündchen, along with her husband Brady, partnered with Wheels Up to donate 10 million meals to Feeding America for their "Meals Up" initiative and helped fund thousands of meals for Feeding Tampa Bay and The Greater Boston Food Bank to alleviate food insecurity. Bündchen also partnered with the "All in Challenge" by donated an experience with her at a photo shoot in New York, with all proceeds going to Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry.
Environmental work
In 2004, after visiting an Amerindian tribe at the Xingu region in Brazil and seeing firsthand the problems those communities were facing due to water pollution and deforestation, Bündchen decided she had to do something to help bring attention to social and environmental issues. She advocated for the cause and through the years she has supported different projects, especially forest and water related projects in the Amazon rainforest and Atlantic Forest.
In 2007, she signed a "Hotter than I Should Be" T-shirt that was auctioned on eBay for the World Wide Fund for Nature to support the charity's campaign to raise awareness about the causes and impacts of climate change.
Bündchen returned to her hometown of Horizontina in 2008 and with her family launched Projeto Água Limpa (Clean Water Project), which implements sustainable environmental management and promotes the recovery of riparian vegetation and the micro basins of the region. More than one million trees were planted in Bündchen's name following her 2008 American Photo cover to promote Forests of the Future, a project to assist in the reforestation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
In May 2009, Bündchen co-hosted the annual gala of the Rainforest Alliance to honor leaders in sustainability. In May 2011, Bündchen received the Global Environmental Citizen Award in recognition of her eco-efforts. In November 2011, she was awarded Greenest Celebrity at the 2011 International Green awards at the Natural History Museum, London.
Bündchen donates proceeds from the sales from her Ipanema sandals to a different charity each year. Starting in 2006, Bündchen dedicated a percentage of the sales of her line of sandals to environmental projects including "Y Ikatu Xingu", meaning "Save the Good Water of Xingu", the project aimed to recover and protect springs and headwaters of the Xingu River in Brazil. In 2007, she supported World Wildlife Fund project "Nascentes do Brasil" and "De olho nos manaciais" from ISA. In 2008, the project supported was "Florestas do futuro" from SOS Mata Atlantica, a reforestation program for recovery of native species, which contributes to water conservation and biodiversity. A forest was named after her, the Gisele Bündchen Forest, where more than 25000 seedlings of 100 different tree species were planted in her honor, which recovered more than 15 hectares of Atlantic Forest. In 2011, the donation went to the Socio-Environmental Institute. In 2009, she also helped the "Tamar Project", a research initiative and environmental protection of the five species of sea turtles along the Brazilian coast.
In 2012, Bündchen planted a sapling of Sapucaia tree during her visit to Green Nation Fest, an event that occurs every year during the Environment Week and, that year, prior to the realization of Rio +20. Over the years Bündchen participated in several United Nations campaigns to fight against climate change. She participated in challenges on World Environment Day to mobilize people to take action in helping protect the forest, the wildlife, the green economy and to encourage people to reduce their food waste. Bündchen attended Champions of the Earth and Equator Prize ceremonies multiples times.
In 2013, Bündchen supported the United Nations campaign against food waste, THINK.EAT.SAVE. Bündchen and chef Eric Ripert participated in the Today Show program where they showed that it is possible to cook more efficiently.
Bündchen and her husband promote the Earth Hour global movement, a symbolic act promoted worldwide by the World Wildlife Foundation in which governments, companies, and people demonstrate concern for the environment, turning off their lights for sixty minutes.
In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors. Later that year she attended, as a guest of honor the spring annual gala, a ceremony that recognized the industry champions that have sustainability as a priority. In 2014 Bündchen supported the SOKO + The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women partnership to support the financial and physical security of women and girls around the world. SOKO artisans in Kenya created a pair of handmade bracelets to raise awareness for the fund. Bündchen had her work in the defense of the environment recognized and was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Since then, Bündchen has helped UNEP in the mission of raising awareness and inspiring action to protect the environment.
In 2016, she joined the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously as one of its celebrity correspondents.
In addition to using her social networks to share information about different subjects related to the importance of preserving all forms of life, Bündchen also attended a meeting to discuss the matter at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, which happened on the World Wildlife Day in 2016. The date was celebrated with the theme "Wildlife Future is in Our Hands". She also participated in the Wild For Life campaign against the illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife, including the campaign that won the People's Choice Award in the green category of 2019 Webby Awards.
In 2019, Bündchen executive produced a documentary entitled Kiss the Ground. The feature focuses on a group of activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians who band together in a global movement of "Regenerative Agriculture" to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. The film features Bündchen alongside Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, Patricia Arquette, David Arquette, Tom Brady, and Jason Mraz. The documentary premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. In 2020 on her birthday Bündchen launched the Viva a Vida initiative and donated funds to plant 40,000 trees along the Xingu and Araguaia River in Brazil.
Goodwill ambassador
Bündchen and her husband, Tom Brady, served Thanksgiving dinner to more than 400 job trainees at Goodwill Industries International's headquarters in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in November 2008.
In September 2009, Bündchen was designated Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. She made her first visit to Africa as UNEP Goodwill Ambassador in January 2012.
In January 2012, Bündchen visited Kenya to experience the reality of energy poverty as part of the Energy for All 2030 project. On the eve of World Environment Day in June 2012, Bündchen, planted the first of a series of 50,000 trees in Rio de Janeiro. In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors.
Personal life
From 2000 to 2005, Bündchen was in a relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2004, Bündchen and DiCaprio made Peoples annual Most Beautiful Couples List. After experiencing a period of depression, Bündchen decided to end her relationship with DiCaprio after she felt their lifestyles no longer complemented, saying in her memoir Lessons, "[...] I was becoming more and more aware of things that I'd chosen not to look at. Was I alone in wanting to do some serious soul-searching while he stayed the same? In the end, unfortunately, the answer was yes."
In December 2006, Bündchen began dating NFL quarterback Tom Brady, after a mutual friend introduced them on a blind date. The couple married on 26 February 2009 in a small ceremony at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California. In April 2009, the couple had a second marriage ceremony, in Costa Rica. Bündchen and Brady have two children: son Benjamin Rein (born 2009), and daughter Vivian Lake (born 2012). She is the stepmother of Brady's first son (born 2007) from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan. Bündchen and Brady are Roman Catholics.
Bündchen practices Transcendental Meditation. She and her family adhere to a primarily plant-based diet developed by their personal chef Allen Campbell. They have lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, when Tom Brady played for the New England Patriots, and reside part-time in New York City. They have since moved to Tampa, Florida, after Brady went to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In December 2020, the couple reportedly bought a home in Indian Creek, Florida.
Wealth
In August 2011, Bündchen ranked 60th on the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. At age 31, she ranked third on The 20 Youngest Power Women of 2011 List. In 2011, Forbes named Bündchen and Brady as the World's Highest-Paid Celebrity couple. In August 2012, Bündchen was one of four people in the fashion industry and the only model to be ranked on the Forbes list of "The World's Most Powerful Women", at No. 83. She ranked eighth in the top 10 of the Forbes list of "Entertainment's Highest-Paid Women" in 2012.
Forbes ranked Bündchen as the world's top-earning model for the fifth consecutive time in May 2011. Bündchen disputed the number used by Forbes, telling Brazilian website MdeMulher that the inflated estimates have made her a subject of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service. In 2013, Bündchen ranked third on the 16 Most Successful Female Entrepreneurs list by Forbes. Forbes estimated Bündchen's 2016 income at $30.5 million. Bündchen was the highest-paid model in the world from 2002 to 2017.
Filmography
Discography
Singles
Music videos
Awards and nominations
See also
List of Brazilians
References
External links
Voguepedia
1980 births
Living people
Brazilian bloggers
Brazilian expatriates in the United States
Brazilian environmentalists
Brazilian women environmentalists
Brazilian female models
Brazilian people of German descent
Brazilian models of German descent
Breastfeeding activists
Brazilian Roman Catholics
Environmental bloggers
IMG Models models
People from Rio Grande do Sul
Victoria's Secret
Women bloggers
Twin models
Brazilian health activists
Victoria's Secret Angels
American footballers' wives and girlfriends
Brazilian women activists
The Lions (agency) models
Tom Brady | false | [
"Reinder (Rein) Strikwerda (3 June 1930, Franeker – 23 October 2006, De Bilt) was a Dutch orthopedic surgeon who reached international fame by describing and treating meniscus and knee injuries, specially those injuries that are typical to occur in sports like football.\n\nStrikwerda started his career as a physical therapist with the Dutch football club Go Ahead Eagles and later moved to FC Utrecht.\n\nWhen he became more famous he worked as a freelancer and did surgery on many of the great football players. He also did surgery on his own knee to show the technique and to show how easy it was to perform the surgery.\n\nDuring his life Strikwerda wrote three books:\n\"Het doping probleem\" (The problem about doping), 1968\n\"Blessuretijd\" (Injury time), 1999, \nHe also wrote columns about sports injuries for Dutch football magazine Voetbal International for many years.\n\n1930 births\n2006 deaths\nDutch orthopedic surgeons\nFC Utrecht\nGo Ahead Eagles non-playing staff\nPeople from Franekeradeel\n20th-century surgeons",
"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"
]
|
[
"Gisele Bündchen",
"1997-2000: Career beginnings",
"What happened to Gisele Bundchen in her career beginnings?",
"Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows.",
"Did she get a role in either of those shows?",
"She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 \"rain\" ready-to-wear show.",
"How well did that show go?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_e6582aeda7d44f54b6d7d722a705480a_1 | What else happened during her career beginnings? | 4 | Other than Alexander McQueen's Spring 1998 "Rain" ready-to-wear show, what else happened during Gisele Bündchen's career beginnings? | Gisele Bündchen | Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows. She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 "rain" ready-to-wear show. Echoing similar accolades for Elle Macpherson a decade earlier, McQueen dubbed Bundchen "the Body", immediately boosting her bookings. In 1998, she posed for Missoni, Chloe, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferre, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She made the cover of the French edition of Vogue, and fashion magazine i-D featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele." The Vogue online encyclopedia of models states, "As the year 2000 approached, Gisele Bundchen was the world's hottest model, opening up a new category in the popular imagination: the Brazilian bombshell." She appeared on the cover of Vogue in July, November and December 1999. She won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and a January 2000 cover gave her three consecutive Vogue covers. In 2000, she became the fourth model to appear on the cover of the music magazine Rolling Stone when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Bundchen has appeared on the covers of many top fashion magazines, including W, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Allure, as well as style and lifestyle publications such as The Face, Arena, Citizen K, Flair, GQ, Esquire, and Marie Claire, and in the Pirelli Calendar in 2001 and 2006. She has also been seen in TIME, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Newsweek, and Veja. Bundchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers throughout the world. She simultaneously featured on the covers of both the US and British editions of Vogue in January 2000. Take the case of 18-year-old Gisele Bundchen, a.k.a. Gisele, fashion's new uber- (not super-) model. Gisele is currently shooting five massive advertising campaigns, starring on the cover of W, and playing the muse to t/bersnappers Steven Meisel and Mario Testino. In short, Gisele is huge. CANNOTANSWER | As the year 2000 approached, Gisele Bundchen was the world's hottest model, opening up a new category in the popular imagination: the Brazilian bombshell." | Gisele Caroline Bündchen (, , born 20 July 1980) is a Brazilian fashion model. Since 2001, she has been one of the highest-paid models in the world. In 2007, Bündchen was the 16th richest woman in the entertainment industry and earned the top spot on Forbes top-earning models list in 2012. In 2014, she was listed as the 89th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes.
Vogue credited Bündchen with ending the heroin chic era of modelling in 1999. Bündchen was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 until 2006. She is credited with pioneering and popularizing the horse walk, a stomping movement created by a model lifting her knees high and kicking her feet to step. In 2007, Claudia Schiffer called Bündchen the only remaining supermodel. Bündchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers.
Bündchen was nominated for Choice Movie Female Breakout Star and for Choice Movie Villain at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards for her supporting role in Taxi (2004). She had a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and was the executive producer of an educational environmental cartoon, Gisele & the Green Team, in 2010 to 2011.
In 2016, she appeared in the Emmy award-winning documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, in the episode "Fueling the Fire".
Bündchen's charitable endeavors include Save the Children, Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program since 2009.
Family and early life
Born in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, Bündchen is a sixth-generation German Brazilian, born to Vânia (née Nonnenmacher), a bank clerk pensioner, and Valdir Bündchen, a sociologist and writer. Her grandfather, Walter Bündchen, once served as mayor of Horizontina. She grew up with five sisters, Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela and her fraternal twin, Patrícia. The family was Roman Catholic. Although her parents speak German and Bündchen learned German in school, she no longer speaks the language. Bündchen speaks Portuguese, English, Italian, Spanish and French.
Bündchen aspired to be a volleyball player, but in 1993 her mother enrolled her and sisters Patrícia and Gabriela in a modelling course to teach them confidence and better posture. After the course ended, the girls were rewarded by a trip to Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where she was discovered by Elite Model Management at a shopping mall. Bündchen was placed second in a national contest, Elite Model Look, that was then known as Look of the Year. In 1995, Bündchen moved to São Paulo to launch her modelling career. She debuted at New York Fashion Week in 1996.
Career
1997–2000: Career beginnings
In 1997, Bündchen was rejected 42 times in London before being cast in an Alexander McQueen runway show in 1998. In 1998, Bündchen posed for Missoni, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferré, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She appeared on the cover of Vogue Paris, her first cover of British Vogue, and i-D, which featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele". Dissatisfied with Elite Model Management's work environment, Bündchen signed with IMG Models in 1999.
Bündchen's first U.S Vogue cover, where Vogue announced Bündchen was "the return of the sexy model", was the first of three Vogue covers for her in 1999. In November she appeared in a group Vogue cover with Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Christy Turlington, Iman, Lauren Hutton, Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Claudia Schiffer, Lisa Taylor, Paulina Porizkova, Carolyn Murphy, and Patti Hansen, and appeared in a solo U.S. Vogue cover in December. Bündchen won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year in 1999. After Bündchen appeared in five major campaigns at age 18, New York magazine editor Sally Singer deemed her an "über" model. She became the fourth model to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" in 2000. In 2000, Vogues online encyclopedia of models called Bündchen the world's hottest model and called Bündchen "the Brazilian bombshell".
2000–2009: Modelling breakthrough, international success, and acting debut
In 2000, Bündchen appeared on 37 international Vogue covers, including three in the American edition. In January 2000, Bündchen was featured on the covers of the U.S. and British editions of Vogue. For spring 2000 fashion week, she opened shows for Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior, and Valentino in New York, Milan and Paris. From 1998 to 2003, Bündchen was in 11 consecutive Dolce & Gabbana fashion campaigns. From 2006 to 2009 she became the face of Dolce & Gabbana's fragrance "The One". Bündchen retired from the runway after signing a five-year contract with Victoria's Secret.
In 2000, Bündchen wore Victoria's Secret's Red Hot Fantasy Bra worth $15 million and listed in Guinness World Records as the most expensive lingerie ever created. Bündchen modeled the Sexy Splendor Fantasy Bra in 2005, the second-most expensive bra valued at $12.5 million.
In 2004, she appeared on a group U.S. Vogue cover, with Daria Werbowy, Natalia Vodianova, Isabeli Fontana, Karolina Kurkova, Liya Kebede, Hana Soukupova, Gemma Ward, and Karen Elson. Bündchen appeared on the covers of W, Allure, GQ, Forbes, Marie Claire, TIME, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and in the Pirelli Calendar.
Bündchen co-starred with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon in the 2004 remake of Taxi, and Bündchen played Serena in The Devil Wears Prada in 2006. In 2007, Mario Testino photographed Bündchen for the cover of Vanity Fairs style issue. In 2008, she appeared on the controversial cover of Vogue with NBA player LeBron James. The cover was criticized for perpetuating racial stereotypes after James bared his teeth in a gorilla-type pose.
Forbes listed Bündchen as No. 53 on their 2007 list of the most powerful celebrities. In 2010, Bündchen's flip-flop line for Ipanema sold more than 250 pairs for an estimated $197 million. In May 2007, Bündchen ended her contract with Victoria's Secret. In her memoir, "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life," Bündchen said she left Victoria's Secret because she was uncomfortable being photographed in lingerie. In August 2008, the New York Daily News named Bündchen as the one of the most powerful people in the fashion world.
2009–2011: Continued success
The Independent referred to Bündchen the biggest star in fashion history in May 2009. In April 2010, Bündchen appeared on the cover of American Vogue for the 11th time. Bündchen closed Balenciaga's 2010 show in a surprise appearance. In 2011, CEOWorld Magazine ranked Bündchen among their Top Accomplished Women Entertainers. She was ranked No. 95 in FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011. In 2007, Bündchen was named by Forbes as the World's Richest Supermodel. On April 11, 2008, a black-and-white photo of Bündchen shot by Irving Penn was auctioned for $193,000.
By 2010, Bündchen had appeared on two Vogue Shape issue covers, more than any other celebrity or model. She ranked No. 45 in the 2011 FHM Australia list of 100 Sexiest Women in the World. In 2011, Men's Health named Bündchen as No. 25 of the 100 Hottest Women of All Time. Bündchen closed the 2011 Givenchy spring-summer fashion show in a surprise appearance during Paris Fashion Week. That year, Bündchen launched eco-friendly Sejaa Pure Skincare, a skin care product line using all-natural ingredients.
She appeared on eight Vogue covers in 2011, more than any other model or celebrity that year. Her July Vogue Brasil 2011 cover that was shot in the Amazon sold 70,743 copies, making it the magazine's highest-selling issue. In early 2011, Procter & Gamble's Pantene shampoo sales increased 40 percent in Latin America after Bündchen started representing the product.
2012–present: Modelling campaigns and music endeavors
In spring 2012, Bündchen was featured in three spring campaigns, Versace, Givenchy, and Salvatore Ferragamo. She became the face of Banco do Brasil's first global ad campaign in 2012.
In April 2012, Time listed Bündchen on its All-TIME 100 Fashion Icons list, which highlighted the most influential fashion icons since 1923. Vogue included Bündchen in its spotlight of the 10 women who had most appeared on its covers to honor the magazine's 120th anniversary in August 2012.
Bündchen made 5,600 appearances in commercials in Brazil in 2012. She replaced Kate Moss as the face of David Yurman in August 2012. She was photographed by Peter Lindbergh for the fall 2012 campaign. By 2012, Bündchen had appeared on 120 Vogue covers. She holds the record for appearing on the most Vogue Brasil covers.
In February 2013, Bündchen became the face of Chanel's make-up line, Les Beiges. The campaign was photographed by Mario Testino. For Louis Vuitton's spring/summer 2014 campaign, Marc Jacobs chose Bündchen, Catherine Deneuve, Sofia Coppola, Fan Bingbing, Caroline de Maigret and Edie Campbell as his muses. In December 2013, Bündchen became Pantene's ambassador, a deal worth $4 million per year.
Bündchen released a cover of the Kinks "All Day and All of the Night" as a contribution to H&M's 2013 charity campaign. She contributed to H&M's 2014 charity campaign by teaming with French music producer and DJ Bob Sinclar to record a cover of Blondie's 1979 classic "Heart of Glass", on which she was credited as Gisele. The single charted in France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Belgium.
In May 2014, Bündchen was chosen as the spokeswoman for Chanel No. 5. Within the first quarter of 2014, Bündchen appeared on 17 international editions of Elle, including the Brazilian, German, Italian, Canadian, Japanese and Chinese editions. Under Armour signed Bündchen to a multiyear deal in September 2014. In 2014 and 2015, Bündchen appeared in more television commercial spots than any other Brazilian celebrity in the course of one year in Brazil.
Bündchen was featured in the 2015 Guinness World Record book as the model who earned the most money from June 2014 to June 2015.
Bündchen's $700 Taschen book released in celebration of her 20th year career sold out in one day.
By 2015, Bündchen appeared in more than 550 ad campaigns, 2000 magazine covers, 3500 magazine editorials and 800 fashion shows.
Bündchen appeared at the Maracanã Stadium at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on 5 August 2016.
Forbes ranked Bündchen No. 61 on its Most Powerful Celebrities list in 2012.
Forbes ranked her fourth on the World's Most Powerful Latino Celebrity list in May 2012. In 2013, she ranked No. 5 on the Forbes 10 Most Powerful Businesswomen in Brazil.
In 2013, Bündchen's Ipanema sandals sold about 25 million pairs annually and accounted for more than 60 percent of shoe manufacturer Grendene's annual exports of about $250 million.
In 2014, Bündchen signed a contract with Under Armour, which is reportedly on par with the endorsement compensations of professional athletes and exceeds her former Victoria's Secret contract. In 2016, Under Armour's CEO Kevin Plank said sales for the company's women's brand had increased because of its association with Bündchen.
In 2018, Gisele released her book called Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life, which was a New York Times bestseller and was the best selling book for over six months in the non-fiction category in Brazil. The proceeds from her book went to support social and environmental causes.
In February 2021, it was reported that Bündchen was leaving IMG Models after 22 years and that her twin sister, Patricia would be taking over as her manager.
Public image
In September 2000, Newsweek reported on a survey conducted by Brazilian magazine Capricho, where 86 percent of Brazilian teenagers said they wanted to become fashion models. Capricho attributed the interest in modelling to Bündchen.
By 2014, Bündchen was listed by Forbes as the 89th most powerful woman in the world.
Forbes Brasil listed Bündchen as the No. 2 biggest Brazilian celebrity of 2015 based on media presence and influence in Brazil.
In a 2006 Elle survey, more than 50 percent of American stylists asked gave Bündchen the title of the best hair in Hollywood. A February 2008 survey of more than 20,000 plastic surgeons in 84 countries revealed Bündchen was the celebrity most mentioned for patients having work done on their abdomens and hair, and the second-most mentioned celebrity in the breasts category.
Bündchen was second on Vanity Fairs World's Most Beautiful poll in 2009.
In January 2011, Bündchen's was the most desired female body on the 14th Annual Famed Hottest Looks survey. In 2011, Bündchen was one of three women to make AskMen.com's annual "Most Desirable Women" list every year for 10 consecutive years.
Bündchen is ranked No. 4 on Forbes Brasils list of the 100 most influential Brazilian celebrities.
In May 2014, Bündchen was ranked No. 89 on Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the world, the only model on the list.
In November 2014, Forbes Brasil ranked Bündchen fifth of the 25 biggest celebrities in Brazil, moving her up to second in 2015.
Vogue Italia called Bündchen the "King Midas of fashion" in February 2012, saying companies that invest in her reap the awards of her representation. An Esprit public awareness campaign featuring Bündchen helped raise consumer awareness 9 percent in Germany and 19 percent in China.
In 2016, Bündchen participated in The Beginning of Life, a documentary about "the crucial role that the early years of children’s lives play in determining their futures successes".
Philanthropy
Since the 2000s, Bündchen's main focus has been social and environmental causes. She has also supported the Breast Cancer Campaign to educate women on how to perform a breast self-exam.
Charitable activities
Bündchen donated $150,000 to Brazil's Zero Hunger program. She designed a limited necklace edition for Harper's Bazaar, crafted by jewelers Gumuchian Fils, which were sold to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
An iPod autographed by Bündchen and loaded with her personal playlist was auctioned, and proceeds were donated to Music Rising, a campaign founded in 2005, to replace lost or destroyed instruments of musicians in the Gulf Coast Region after hurricane disasters.
Bündchen became the face of American Express's Product Red-affiliated card in 2006. A portion of earnings from the credit card are donated to HIV/AIDS victims in Africa. In the same year she took part in the I am African fundraising campaign to make AIDS treatment accessible to all of Africa. In 2009, she appeared on 30 covers of the international issues of Elle wearing Product Red clothing and posing with products from companies that support its mission.
Bündchen started The Luz Foundation in 2007, a project to empower girls and help them deal with self-esteem issues.
In 2008, Bündchen auctioned a collection of diamonds to benefit the Diamond Empowerment Fund, a nonprofit organization to education initiatives in countries where diamonds are a natural resource. The collection featured the Ponahalo Diamonds which were valued at $2 million to $4 million, a 6-carat diamond ring worth $120,000–$150,000 and a 3.35-carat Sabbadini diamond ring worth $15,000–$20,000. In 2010, she donated $1.5 million to the Red Cross to aid the relief effort in Haiti after seeing the devastation done by the earthquake. The donation put Bündchen tied for 14th on The Giving Back Fund's list of 30 celebrities who made the largest donations to charity in 2011.
In 2010, together with former president Bill Clinton, Bündchen joined the event that partnered Pantene and the Children's Safe Drinking Water Program to provide clean water to people in need. Bündchen and Indonesian singer-songwriter Anggun announced the kick-off of the Healthy Hair for Healthy Water program at P&G's reception that was held in conjunction with the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Bündchen also attended the Brazil Foundation's 8th Annual Gala to raise funds for fighting challenges faced by poor communities in Brazil. Bündchen created an exclusive design for SIGG water bottles, with proceeds going to WaterCan NGO, a humanitarian organization in Canada that provides the poorest people in the world access to clean water, toilets, and information on hygiene.
In 2020, Bündchen formed the Luz Alliance fund in partnership with the Brazil Foundation with a donation of 1,000,000 reals. The fund supports the purchase of hygiene kits, food, and financial assistance to families in Brazil through eight different charitable organizations and emergency-response efforts to offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bündchen, along with her husband Brady, partnered with Wheels Up to donate 10 million meals to Feeding America for their "Meals Up" initiative and helped fund thousands of meals for Feeding Tampa Bay and The Greater Boston Food Bank to alleviate food insecurity. Bündchen also partnered with the "All in Challenge" by donated an experience with her at a photo shoot in New York, with all proceeds going to Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry.
Environmental work
In 2004, after visiting an Amerindian tribe at the Xingu region in Brazil and seeing firsthand the problems those communities were facing due to water pollution and deforestation, Bündchen decided she had to do something to help bring attention to social and environmental issues. She advocated for the cause and through the years she has supported different projects, especially forest and water related projects in the Amazon rainforest and Atlantic Forest.
In 2007, she signed a "Hotter than I Should Be" T-shirt that was auctioned on eBay for the World Wide Fund for Nature to support the charity's campaign to raise awareness about the causes and impacts of climate change.
Bündchen returned to her hometown of Horizontina in 2008 and with her family launched Projeto Água Limpa (Clean Water Project), which implements sustainable environmental management and promotes the recovery of riparian vegetation and the micro basins of the region. More than one million trees were planted in Bündchen's name following her 2008 American Photo cover to promote Forests of the Future, a project to assist in the reforestation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
In May 2009, Bündchen co-hosted the annual gala of the Rainforest Alliance to honor leaders in sustainability. In May 2011, Bündchen received the Global Environmental Citizen Award in recognition of her eco-efforts. In November 2011, she was awarded Greenest Celebrity at the 2011 International Green awards at the Natural History Museum, London.
Bündchen donates proceeds from the sales from her Ipanema sandals to a different charity each year. Starting in 2006, Bündchen dedicated a percentage of the sales of her line of sandals to environmental projects including "Y Ikatu Xingu", meaning "Save the Good Water of Xingu", the project aimed to recover and protect springs and headwaters of the Xingu River in Brazil. In 2007, she supported World Wildlife Fund project "Nascentes do Brasil" and "De olho nos manaciais" from ISA. In 2008, the project supported was "Florestas do futuro" from SOS Mata Atlantica, a reforestation program for recovery of native species, which contributes to water conservation and biodiversity. A forest was named after her, the Gisele Bündchen Forest, where more than 25000 seedlings of 100 different tree species were planted in her honor, which recovered more than 15 hectares of Atlantic Forest. In 2011, the donation went to the Socio-Environmental Institute. In 2009, she also helped the "Tamar Project", a research initiative and environmental protection of the five species of sea turtles along the Brazilian coast.
In 2012, Bündchen planted a sapling of Sapucaia tree during her visit to Green Nation Fest, an event that occurs every year during the Environment Week and, that year, prior to the realization of Rio +20. Over the years Bündchen participated in several United Nations campaigns to fight against climate change. She participated in challenges on World Environment Day to mobilize people to take action in helping protect the forest, the wildlife, the green economy and to encourage people to reduce their food waste. Bündchen attended Champions of the Earth and Equator Prize ceremonies multiples times.
In 2013, Bündchen supported the United Nations campaign against food waste, THINK.EAT.SAVE. Bündchen and chef Eric Ripert participated in the Today Show program where they showed that it is possible to cook more efficiently.
Bündchen and her husband promote the Earth Hour global movement, a symbolic act promoted worldwide by the World Wildlife Foundation in which governments, companies, and people demonstrate concern for the environment, turning off their lights for sixty minutes.
In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors. Later that year she attended, as a guest of honor the spring annual gala, a ceremony that recognized the industry champions that have sustainability as a priority. In 2014 Bündchen supported the SOKO + The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women partnership to support the financial and physical security of women and girls around the world. SOKO artisans in Kenya created a pair of handmade bracelets to raise awareness for the fund. Bündchen had her work in the defense of the environment recognized and was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Since then, Bündchen has helped UNEP in the mission of raising awareness and inspiring action to protect the environment.
In 2016, she joined the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously as one of its celebrity correspondents.
In addition to using her social networks to share information about different subjects related to the importance of preserving all forms of life, Bündchen also attended a meeting to discuss the matter at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, which happened on the World Wildlife Day in 2016. The date was celebrated with the theme "Wildlife Future is in Our Hands". She also participated in the Wild For Life campaign against the illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife, including the campaign that won the People's Choice Award in the green category of 2019 Webby Awards.
In 2019, Bündchen executive produced a documentary entitled Kiss the Ground. The feature focuses on a group of activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians who band together in a global movement of "Regenerative Agriculture" to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. The film features Bündchen alongside Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, Patricia Arquette, David Arquette, Tom Brady, and Jason Mraz. The documentary premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. In 2020 on her birthday Bündchen launched the Viva a Vida initiative and donated funds to plant 40,000 trees along the Xingu and Araguaia River in Brazil.
Goodwill ambassador
Bündchen and her husband, Tom Brady, served Thanksgiving dinner to more than 400 job trainees at Goodwill Industries International's headquarters in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in November 2008.
In September 2009, Bündchen was designated Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. She made her first visit to Africa as UNEP Goodwill Ambassador in January 2012.
In January 2012, Bündchen visited Kenya to experience the reality of energy poverty as part of the Energy for All 2030 project. On the eve of World Environment Day in June 2012, Bündchen, planted the first of a series of 50,000 trees in Rio de Janeiro. In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors.
Personal life
From 2000 to 2005, Bündchen was in a relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2004, Bündchen and DiCaprio made Peoples annual Most Beautiful Couples List. After experiencing a period of depression, Bündchen decided to end her relationship with DiCaprio after she felt their lifestyles no longer complemented, saying in her memoir Lessons, "[...] I was becoming more and more aware of things that I'd chosen not to look at. Was I alone in wanting to do some serious soul-searching while he stayed the same? In the end, unfortunately, the answer was yes."
In December 2006, Bündchen began dating NFL quarterback Tom Brady, after a mutual friend introduced them on a blind date. The couple married on 26 February 2009 in a small ceremony at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California. In April 2009, the couple had a second marriage ceremony, in Costa Rica. Bündchen and Brady have two children: son Benjamin Rein (born 2009), and daughter Vivian Lake (born 2012). She is the stepmother of Brady's first son (born 2007) from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan. Bündchen and Brady are Roman Catholics.
Bündchen practices Transcendental Meditation. She and her family adhere to a primarily plant-based diet developed by their personal chef Allen Campbell. They have lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, when Tom Brady played for the New England Patriots, and reside part-time in New York City. They have since moved to Tampa, Florida, after Brady went to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In December 2020, the couple reportedly bought a home in Indian Creek, Florida.
Wealth
In August 2011, Bündchen ranked 60th on the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. At age 31, she ranked third on The 20 Youngest Power Women of 2011 List. In 2011, Forbes named Bündchen and Brady as the World's Highest-Paid Celebrity couple. In August 2012, Bündchen was one of four people in the fashion industry and the only model to be ranked on the Forbes list of "The World's Most Powerful Women", at No. 83. She ranked eighth in the top 10 of the Forbes list of "Entertainment's Highest-Paid Women" in 2012.
Forbes ranked Bündchen as the world's top-earning model for the fifth consecutive time in May 2011. Bündchen disputed the number used by Forbes, telling Brazilian website MdeMulher that the inflated estimates have made her a subject of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service. In 2013, Bündchen ranked third on the 16 Most Successful Female Entrepreneurs list by Forbes. Forbes estimated Bündchen's 2016 income at $30.5 million. Bündchen was the highest-paid model in the world from 2002 to 2017.
Filmography
Discography
Singles
Music videos
Awards and nominations
See also
List of Brazilians
References
External links
Voguepedia
1980 births
Living people
Brazilian bloggers
Brazilian expatriates in the United States
Brazilian environmentalists
Brazilian women environmentalists
Brazilian female models
Brazilian people of German descent
Brazilian models of German descent
Breastfeeding activists
Brazilian Roman Catholics
Environmental bloggers
IMG Models models
People from Rio Grande do Sul
Victoria's Secret
Women bloggers
Twin models
Brazilian health activists
Victoria's Secret Angels
American footballers' wives and girlfriends
Brazilian women activists
The Lions (agency) models
Tom Brady | false | [
"An Englishman in Auschwitz is a 2001 book written by Leon Greenman, a Holocaust survivor. The book details his experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp.\n\nThe book is a result of the commitment of English-born Greenman to God \"that if he lived, he would let the world know what happened during the war\". In short, the book describes the reminiscences of his days of imprisonment in six concentration camps of the Nazis. Greenman describes the arrival of his family (consisting of himself, his wife, Esther, a Dutchwoman, and their three-year-old son, Barney) at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in these words: The women were separated from the men: Else and Barny were marched about 20 yards away to a queue of women...I tried to watch Else. I could see her clearly against the blue lights. She could see me too for she threw me a kiss and held up our child for me to see. What was going through her mind I will never know. Perhaps she was pleased that the journey had come to an end.\n\nReferences\n\n2001 non-fiction books\nPersonal accounts of the Holocaust",
"\"What's Happened to Blue Eyes\" is a country music song recorded by American country artist Jessi Colter. The song was released as her second single under Capitol Records August 4, 1975, peaking as a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Country Chart and a minor hit on the Pop chart.\n\nContent\n\"What's Happened to Blue Eyes\" was written entirely by Jessi Colter. The narrator discusses how she is looking for her male lover who goes by the name \"blue eyes.\" She is curious to wondering if anyone else has seen him, while also hoping he has not decided to end their relationship. \n\nThe song was produced by Ken Mansfield and Waylon Jennings, both of whom produced Colter's previous single, \"I'm Not Lisa\" and her 1975 Capitol album. Since its release, the song has been covered by Colter's husband, Waylon Jennings as duet with Colter for their 1981 collaboration, Leather and Lace.\n\nA later version, recorded the following year for the album Wanted! The Outlaws, had the first line of the chorus changed from \"What's happened to blue eyes?\" to \"I'm looking for blue eyes\", and it appeared on the track listing by the alternative name \"I'm Looking For Blue Eyes\". The second version is more blues-oriented, versus the mid-tempo, pop-country style of the Capitol single release.\n\nChart performance\n\"What's Happened to Blue Eyes\" was released as Colter's second single on Capitol Records and was issued August 4, 1975. The song made its chart debut on the country list shortly afterwards on August 23. The song became Colter's second major hit as a solo recording artist, reaching a peak of #5 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, as well as becoming a minor hit on the Pop chart, peaking at #57 around the same time. It would be released on her debut Capitol album, I'm Jessi Colter. The song was the follow-up single to Colter's major country pop crossover hit, \"I'm Not Lisa\", which was released earlier in the year.\n\nCritical reception\nBillboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that \"when she writes, she turns out masterpieces, and then when she does the interpretation herself, it is superb. This is a case in point.\"\n\nCharts\n\nCover Versions\nIn 1981, Lisa Colter's husband, Waylon Jennings recorded the song on their 1981 duet album, Leather and Lace.\n\nReferences\n\n1975 singles\nJessi Colter songs\nSongs written by Jessi Colter\n1974 songs\nCapitol Records singles"
]
|
[
"Gisele Bündchen",
"1997-2000: Career beginnings",
"What happened to Gisele Bundchen in her career beginnings?",
"Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows.",
"Did she get a role in either of those shows?",
"She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 \"rain\" ready-to-wear show.",
"How well did that show go?",
"I don't know.",
"What else happened during her career beginnings?",
"As the year 2000 approached, Gisele Bundchen was the world's hottest model, opening up a new category in the popular imagination: the Brazilian bombshell.\""
]
| C_e6582aeda7d44f54b6d7d722a705480a_1 | Did her fame keep rising? | 5 | Did Gisele Bündchen fame keep rising? | Gisele Bündchen | Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows. She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 "rain" ready-to-wear show. Echoing similar accolades for Elle Macpherson a decade earlier, McQueen dubbed Bundchen "the Body", immediately boosting her bookings. In 1998, she posed for Missoni, Chloe, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferre, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She made the cover of the French edition of Vogue, and fashion magazine i-D featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele." The Vogue online encyclopedia of models states, "As the year 2000 approached, Gisele Bundchen was the world's hottest model, opening up a new category in the popular imagination: the Brazilian bombshell." She appeared on the cover of Vogue in July, November and December 1999. She won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and a January 2000 cover gave her three consecutive Vogue covers. In 2000, she became the fourth model to appear on the cover of the music magazine Rolling Stone when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Bundchen has appeared on the covers of many top fashion magazines, including W, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Allure, as well as style and lifestyle publications such as The Face, Arena, Citizen K, Flair, GQ, Esquire, and Marie Claire, and in the Pirelli Calendar in 2001 and 2006. She has also been seen in TIME, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Newsweek, and Veja. Bundchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers throughout the world. She simultaneously featured on the covers of both the US and British editions of Vogue in January 2000. Take the case of 18-year-old Gisele Bundchen, a.k.a. Gisele, fashion's new uber- (not super-) model. Gisele is currently shooting five massive advertising campaigns, starring on the cover of W, and playing the muse to t/bersnappers Steven Meisel and Mario Testino. In short, Gisele is huge. CANNOTANSWER | She won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and a January 2000 cover gave her three consecutive Vogue covers. | Gisele Caroline Bündchen (, , born 20 July 1980) is a Brazilian fashion model. Since 2001, she has been one of the highest-paid models in the world. In 2007, Bündchen was the 16th richest woman in the entertainment industry and earned the top spot on Forbes top-earning models list in 2012. In 2014, she was listed as the 89th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes.
Vogue credited Bündchen with ending the heroin chic era of modelling in 1999. Bündchen was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 until 2006. She is credited with pioneering and popularizing the horse walk, a stomping movement created by a model lifting her knees high and kicking her feet to step. In 2007, Claudia Schiffer called Bündchen the only remaining supermodel. Bündchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers.
Bündchen was nominated for Choice Movie Female Breakout Star and for Choice Movie Villain at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards for her supporting role in Taxi (2004). She had a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and was the executive producer of an educational environmental cartoon, Gisele & the Green Team, in 2010 to 2011.
In 2016, she appeared in the Emmy award-winning documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, in the episode "Fueling the Fire".
Bündchen's charitable endeavors include Save the Children, Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program since 2009.
Family and early life
Born in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, Bündchen is a sixth-generation German Brazilian, born to Vânia (née Nonnenmacher), a bank clerk pensioner, and Valdir Bündchen, a sociologist and writer. Her grandfather, Walter Bündchen, once served as mayor of Horizontina. She grew up with five sisters, Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela and her fraternal twin, Patrícia. The family was Roman Catholic. Although her parents speak German and Bündchen learned German in school, she no longer speaks the language. Bündchen speaks Portuguese, English, Italian, Spanish and French.
Bündchen aspired to be a volleyball player, but in 1993 her mother enrolled her and sisters Patrícia and Gabriela in a modelling course to teach them confidence and better posture. After the course ended, the girls were rewarded by a trip to Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where she was discovered by Elite Model Management at a shopping mall. Bündchen was placed second in a national contest, Elite Model Look, that was then known as Look of the Year. In 1995, Bündchen moved to São Paulo to launch her modelling career. She debuted at New York Fashion Week in 1996.
Career
1997–2000: Career beginnings
In 1997, Bündchen was rejected 42 times in London before being cast in an Alexander McQueen runway show in 1998. In 1998, Bündchen posed for Missoni, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferré, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She appeared on the cover of Vogue Paris, her first cover of British Vogue, and i-D, which featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele". Dissatisfied with Elite Model Management's work environment, Bündchen signed with IMG Models in 1999.
Bündchen's first U.S Vogue cover, where Vogue announced Bündchen was "the return of the sexy model", was the first of three Vogue covers for her in 1999. In November she appeared in a group Vogue cover with Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Christy Turlington, Iman, Lauren Hutton, Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Claudia Schiffer, Lisa Taylor, Paulina Porizkova, Carolyn Murphy, and Patti Hansen, and appeared in a solo U.S. Vogue cover in December. Bündchen won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year in 1999. After Bündchen appeared in five major campaigns at age 18, New York magazine editor Sally Singer deemed her an "über" model. She became the fourth model to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" in 2000. In 2000, Vogues online encyclopedia of models called Bündchen the world's hottest model and called Bündchen "the Brazilian bombshell".
2000–2009: Modelling breakthrough, international success, and acting debut
In 2000, Bündchen appeared on 37 international Vogue covers, including three in the American edition. In January 2000, Bündchen was featured on the covers of the U.S. and British editions of Vogue. For spring 2000 fashion week, she opened shows for Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior, and Valentino in New York, Milan and Paris. From 1998 to 2003, Bündchen was in 11 consecutive Dolce & Gabbana fashion campaigns. From 2006 to 2009 she became the face of Dolce & Gabbana's fragrance "The One". Bündchen retired from the runway after signing a five-year contract with Victoria's Secret.
In 2000, Bündchen wore Victoria's Secret's Red Hot Fantasy Bra worth $15 million and listed in Guinness World Records as the most expensive lingerie ever created. Bündchen modeled the Sexy Splendor Fantasy Bra in 2005, the second-most expensive bra valued at $12.5 million.
In 2004, she appeared on a group U.S. Vogue cover, with Daria Werbowy, Natalia Vodianova, Isabeli Fontana, Karolina Kurkova, Liya Kebede, Hana Soukupova, Gemma Ward, and Karen Elson. Bündchen appeared on the covers of W, Allure, GQ, Forbes, Marie Claire, TIME, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and in the Pirelli Calendar.
Bündchen co-starred with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon in the 2004 remake of Taxi, and Bündchen played Serena in The Devil Wears Prada in 2006. In 2007, Mario Testino photographed Bündchen for the cover of Vanity Fairs style issue. In 2008, she appeared on the controversial cover of Vogue with NBA player LeBron James. The cover was criticized for perpetuating racial stereotypes after James bared his teeth in a gorilla-type pose.
Forbes listed Bündchen as No. 53 on their 2007 list of the most powerful celebrities. In 2010, Bündchen's flip-flop line for Ipanema sold more than 250 pairs for an estimated $197 million. In May 2007, Bündchen ended her contract with Victoria's Secret. In her memoir, "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life," Bündchen said she left Victoria's Secret because she was uncomfortable being photographed in lingerie. In August 2008, the New York Daily News named Bündchen as the one of the most powerful people in the fashion world.
2009–2011: Continued success
The Independent referred to Bündchen the biggest star in fashion history in May 2009. In April 2010, Bündchen appeared on the cover of American Vogue for the 11th time. Bündchen closed Balenciaga's 2010 show in a surprise appearance. In 2011, CEOWorld Magazine ranked Bündchen among their Top Accomplished Women Entertainers. She was ranked No. 95 in FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011. In 2007, Bündchen was named by Forbes as the World's Richest Supermodel. On April 11, 2008, a black-and-white photo of Bündchen shot by Irving Penn was auctioned for $193,000.
By 2010, Bündchen had appeared on two Vogue Shape issue covers, more than any other celebrity or model. She ranked No. 45 in the 2011 FHM Australia list of 100 Sexiest Women in the World. In 2011, Men's Health named Bündchen as No. 25 of the 100 Hottest Women of All Time. Bündchen closed the 2011 Givenchy spring-summer fashion show in a surprise appearance during Paris Fashion Week. That year, Bündchen launched eco-friendly Sejaa Pure Skincare, a skin care product line using all-natural ingredients.
She appeared on eight Vogue covers in 2011, more than any other model or celebrity that year. Her July Vogue Brasil 2011 cover that was shot in the Amazon sold 70,743 copies, making it the magazine's highest-selling issue. In early 2011, Procter & Gamble's Pantene shampoo sales increased 40 percent in Latin America after Bündchen started representing the product.
2012–present: Modelling campaigns and music endeavors
In spring 2012, Bündchen was featured in three spring campaigns, Versace, Givenchy, and Salvatore Ferragamo. She became the face of Banco do Brasil's first global ad campaign in 2012.
In April 2012, Time listed Bündchen on its All-TIME 100 Fashion Icons list, which highlighted the most influential fashion icons since 1923. Vogue included Bündchen in its spotlight of the 10 women who had most appeared on its covers to honor the magazine's 120th anniversary in August 2012.
Bündchen made 5,600 appearances in commercials in Brazil in 2012. She replaced Kate Moss as the face of David Yurman in August 2012. She was photographed by Peter Lindbergh for the fall 2012 campaign. By 2012, Bündchen had appeared on 120 Vogue covers. She holds the record for appearing on the most Vogue Brasil covers.
In February 2013, Bündchen became the face of Chanel's make-up line, Les Beiges. The campaign was photographed by Mario Testino. For Louis Vuitton's spring/summer 2014 campaign, Marc Jacobs chose Bündchen, Catherine Deneuve, Sofia Coppola, Fan Bingbing, Caroline de Maigret and Edie Campbell as his muses. In December 2013, Bündchen became Pantene's ambassador, a deal worth $4 million per year.
Bündchen released a cover of the Kinks "All Day and All of the Night" as a contribution to H&M's 2013 charity campaign. She contributed to H&M's 2014 charity campaign by teaming with French music producer and DJ Bob Sinclar to record a cover of Blondie's 1979 classic "Heart of Glass", on which she was credited as Gisele. The single charted in France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Belgium.
In May 2014, Bündchen was chosen as the spokeswoman for Chanel No. 5. Within the first quarter of 2014, Bündchen appeared on 17 international editions of Elle, including the Brazilian, German, Italian, Canadian, Japanese and Chinese editions. Under Armour signed Bündchen to a multiyear deal in September 2014. In 2014 and 2015, Bündchen appeared in more television commercial spots than any other Brazilian celebrity in the course of one year in Brazil.
Bündchen was featured in the 2015 Guinness World Record book as the model who earned the most money from June 2014 to June 2015.
Bündchen's $700 Taschen book released in celebration of her 20th year career sold out in one day.
By 2015, Bündchen appeared in more than 550 ad campaigns, 2000 magazine covers, 3500 magazine editorials and 800 fashion shows.
Bündchen appeared at the Maracanã Stadium at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on 5 August 2016.
Forbes ranked Bündchen No. 61 on its Most Powerful Celebrities list in 2012.
Forbes ranked her fourth on the World's Most Powerful Latino Celebrity list in May 2012. In 2013, she ranked No. 5 on the Forbes 10 Most Powerful Businesswomen in Brazil.
In 2013, Bündchen's Ipanema sandals sold about 25 million pairs annually and accounted for more than 60 percent of shoe manufacturer Grendene's annual exports of about $250 million.
In 2014, Bündchen signed a contract with Under Armour, which is reportedly on par with the endorsement compensations of professional athletes and exceeds her former Victoria's Secret contract. In 2016, Under Armour's CEO Kevin Plank said sales for the company's women's brand had increased because of its association with Bündchen.
In 2018, Gisele released her book called Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life, which was a New York Times bestseller and was the best selling book for over six months in the non-fiction category in Brazil. The proceeds from her book went to support social and environmental causes.
In February 2021, it was reported that Bündchen was leaving IMG Models after 22 years and that her twin sister, Patricia would be taking over as her manager.
Public image
In September 2000, Newsweek reported on a survey conducted by Brazilian magazine Capricho, where 86 percent of Brazilian teenagers said they wanted to become fashion models. Capricho attributed the interest in modelling to Bündchen.
By 2014, Bündchen was listed by Forbes as the 89th most powerful woman in the world.
Forbes Brasil listed Bündchen as the No. 2 biggest Brazilian celebrity of 2015 based on media presence and influence in Brazil.
In a 2006 Elle survey, more than 50 percent of American stylists asked gave Bündchen the title of the best hair in Hollywood. A February 2008 survey of more than 20,000 plastic surgeons in 84 countries revealed Bündchen was the celebrity most mentioned for patients having work done on their abdomens and hair, and the second-most mentioned celebrity in the breasts category.
Bündchen was second on Vanity Fairs World's Most Beautiful poll in 2009.
In January 2011, Bündchen's was the most desired female body on the 14th Annual Famed Hottest Looks survey. In 2011, Bündchen was one of three women to make AskMen.com's annual "Most Desirable Women" list every year for 10 consecutive years.
Bündchen is ranked No. 4 on Forbes Brasils list of the 100 most influential Brazilian celebrities.
In May 2014, Bündchen was ranked No. 89 on Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the world, the only model on the list.
In November 2014, Forbes Brasil ranked Bündchen fifth of the 25 biggest celebrities in Brazil, moving her up to second in 2015.
Vogue Italia called Bündchen the "King Midas of fashion" in February 2012, saying companies that invest in her reap the awards of her representation. An Esprit public awareness campaign featuring Bündchen helped raise consumer awareness 9 percent in Germany and 19 percent in China.
In 2016, Bündchen participated in The Beginning of Life, a documentary about "the crucial role that the early years of children’s lives play in determining their futures successes".
Philanthropy
Since the 2000s, Bündchen's main focus has been social and environmental causes. She has also supported the Breast Cancer Campaign to educate women on how to perform a breast self-exam.
Charitable activities
Bündchen donated $150,000 to Brazil's Zero Hunger program. She designed a limited necklace edition for Harper's Bazaar, crafted by jewelers Gumuchian Fils, which were sold to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
An iPod autographed by Bündchen and loaded with her personal playlist was auctioned, and proceeds were donated to Music Rising, a campaign founded in 2005, to replace lost or destroyed instruments of musicians in the Gulf Coast Region after hurricane disasters.
Bündchen became the face of American Express's Product Red-affiliated card in 2006. A portion of earnings from the credit card are donated to HIV/AIDS victims in Africa. In the same year she took part in the I am African fundraising campaign to make AIDS treatment accessible to all of Africa. In 2009, she appeared on 30 covers of the international issues of Elle wearing Product Red clothing and posing with products from companies that support its mission.
Bündchen started The Luz Foundation in 2007, a project to empower girls and help them deal with self-esteem issues.
In 2008, Bündchen auctioned a collection of diamonds to benefit the Diamond Empowerment Fund, a nonprofit organization to education initiatives in countries where diamonds are a natural resource. The collection featured the Ponahalo Diamonds which were valued at $2 million to $4 million, a 6-carat diamond ring worth $120,000–$150,000 and a 3.35-carat Sabbadini diamond ring worth $15,000–$20,000. In 2010, she donated $1.5 million to the Red Cross to aid the relief effort in Haiti after seeing the devastation done by the earthquake. The donation put Bündchen tied for 14th on The Giving Back Fund's list of 30 celebrities who made the largest donations to charity in 2011.
In 2010, together with former president Bill Clinton, Bündchen joined the event that partnered Pantene and the Children's Safe Drinking Water Program to provide clean water to people in need. Bündchen and Indonesian singer-songwriter Anggun announced the kick-off of the Healthy Hair for Healthy Water program at P&G's reception that was held in conjunction with the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Bündchen also attended the Brazil Foundation's 8th Annual Gala to raise funds for fighting challenges faced by poor communities in Brazil. Bündchen created an exclusive design for SIGG water bottles, with proceeds going to WaterCan NGO, a humanitarian organization in Canada that provides the poorest people in the world access to clean water, toilets, and information on hygiene.
In 2020, Bündchen formed the Luz Alliance fund in partnership with the Brazil Foundation with a donation of 1,000,000 reals. The fund supports the purchase of hygiene kits, food, and financial assistance to families in Brazil through eight different charitable organizations and emergency-response efforts to offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bündchen, along with her husband Brady, partnered with Wheels Up to donate 10 million meals to Feeding America for their "Meals Up" initiative and helped fund thousands of meals for Feeding Tampa Bay and The Greater Boston Food Bank to alleviate food insecurity. Bündchen also partnered with the "All in Challenge" by donated an experience with her at a photo shoot in New York, with all proceeds going to Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry.
Environmental work
In 2004, after visiting an Amerindian tribe at the Xingu region in Brazil and seeing firsthand the problems those communities were facing due to water pollution and deforestation, Bündchen decided she had to do something to help bring attention to social and environmental issues. She advocated for the cause and through the years she has supported different projects, especially forest and water related projects in the Amazon rainforest and Atlantic Forest.
In 2007, she signed a "Hotter than I Should Be" T-shirt that was auctioned on eBay for the World Wide Fund for Nature to support the charity's campaign to raise awareness about the causes and impacts of climate change.
Bündchen returned to her hometown of Horizontina in 2008 and with her family launched Projeto Água Limpa (Clean Water Project), which implements sustainable environmental management and promotes the recovery of riparian vegetation and the micro basins of the region. More than one million trees were planted in Bündchen's name following her 2008 American Photo cover to promote Forests of the Future, a project to assist in the reforestation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
In May 2009, Bündchen co-hosted the annual gala of the Rainforest Alliance to honor leaders in sustainability. In May 2011, Bündchen received the Global Environmental Citizen Award in recognition of her eco-efforts. In November 2011, she was awarded Greenest Celebrity at the 2011 International Green awards at the Natural History Museum, London.
Bündchen donates proceeds from the sales from her Ipanema sandals to a different charity each year. Starting in 2006, Bündchen dedicated a percentage of the sales of her line of sandals to environmental projects including "Y Ikatu Xingu", meaning "Save the Good Water of Xingu", the project aimed to recover and protect springs and headwaters of the Xingu River in Brazil. In 2007, she supported World Wildlife Fund project "Nascentes do Brasil" and "De olho nos manaciais" from ISA. In 2008, the project supported was "Florestas do futuro" from SOS Mata Atlantica, a reforestation program for recovery of native species, which contributes to water conservation and biodiversity. A forest was named after her, the Gisele Bündchen Forest, where more than 25000 seedlings of 100 different tree species were planted in her honor, which recovered more than 15 hectares of Atlantic Forest. In 2011, the donation went to the Socio-Environmental Institute. In 2009, she also helped the "Tamar Project", a research initiative and environmental protection of the five species of sea turtles along the Brazilian coast.
In 2012, Bündchen planted a sapling of Sapucaia tree during her visit to Green Nation Fest, an event that occurs every year during the Environment Week and, that year, prior to the realization of Rio +20. Over the years Bündchen participated in several United Nations campaigns to fight against climate change. She participated in challenges on World Environment Day to mobilize people to take action in helping protect the forest, the wildlife, the green economy and to encourage people to reduce their food waste. Bündchen attended Champions of the Earth and Equator Prize ceremonies multiples times.
In 2013, Bündchen supported the United Nations campaign against food waste, THINK.EAT.SAVE. Bündchen and chef Eric Ripert participated in the Today Show program where they showed that it is possible to cook more efficiently.
Bündchen and her husband promote the Earth Hour global movement, a symbolic act promoted worldwide by the World Wildlife Foundation in which governments, companies, and people demonstrate concern for the environment, turning off their lights for sixty minutes.
In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors. Later that year she attended, as a guest of honor the spring annual gala, a ceremony that recognized the industry champions that have sustainability as a priority. In 2014 Bündchen supported the SOKO + The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women partnership to support the financial and physical security of women and girls around the world. SOKO artisans in Kenya created a pair of handmade bracelets to raise awareness for the fund. Bündchen had her work in the defense of the environment recognized and was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Since then, Bündchen has helped UNEP in the mission of raising awareness and inspiring action to protect the environment.
In 2016, she joined the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously as one of its celebrity correspondents.
In addition to using her social networks to share information about different subjects related to the importance of preserving all forms of life, Bündchen also attended a meeting to discuss the matter at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, which happened on the World Wildlife Day in 2016. The date was celebrated with the theme "Wildlife Future is in Our Hands". She also participated in the Wild For Life campaign against the illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife, including the campaign that won the People's Choice Award in the green category of 2019 Webby Awards.
In 2019, Bündchen executive produced a documentary entitled Kiss the Ground. The feature focuses on a group of activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians who band together in a global movement of "Regenerative Agriculture" to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. The film features Bündchen alongside Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, Patricia Arquette, David Arquette, Tom Brady, and Jason Mraz. The documentary premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. In 2020 on her birthday Bündchen launched the Viva a Vida initiative and donated funds to plant 40,000 trees along the Xingu and Araguaia River in Brazil.
Goodwill ambassador
Bündchen and her husband, Tom Brady, served Thanksgiving dinner to more than 400 job trainees at Goodwill Industries International's headquarters in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in November 2008.
In September 2009, Bündchen was designated Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. She made her first visit to Africa as UNEP Goodwill Ambassador in January 2012.
In January 2012, Bündchen visited Kenya to experience the reality of energy poverty as part of the Energy for All 2030 project. On the eve of World Environment Day in June 2012, Bündchen, planted the first of a series of 50,000 trees in Rio de Janeiro. In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors.
Personal life
From 2000 to 2005, Bündchen was in a relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2004, Bündchen and DiCaprio made Peoples annual Most Beautiful Couples List. After experiencing a period of depression, Bündchen decided to end her relationship with DiCaprio after she felt their lifestyles no longer complemented, saying in her memoir Lessons, "[...] I was becoming more and more aware of things that I'd chosen not to look at. Was I alone in wanting to do some serious soul-searching while he stayed the same? In the end, unfortunately, the answer was yes."
In December 2006, Bündchen began dating NFL quarterback Tom Brady, after a mutual friend introduced them on a blind date. The couple married on 26 February 2009 in a small ceremony at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California. In April 2009, the couple had a second marriage ceremony, in Costa Rica. Bündchen and Brady have two children: son Benjamin Rein (born 2009), and daughter Vivian Lake (born 2012). She is the stepmother of Brady's first son (born 2007) from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan. Bündchen and Brady are Roman Catholics.
Bündchen practices Transcendental Meditation. She and her family adhere to a primarily plant-based diet developed by their personal chef Allen Campbell. They have lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, when Tom Brady played for the New England Patriots, and reside part-time in New York City. They have since moved to Tampa, Florida, after Brady went to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In December 2020, the couple reportedly bought a home in Indian Creek, Florida.
Wealth
In August 2011, Bündchen ranked 60th on the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. At age 31, she ranked third on The 20 Youngest Power Women of 2011 List. In 2011, Forbes named Bündchen and Brady as the World's Highest-Paid Celebrity couple. In August 2012, Bündchen was one of four people in the fashion industry and the only model to be ranked on the Forbes list of "The World's Most Powerful Women", at No. 83. She ranked eighth in the top 10 of the Forbes list of "Entertainment's Highest-Paid Women" in 2012.
Forbes ranked Bündchen as the world's top-earning model for the fifth consecutive time in May 2011. Bündchen disputed the number used by Forbes, telling Brazilian website MdeMulher that the inflated estimates have made her a subject of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service. In 2013, Bündchen ranked third on the 16 Most Successful Female Entrepreneurs list by Forbes. Forbes estimated Bündchen's 2016 income at $30.5 million. Bündchen was the highest-paid model in the world from 2002 to 2017.
Filmography
Discography
Singles
Music videos
Awards and nominations
See also
List of Brazilians
References
External links
Voguepedia
1980 births
Living people
Brazilian bloggers
Brazilian expatriates in the United States
Brazilian environmentalists
Brazilian women environmentalists
Brazilian female models
Brazilian people of German descent
Brazilian models of German descent
Breastfeeding activists
Brazilian Roman Catholics
Environmental bloggers
IMG Models models
People from Rio Grande do Sul
Victoria's Secret
Women bloggers
Twin models
Brazilian health activists
Victoria's Secret Angels
American footballers' wives and girlfriends
Brazilian women activists
The Lions (agency) models
Tom Brady | false | [
"Keep Believin' was a single released in 2005 by The Answer. Although it did not feature on their 2006 debut album, Rise, it was featured on the bonus disc of the special edition version of the same album, released in 2007.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCD\n\n Keep Believin'\n So Cold\n No Questions Asked\n Be What You Want\n Keep Believin' (club mix)\n\nVinyl\n\n Keep Believin'\n New Day Rising\n\nPersonnel\n\nCormac Neeson - Lead vocals\nPaul Mahon - Guitar\nMicky Waters - Bass\nJames Heatley - Drums\n\nThe Answer (band) songs\n2005 songs\nAlbert Productions singles",
"The Slovenian Athletes Hall of Fame (slovene: \"Hram slavnih slovenskih športnikov\") was founded in 2011 by the Society of Slovenian Sports Journalists (Društvo športnih novinarjev Slovenije) and includes best Slovenian athletes of all time from different sport disciplines. This hall will be in function in 2012. At Slovenian Sportsperson of the Year event in December 2011 they inducted the first two Slovenian athletes, Leon Štukelj and Miro Cerar.\n\nFor more than a year and half, the Society of Slovenian Sports Journalists was preparing for the foundation of the \"Slovenian Athletes Hall of Fame\". They did this with one goal, to keep Slovenian athletes with great international results alive in our minds. They want to keep all sports equipment connected with this great athletes and save historic sport events from articles of already retired sports journalists and all others.\n\nWith this Hall of Fame of Slovenian athletes, the Society wants to invites visitors, students and all fans of sport, to keep Slovenian sport history alive, to allow best conditions for working of All Slovenian Sports Museum.\n\nOn 19 December 2012 twenty new inductees were introduced, also the Hall of fame was opened in Stožice Arena. On 28 November class of 2013 was introduced with 28 new athletes. Three athletes were introduced in August 2015, two in August 2016 and December 2017 and three in January 2019.\n\nInductees\n\nSee also\nSlovenian Sportsperson of the Year\n\nReferences\n\nAll-sports halls of fame\nAthletes Hall of Fame\n2011 establishments in Slovenia\nAwards established in 2011\nHalls of fame in Slovenia"
]
|
[
"Gisele Bündchen",
"1997-2000: Career beginnings",
"What happened to Gisele Bundchen in her career beginnings?",
"Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows.",
"Did she get a role in either of those shows?",
"She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 \"rain\" ready-to-wear show.",
"How well did that show go?",
"I don't know.",
"What else happened during her career beginnings?",
"As the year 2000 approached, Gisele Bundchen was the world's hottest model, opening up a new category in the popular imagination: the Brazilian bombshell.\"",
"Did her fame keep rising?",
"She won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and a January 2000 cover gave her three consecutive Vogue covers."
]
| C_e6582aeda7d44f54b6d7d722a705480a_1 | Did she do anything else along with that? | 6 | Besides winning the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999 and getting three consecutive Vogue covers, did Gisele Bündchen do anything else? | Gisele Bündchen | Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows. She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 "rain" ready-to-wear show. Echoing similar accolades for Elle Macpherson a decade earlier, McQueen dubbed Bundchen "the Body", immediately boosting her bookings. In 1998, she posed for Missoni, Chloe, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferre, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She made the cover of the French edition of Vogue, and fashion magazine i-D featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele." The Vogue online encyclopedia of models states, "As the year 2000 approached, Gisele Bundchen was the world's hottest model, opening up a new category in the popular imagination: the Brazilian bombshell." She appeared on the cover of Vogue in July, November and December 1999. She won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and a January 2000 cover gave her three consecutive Vogue covers. In 2000, she became the fourth model to appear on the cover of the music magazine Rolling Stone when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Bundchen has appeared on the covers of many top fashion magazines, including W, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Allure, as well as style and lifestyle publications such as The Face, Arena, Citizen K, Flair, GQ, Esquire, and Marie Claire, and in the Pirelli Calendar in 2001 and 2006. She has also been seen in TIME, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Newsweek, and Veja. Bundchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers throughout the world. She simultaneously featured on the covers of both the US and British editions of Vogue in January 2000. Take the case of 18-year-old Gisele Bundchen, a.k.a. Gisele, fashion's new uber- (not super-) model. Gisele is currently shooting five massive advertising campaigns, starring on the cover of W, and playing the muse to t/bersnappers Steven Meisel and Mario Testino. In short, Gisele is huge. CANNOTANSWER | Bundchen has appeared on the covers of many top fashion magazines, including W, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Allure, as well as style and lifestyle publications | Gisele Caroline Bündchen (, , born 20 July 1980) is a Brazilian fashion model. Since 2001, she has been one of the highest-paid models in the world. In 2007, Bündchen was the 16th richest woman in the entertainment industry and earned the top spot on Forbes top-earning models list in 2012. In 2014, she was listed as the 89th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes.
Vogue credited Bündchen with ending the heroin chic era of modelling in 1999. Bündchen was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 until 2006. She is credited with pioneering and popularizing the horse walk, a stomping movement created by a model lifting her knees high and kicking her feet to step. In 2007, Claudia Schiffer called Bündchen the only remaining supermodel. Bündchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers.
Bündchen was nominated for Choice Movie Female Breakout Star and for Choice Movie Villain at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards for her supporting role in Taxi (2004). She had a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and was the executive producer of an educational environmental cartoon, Gisele & the Green Team, in 2010 to 2011.
In 2016, she appeared in the Emmy award-winning documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, in the episode "Fueling the Fire".
Bündchen's charitable endeavors include Save the Children, Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program since 2009.
Family and early life
Born in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, Bündchen is a sixth-generation German Brazilian, born to Vânia (née Nonnenmacher), a bank clerk pensioner, and Valdir Bündchen, a sociologist and writer. Her grandfather, Walter Bündchen, once served as mayor of Horizontina. She grew up with five sisters, Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela and her fraternal twin, Patrícia. The family was Roman Catholic. Although her parents speak German and Bündchen learned German in school, she no longer speaks the language. Bündchen speaks Portuguese, English, Italian, Spanish and French.
Bündchen aspired to be a volleyball player, but in 1993 her mother enrolled her and sisters Patrícia and Gabriela in a modelling course to teach them confidence and better posture. After the course ended, the girls were rewarded by a trip to Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where she was discovered by Elite Model Management at a shopping mall. Bündchen was placed second in a national contest, Elite Model Look, that was then known as Look of the Year. In 1995, Bündchen moved to São Paulo to launch her modelling career. She debuted at New York Fashion Week in 1996.
Career
1997–2000: Career beginnings
In 1997, Bündchen was rejected 42 times in London before being cast in an Alexander McQueen runway show in 1998. In 1998, Bündchen posed for Missoni, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferré, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She appeared on the cover of Vogue Paris, her first cover of British Vogue, and i-D, which featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele". Dissatisfied with Elite Model Management's work environment, Bündchen signed with IMG Models in 1999.
Bündchen's first U.S Vogue cover, where Vogue announced Bündchen was "the return of the sexy model", was the first of three Vogue covers for her in 1999. In November she appeared in a group Vogue cover with Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Christy Turlington, Iman, Lauren Hutton, Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Claudia Schiffer, Lisa Taylor, Paulina Porizkova, Carolyn Murphy, and Patti Hansen, and appeared in a solo U.S. Vogue cover in December. Bündchen won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year in 1999. After Bündchen appeared in five major campaigns at age 18, New York magazine editor Sally Singer deemed her an "über" model. She became the fourth model to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" in 2000. In 2000, Vogues online encyclopedia of models called Bündchen the world's hottest model and called Bündchen "the Brazilian bombshell".
2000–2009: Modelling breakthrough, international success, and acting debut
In 2000, Bündchen appeared on 37 international Vogue covers, including three in the American edition. In January 2000, Bündchen was featured on the covers of the U.S. and British editions of Vogue. For spring 2000 fashion week, she opened shows for Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior, and Valentino in New York, Milan and Paris. From 1998 to 2003, Bündchen was in 11 consecutive Dolce & Gabbana fashion campaigns. From 2006 to 2009 she became the face of Dolce & Gabbana's fragrance "The One". Bündchen retired from the runway after signing a five-year contract with Victoria's Secret.
In 2000, Bündchen wore Victoria's Secret's Red Hot Fantasy Bra worth $15 million and listed in Guinness World Records as the most expensive lingerie ever created. Bündchen modeled the Sexy Splendor Fantasy Bra in 2005, the second-most expensive bra valued at $12.5 million.
In 2004, she appeared on a group U.S. Vogue cover, with Daria Werbowy, Natalia Vodianova, Isabeli Fontana, Karolina Kurkova, Liya Kebede, Hana Soukupova, Gemma Ward, and Karen Elson. Bündchen appeared on the covers of W, Allure, GQ, Forbes, Marie Claire, TIME, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and in the Pirelli Calendar.
Bündchen co-starred with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon in the 2004 remake of Taxi, and Bündchen played Serena in The Devil Wears Prada in 2006. In 2007, Mario Testino photographed Bündchen for the cover of Vanity Fairs style issue. In 2008, she appeared on the controversial cover of Vogue with NBA player LeBron James. The cover was criticized for perpetuating racial stereotypes after James bared his teeth in a gorilla-type pose.
Forbes listed Bündchen as No. 53 on their 2007 list of the most powerful celebrities. In 2010, Bündchen's flip-flop line for Ipanema sold more than 250 pairs for an estimated $197 million. In May 2007, Bündchen ended her contract with Victoria's Secret. In her memoir, "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life," Bündchen said she left Victoria's Secret because she was uncomfortable being photographed in lingerie. In August 2008, the New York Daily News named Bündchen as the one of the most powerful people in the fashion world.
2009–2011: Continued success
The Independent referred to Bündchen the biggest star in fashion history in May 2009. In April 2010, Bündchen appeared on the cover of American Vogue for the 11th time. Bündchen closed Balenciaga's 2010 show in a surprise appearance. In 2011, CEOWorld Magazine ranked Bündchen among their Top Accomplished Women Entertainers. She was ranked No. 95 in FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011. In 2007, Bündchen was named by Forbes as the World's Richest Supermodel. On April 11, 2008, a black-and-white photo of Bündchen shot by Irving Penn was auctioned for $193,000.
By 2010, Bündchen had appeared on two Vogue Shape issue covers, more than any other celebrity or model. She ranked No. 45 in the 2011 FHM Australia list of 100 Sexiest Women in the World. In 2011, Men's Health named Bündchen as No. 25 of the 100 Hottest Women of All Time. Bündchen closed the 2011 Givenchy spring-summer fashion show in a surprise appearance during Paris Fashion Week. That year, Bündchen launched eco-friendly Sejaa Pure Skincare, a skin care product line using all-natural ingredients.
She appeared on eight Vogue covers in 2011, more than any other model or celebrity that year. Her July Vogue Brasil 2011 cover that was shot in the Amazon sold 70,743 copies, making it the magazine's highest-selling issue. In early 2011, Procter & Gamble's Pantene shampoo sales increased 40 percent in Latin America after Bündchen started representing the product.
2012–present: Modelling campaigns and music endeavors
In spring 2012, Bündchen was featured in three spring campaigns, Versace, Givenchy, and Salvatore Ferragamo. She became the face of Banco do Brasil's first global ad campaign in 2012.
In April 2012, Time listed Bündchen on its All-TIME 100 Fashion Icons list, which highlighted the most influential fashion icons since 1923. Vogue included Bündchen in its spotlight of the 10 women who had most appeared on its covers to honor the magazine's 120th anniversary in August 2012.
Bündchen made 5,600 appearances in commercials in Brazil in 2012. She replaced Kate Moss as the face of David Yurman in August 2012. She was photographed by Peter Lindbergh for the fall 2012 campaign. By 2012, Bündchen had appeared on 120 Vogue covers. She holds the record for appearing on the most Vogue Brasil covers.
In February 2013, Bündchen became the face of Chanel's make-up line, Les Beiges. The campaign was photographed by Mario Testino. For Louis Vuitton's spring/summer 2014 campaign, Marc Jacobs chose Bündchen, Catherine Deneuve, Sofia Coppola, Fan Bingbing, Caroline de Maigret and Edie Campbell as his muses. In December 2013, Bündchen became Pantene's ambassador, a deal worth $4 million per year.
Bündchen released a cover of the Kinks "All Day and All of the Night" as a contribution to H&M's 2013 charity campaign. She contributed to H&M's 2014 charity campaign by teaming with French music producer and DJ Bob Sinclar to record a cover of Blondie's 1979 classic "Heart of Glass", on which she was credited as Gisele. The single charted in France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Belgium.
In May 2014, Bündchen was chosen as the spokeswoman for Chanel No. 5. Within the first quarter of 2014, Bündchen appeared on 17 international editions of Elle, including the Brazilian, German, Italian, Canadian, Japanese and Chinese editions. Under Armour signed Bündchen to a multiyear deal in September 2014. In 2014 and 2015, Bündchen appeared in more television commercial spots than any other Brazilian celebrity in the course of one year in Brazil.
Bündchen was featured in the 2015 Guinness World Record book as the model who earned the most money from June 2014 to June 2015.
Bündchen's $700 Taschen book released in celebration of her 20th year career sold out in one day.
By 2015, Bündchen appeared in more than 550 ad campaigns, 2000 magazine covers, 3500 magazine editorials and 800 fashion shows.
Bündchen appeared at the Maracanã Stadium at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on 5 August 2016.
Forbes ranked Bündchen No. 61 on its Most Powerful Celebrities list in 2012.
Forbes ranked her fourth on the World's Most Powerful Latino Celebrity list in May 2012. In 2013, she ranked No. 5 on the Forbes 10 Most Powerful Businesswomen in Brazil.
In 2013, Bündchen's Ipanema sandals sold about 25 million pairs annually and accounted for more than 60 percent of shoe manufacturer Grendene's annual exports of about $250 million.
In 2014, Bündchen signed a contract with Under Armour, which is reportedly on par with the endorsement compensations of professional athletes and exceeds her former Victoria's Secret contract. In 2016, Under Armour's CEO Kevin Plank said sales for the company's women's brand had increased because of its association with Bündchen.
In 2018, Gisele released her book called Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life, which was a New York Times bestseller and was the best selling book for over six months in the non-fiction category in Brazil. The proceeds from her book went to support social and environmental causes.
In February 2021, it was reported that Bündchen was leaving IMG Models after 22 years and that her twin sister, Patricia would be taking over as her manager.
Public image
In September 2000, Newsweek reported on a survey conducted by Brazilian magazine Capricho, where 86 percent of Brazilian teenagers said they wanted to become fashion models. Capricho attributed the interest in modelling to Bündchen.
By 2014, Bündchen was listed by Forbes as the 89th most powerful woman in the world.
Forbes Brasil listed Bündchen as the No. 2 biggest Brazilian celebrity of 2015 based on media presence and influence in Brazil.
In a 2006 Elle survey, more than 50 percent of American stylists asked gave Bündchen the title of the best hair in Hollywood. A February 2008 survey of more than 20,000 plastic surgeons in 84 countries revealed Bündchen was the celebrity most mentioned for patients having work done on their abdomens and hair, and the second-most mentioned celebrity in the breasts category.
Bündchen was second on Vanity Fairs World's Most Beautiful poll in 2009.
In January 2011, Bündchen's was the most desired female body on the 14th Annual Famed Hottest Looks survey. In 2011, Bündchen was one of three women to make AskMen.com's annual "Most Desirable Women" list every year for 10 consecutive years.
Bündchen is ranked No. 4 on Forbes Brasils list of the 100 most influential Brazilian celebrities.
In May 2014, Bündchen was ranked No. 89 on Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the world, the only model on the list.
In November 2014, Forbes Brasil ranked Bündchen fifth of the 25 biggest celebrities in Brazil, moving her up to second in 2015.
Vogue Italia called Bündchen the "King Midas of fashion" in February 2012, saying companies that invest in her reap the awards of her representation. An Esprit public awareness campaign featuring Bündchen helped raise consumer awareness 9 percent in Germany and 19 percent in China.
In 2016, Bündchen participated in The Beginning of Life, a documentary about "the crucial role that the early years of children’s lives play in determining their futures successes".
Philanthropy
Since the 2000s, Bündchen's main focus has been social and environmental causes. She has also supported the Breast Cancer Campaign to educate women on how to perform a breast self-exam.
Charitable activities
Bündchen donated $150,000 to Brazil's Zero Hunger program. She designed a limited necklace edition for Harper's Bazaar, crafted by jewelers Gumuchian Fils, which were sold to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
An iPod autographed by Bündchen and loaded with her personal playlist was auctioned, and proceeds were donated to Music Rising, a campaign founded in 2005, to replace lost or destroyed instruments of musicians in the Gulf Coast Region after hurricane disasters.
Bündchen became the face of American Express's Product Red-affiliated card in 2006. A portion of earnings from the credit card are donated to HIV/AIDS victims in Africa. In the same year she took part in the I am African fundraising campaign to make AIDS treatment accessible to all of Africa. In 2009, she appeared on 30 covers of the international issues of Elle wearing Product Red clothing and posing with products from companies that support its mission.
Bündchen started The Luz Foundation in 2007, a project to empower girls and help them deal with self-esteem issues.
In 2008, Bündchen auctioned a collection of diamonds to benefit the Diamond Empowerment Fund, a nonprofit organization to education initiatives in countries where diamonds are a natural resource. The collection featured the Ponahalo Diamonds which were valued at $2 million to $4 million, a 6-carat diamond ring worth $120,000–$150,000 and a 3.35-carat Sabbadini diamond ring worth $15,000–$20,000. In 2010, she donated $1.5 million to the Red Cross to aid the relief effort in Haiti after seeing the devastation done by the earthquake. The donation put Bündchen tied for 14th on The Giving Back Fund's list of 30 celebrities who made the largest donations to charity in 2011.
In 2010, together with former president Bill Clinton, Bündchen joined the event that partnered Pantene and the Children's Safe Drinking Water Program to provide clean water to people in need. Bündchen and Indonesian singer-songwriter Anggun announced the kick-off of the Healthy Hair for Healthy Water program at P&G's reception that was held in conjunction with the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Bündchen also attended the Brazil Foundation's 8th Annual Gala to raise funds for fighting challenges faced by poor communities in Brazil. Bündchen created an exclusive design for SIGG water bottles, with proceeds going to WaterCan NGO, a humanitarian organization in Canada that provides the poorest people in the world access to clean water, toilets, and information on hygiene.
In 2020, Bündchen formed the Luz Alliance fund in partnership with the Brazil Foundation with a donation of 1,000,000 reals. The fund supports the purchase of hygiene kits, food, and financial assistance to families in Brazil through eight different charitable organizations and emergency-response efforts to offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bündchen, along with her husband Brady, partnered with Wheels Up to donate 10 million meals to Feeding America for their "Meals Up" initiative and helped fund thousands of meals for Feeding Tampa Bay and The Greater Boston Food Bank to alleviate food insecurity. Bündchen also partnered with the "All in Challenge" by donated an experience with her at a photo shoot in New York, with all proceeds going to Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry.
Environmental work
In 2004, after visiting an Amerindian tribe at the Xingu region in Brazil and seeing firsthand the problems those communities were facing due to water pollution and deforestation, Bündchen decided she had to do something to help bring attention to social and environmental issues. She advocated for the cause and through the years she has supported different projects, especially forest and water related projects in the Amazon rainforest and Atlantic Forest.
In 2007, she signed a "Hotter than I Should Be" T-shirt that was auctioned on eBay for the World Wide Fund for Nature to support the charity's campaign to raise awareness about the causes and impacts of climate change.
Bündchen returned to her hometown of Horizontina in 2008 and with her family launched Projeto Água Limpa (Clean Water Project), which implements sustainable environmental management and promotes the recovery of riparian vegetation and the micro basins of the region. More than one million trees were planted in Bündchen's name following her 2008 American Photo cover to promote Forests of the Future, a project to assist in the reforestation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
In May 2009, Bündchen co-hosted the annual gala of the Rainforest Alliance to honor leaders in sustainability. In May 2011, Bündchen received the Global Environmental Citizen Award in recognition of her eco-efforts. In November 2011, she was awarded Greenest Celebrity at the 2011 International Green awards at the Natural History Museum, London.
Bündchen donates proceeds from the sales from her Ipanema sandals to a different charity each year. Starting in 2006, Bündchen dedicated a percentage of the sales of her line of sandals to environmental projects including "Y Ikatu Xingu", meaning "Save the Good Water of Xingu", the project aimed to recover and protect springs and headwaters of the Xingu River in Brazil. In 2007, she supported World Wildlife Fund project "Nascentes do Brasil" and "De olho nos manaciais" from ISA. In 2008, the project supported was "Florestas do futuro" from SOS Mata Atlantica, a reforestation program for recovery of native species, which contributes to water conservation and biodiversity. A forest was named after her, the Gisele Bündchen Forest, where more than 25000 seedlings of 100 different tree species were planted in her honor, which recovered more than 15 hectares of Atlantic Forest. In 2011, the donation went to the Socio-Environmental Institute. In 2009, she also helped the "Tamar Project", a research initiative and environmental protection of the five species of sea turtles along the Brazilian coast.
In 2012, Bündchen planted a sapling of Sapucaia tree during her visit to Green Nation Fest, an event that occurs every year during the Environment Week and, that year, prior to the realization of Rio +20. Over the years Bündchen participated in several United Nations campaigns to fight against climate change. She participated in challenges on World Environment Day to mobilize people to take action in helping protect the forest, the wildlife, the green economy and to encourage people to reduce their food waste. Bündchen attended Champions of the Earth and Equator Prize ceremonies multiples times.
In 2013, Bündchen supported the United Nations campaign against food waste, THINK.EAT.SAVE. Bündchen and chef Eric Ripert participated in the Today Show program where they showed that it is possible to cook more efficiently.
Bündchen and her husband promote the Earth Hour global movement, a symbolic act promoted worldwide by the World Wildlife Foundation in which governments, companies, and people demonstrate concern for the environment, turning off their lights for sixty minutes.
In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors. Later that year she attended, as a guest of honor the spring annual gala, a ceremony that recognized the industry champions that have sustainability as a priority. In 2014 Bündchen supported the SOKO + The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women partnership to support the financial and physical security of women and girls around the world. SOKO artisans in Kenya created a pair of handmade bracelets to raise awareness for the fund. Bündchen had her work in the defense of the environment recognized and was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Since then, Bündchen has helped UNEP in the mission of raising awareness and inspiring action to protect the environment.
In 2016, she joined the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously as one of its celebrity correspondents.
In addition to using her social networks to share information about different subjects related to the importance of preserving all forms of life, Bündchen also attended a meeting to discuss the matter at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, which happened on the World Wildlife Day in 2016. The date was celebrated with the theme "Wildlife Future is in Our Hands". She also participated in the Wild For Life campaign against the illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife, including the campaign that won the People's Choice Award in the green category of 2019 Webby Awards.
In 2019, Bündchen executive produced a documentary entitled Kiss the Ground. The feature focuses on a group of activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians who band together in a global movement of "Regenerative Agriculture" to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. The film features Bündchen alongside Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, Patricia Arquette, David Arquette, Tom Brady, and Jason Mraz. The documentary premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. In 2020 on her birthday Bündchen launched the Viva a Vida initiative and donated funds to plant 40,000 trees along the Xingu and Araguaia River in Brazil.
Goodwill ambassador
Bündchen and her husband, Tom Brady, served Thanksgiving dinner to more than 400 job trainees at Goodwill Industries International's headquarters in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in November 2008.
In September 2009, Bündchen was designated Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. She made her first visit to Africa as UNEP Goodwill Ambassador in January 2012.
In January 2012, Bündchen visited Kenya to experience the reality of energy poverty as part of the Energy for All 2030 project. On the eve of World Environment Day in June 2012, Bündchen, planted the first of a series of 50,000 trees in Rio de Janeiro. In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors.
Personal life
From 2000 to 2005, Bündchen was in a relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2004, Bündchen and DiCaprio made Peoples annual Most Beautiful Couples List. After experiencing a period of depression, Bündchen decided to end her relationship with DiCaprio after she felt their lifestyles no longer complemented, saying in her memoir Lessons, "[...] I was becoming more and more aware of things that I'd chosen not to look at. Was I alone in wanting to do some serious soul-searching while he stayed the same? In the end, unfortunately, the answer was yes."
In December 2006, Bündchen began dating NFL quarterback Tom Brady, after a mutual friend introduced them on a blind date. The couple married on 26 February 2009 in a small ceremony at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California. In April 2009, the couple had a second marriage ceremony, in Costa Rica. Bündchen and Brady have two children: son Benjamin Rein (born 2009), and daughter Vivian Lake (born 2012). She is the stepmother of Brady's first son (born 2007) from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan. Bündchen and Brady are Roman Catholics.
Bündchen practices Transcendental Meditation. She and her family adhere to a primarily plant-based diet developed by their personal chef Allen Campbell. They have lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, when Tom Brady played for the New England Patriots, and reside part-time in New York City. They have since moved to Tampa, Florida, after Brady went to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In December 2020, the couple reportedly bought a home in Indian Creek, Florida.
Wealth
In August 2011, Bündchen ranked 60th on the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. At age 31, she ranked third on The 20 Youngest Power Women of 2011 List. In 2011, Forbes named Bündchen and Brady as the World's Highest-Paid Celebrity couple. In August 2012, Bündchen was one of four people in the fashion industry and the only model to be ranked on the Forbes list of "The World's Most Powerful Women", at No. 83. She ranked eighth in the top 10 of the Forbes list of "Entertainment's Highest-Paid Women" in 2012.
Forbes ranked Bündchen as the world's top-earning model for the fifth consecutive time in May 2011. Bündchen disputed the number used by Forbes, telling Brazilian website MdeMulher that the inflated estimates have made her a subject of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service. In 2013, Bündchen ranked third on the 16 Most Successful Female Entrepreneurs list by Forbes. Forbes estimated Bündchen's 2016 income at $30.5 million. Bündchen was the highest-paid model in the world from 2002 to 2017.
Filmography
Discography
Singles
Music videos
Awards and nominations
See also
List of Brazilians
References
External links
Voguepedia
1980 births
Living people
Brazilian bloggers
Brazilian expatriates in the United States
Brazilian environmentalists
Brazilian women environmentalists
Brazilian female models
Brazilian people of German descent
Brazilian models of German descent
Breastfeeding activists
Brazilian Roman Catholics
Environmental bloggers
IMG Models models
People from Rio Grande do Sul
Victoria's Secret
Women bloggers
Twin models
Brazilian health activists
Victoria's Secret Angels
American footballers' wives and girlfriends
Brazilian women activists
The Lions (agency) models
Tom Brady | false | [
"\"If You Can Do Anything Else\" is a song written by Billy Livsey and Don Schlitz, and recorded by American country music artist George Strait. It was released in February 2001 as the third and final single from his self-titled album. The song reached number 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in July 2001. It also peaked at number 51 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.\n\nContent\nThe song is about man who is giving his woman the option to leave him. He gives her many different options for all the things she can do. At the end he gives her the option to stay with him if she really can’t find anything else to do. He says he will be alright if she leaves, but really it seems he wants her to stay.\n\nChart performance\n\"If You Can Do Anything Else\" debuted at number 60 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of March 3, 2001.\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n2001 singles\n2000 songs\nGeorge Strait songs\nSongs written by Billy Livsey\nSongs written by Don Schlitz\nSong recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer)\nMCA Nashville Records singles",
"Lorraine Crosby (born 27 November 1960) is an English singer and songwriter. She was the female vocalist on Meat Loaf's 1993 hit single \"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)\". Her debut album, Mrs Loud was released in 2008.\n\nEarly life\nCrosby was born in Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne. Her father died in a road accident when his car collided with a bus when she was two years old, leaving her mother to raise Lorraine, her two sisters, and one brother. She attended Walker Comprehensive school. She sang in school and church choirs and played the violin in the orchestra, but did not start singing professionally until she was 20.\n\nWork with Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman\nInspired by Tina Turner, Crosby searched the noticeboard for bands wanting singers at the guitar shop Rock City in Newcastle. After joining several bands she set up a five-piece cabaret band which toured extensively, playing to British and American servicemen throughout the early 1980s.\n\nBack in Newcastle, she met Stuart Emerson, who was looking for a singer for his band. They began writing together, and also became a couple. In the early 1990s, Crosby sent songwriter and producer Jim Steinman some demos of songs she had written with Emerson. Steinman asked to meet them so they decided to move to New York. They then followed Steinman after he moved to Los Angeles. Steinman became their manager and secured them a contract with Meat Loaf's recording label MCA. While visiting the label's recording studios on Sunset Boulevard, Crosby was asked to provide guide vocals for Meat Loaf, who was recording the song \"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)\". Cher, Melissa Etheridge and Bonnie Tyler were considered for the role. The song was a commercial success, becoming number one in 28 countries. However, as Crosby had recorded her part as guide vocals, she did not receive any payment for the recording but she receives royalties from PRS, and so the credit \"Mrs. Loud\" was used on the album. Also, Crosby did not appear in the Michael Bay-directed music video, where model Dana Patrick mimed her vocals. Meat Loaf promoted the single with American vocalist Patti Russo performing the live female vocals of this song at his promotional appearances and concerts. Crosby also sang additional and backing vocals on the songs \"Life Is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back\", \"Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are\", and \"Everything Louder Than Everything Else\" from the album Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell. On these three selections, she was credited under her real name rather than the alias of Mrs. Loud.\n\nSolo work\nCrosby regularly performed at holiday camps and social clubs in England until April 2005 when she took a break from live work.\n\nIn 2005, she sang a duet with Bonnie Tyler for the track \"I'll Stand by You\" from the album Wings. The song was written and composed by Stuart Emerson about Crosby's and Tyler's relationship. Also in 2005, Crosby appeared as a contestant on ITV's The X Factor. She performed \"You've Got a Friend\" and progressed to the second round after impressing judges Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne but Simon Cowell expressed doubt saying she \"lacked star quality.\"\n\nCrosby returned to live performances in April 2007. In November 2007, she appeared on the BBC Three television show Most Annoying Pop Songs We Hate to Love discussing the Meat Loaf track \"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)\" which featured at No. 76.\n\nIn November 2008, Crosby appeared at Newcastle City Hall with special guest Bonnie Tyler to launch her self-produced album entitled Mrs Loud. The concert was later repeated in March 2011. In April 2009, she was also featured on The Justin Lee Collins Show and performed a duet with Justin, singing the Meat Loaf song \"Dead Ringer for Love\". She also performed \"I'd Do Anything for Love\" with Tim Healy for Sunday for Sammy in 2012.\n\nCrosby performs in cabaret shows with her band along with her partner Stuart Emerson.\n\nCrosby appeared in the first round of BBC's second series of The Voice on 6 April 2013. She failed to progress when she was rejected by all four coaches.\n\nOther work\nIn the mid-1990s, Crosby appeared as an extra in several television series episodes.\n\nIn 2019, she joined Steve Steinman Productions in the show Steve Steinman's Anything for Love which toured the UK during 2019 and 2020, performing hits such as \"Good Girls Go to Heaven\", \"Holding Out for a Hero\" and dueting with Steinman on \"What About Love\" and \"I'd Do Anything for Love\", amongst others.\n\nIn 2020, she released a duet with Bonnie Tyler, \"Through Thick and Thin (I'll Stand by You)\" as a charity single in aid of the charity Teenage Cancer Trust.\n\nDiscography\nCrosby has provided backing vocals on Bonnie Tyler's albums Free Spirit (1995) and Wings (2005).\n\nStudio albums\n Mrs Loud (2008)\n\nSingles\n \"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)\" (with Meat Loaf) (1993)\n \"Through Thick and Thin (I'll Stand by You)\" (with Bonnie Tyler) (2020)\n\nOther recordings\n \"I'll Stand by You\" (with Bonnie Tyler) (2005)\n \"Double Take\" (with Frankie Miller) (2018)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\n1960 births\nLiving people\nPeople from Newcastle upon Tyne (district)\nThe Voice UK contestants\n21st-century English women singers"
]
|
[
"Gisele Bündchen",
"1997-2000: Career beginnings",
"What happened to Gisele Bundchen in her career beginnings?",
"Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows.",
"Did she get a role in either of those shows?",
"She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 \"rain\" ready-to-wear show.",
"How well did that show go?",
"I don't know.",
"What else happened during her career beginnings?",
"As the year 2000 approached, Gisele Bundchen was the world's hottest model, opening up a new category in the popular imagination: the Brazilian bombshell.\"",
"Did her fame keep rising?",
"She won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and a January 2000 cover gave her three consecutive Vogue covers.",
"Did she do anything else along with that?",
"Bundchen has appeared on the covers of many top fashion magazines, including W, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Allure, as well as style and lifestyle publications"
]
| C_e6582aeda7d44f54b6d7d722a705480a_1 | Is there anything else important that you would like to share about the start of her career? | 7 | Aside from Alexander McQueen's Spring 1998 "Rain" ready-to-wear show, winning the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and getting three consecutive Vogue covers, is there anything else important that you would like to share about the start of Gisele Bündchen's career? | Gisele Bündchen | Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows. She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 "rain" ready-to-wear show. Echoing similar accolades for Elle Macpherson a decade earlier, McQueen dubbed Bundchen "the Body", immediately boosting her bookings. In 1998, she posed for Missoni, Chloe, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferre, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She made the cover of the French edition of Vogue, and fashion magazine i-D featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele." The Vogue online encyclopedia of models states, "As the year 2000 approached, Gisele Bundchen was the world's hottest model, opening up a new category in the popular imagination: the Brazilian bombshell." She appeared on the cover of Vogue in July, November and December 1999. She won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and a January 2000 cover gave her three consecutive Vogue covers. In 2000, she became the fourth model to appear on the cover of the music magazine Rolling Stone when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Bundchen has appeared on the covers of many top fashion magazines, including W, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Allure, as well as style and lifestyle publications such as The Face, Arena, Citizen K, Flair, GQ, Esquire, and Marie Claire, and in the Pirelli Calendar in 2001 and 2006. She has also been seen in TIME, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Newsweek, and Veja. Bundchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers throughout the world. She simultaneously featured on the covers of both the US and British editions of Vogue in January 2000. Take the case of 18-year-old Gisele Bundchen, a.k.a. Gisele, fashion's new uber- (not super-) model. Gisele is currently shooting five massive advertising campaigns, starring on the cover of W, and playing the muse to t/bersnappers Steven Meisel and Mario Testino. In short, Gisele is huge. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Gisele Caroline Bündchen (, , born 20 July 1980) is a Brazilian fashion model. Since 2001, she has been one of the highest-paid models in the world. In 2007, Bündchen was the 16th richest woman in the entertainment industry and earned the top spot on Forbes top-earning models list in 2012. In 2014, she was listed as the 89th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes.
Vogue credited Bündchen with ending the heroin chic era of modelling in 1999. Bündchen was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 until 2006. She is credited with pioneering and popularizing the horse walk, a stomping movement created by a model lifting her knees high and kicking her feet to step. In 2007, Claudia Schiffer called Bündchen the only remaining supermodel. Bündchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers.
Bündchen was nominated for Choice Movie Female Breakout Star and for Choice Movie Villain at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards for her supporting role in Taxi (2004). She had a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and was the executive producer of an educational environmental cartoon, Gisele & the Green Team, in 2010 to 2011.
In 2016, she appeared in the Emmy award-winning documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, in the episode "Fueling the Fire".
Bündchen's charitable endeavors include Save the Children, Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program since 2009.
Family and early life
Born in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, Bündchen is a sixth-generation German Brazilian, born to Vânia (née Nonnenmacher), a bank clerk pensioner, and Valdir Bündchen, a sociologist and writer. Her grandfather, Walter Bündchen, once served as mayor of Horizontina. She grew up with five sisters, Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela and her fraternal twin, Patrícia. The family was Roman Catholic. Although her parents speak German and Bündchen learned German in school, she no longer speaks the language. Bündchen speaks Portuguese, English, Italian, Spanish and French.
Bündchen aspired to be a volleyball player, but in 1993 her mother enrolled her and sisters Patrícia and Gabriela in a modelling course to teach them confidence and better posture. After the course ended, the girls were rewarded by a trip to Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where she was discovered by Elite Model Management at a shopping mall. Bündchen was placed second in a national contest, Elite Model Look, that was then known as Look of the Year. In 1995, Bündchen moved to São Paulo to launch her modelling career. She debuted at New York Fashion Week in 1996.
Career
1997–2000: Career beginnings
In 1997, Bündchen was rejected 42 times in London before being cast in an Alexander McQueen runway show in 1998. In 1998, Bündchen posed for Missoni, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferré, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She appeared on the cover of Vogue Paris, her first cover of British Vogue, and i-D, which featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele". Dissatisfied with Elite Model Management's work environment, Bündchen signed with IMG Models in 1999.
Bündchen's first U.S Vogue cover, where Vogue announced Bündchen was "the return of the sexy model", was the first of three Vogue covers for her in 1999. In November she appeared in a group Vogue cover with Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Christy Turlington, Iman, Lauren Hutton, Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Claudia Schiffer, Lisa Taylor, Paulina Porizkova, Carolyn Murphy, and Patti Hansen, and appeared in a solo U.S. Vogue cover in December. Bündchen won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year in 1999. After Bündchen appeared in five major campaigns at age 18, New York magazine editor Sally Singer deemed her an "über" model. She became the fourth model to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" in 2000. In 2000, Vogues online encyclopedia of models called Bündchen the world's hottest model and called Bündchen "the Brazilian bombshell".
2000–2009: Modelling breakthrough, international success, and acting debut
In 2000, Bündchen appeared on 37 international Vogue covers, including three in the American edition. In January 2000, Bündchen was featured on the covers of the U.S. and British editions of Vogue. For spring 2000 fashion week, she opened shows for Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior, and Valentino in New York, Milan and Paris. From 1998 to 2003, Bündchen was in 11 consecutive Dolce & Gabbana fashion campaigns. From 2006 to 2009 she became the face of Dolce & Gabbana's fragrance "The One". Bündchen retired from the runway after signing a five-year contract with Victoria's Secret.
In 2000, Bündchen wore Victoria's Secret's Red Hot Fantasy Bra worth $15 million and listed in Guinness World Records as the most expensive lingerie ever created. Bündchen modeled the Sexy Splendor Fantasy Bra in 2005, the second-most expensive bra valued at $12.5 million.
In 2004, she appeared on a group U.S. Vogue cover, with Daria Werbowy, Natalia Vodianova, Isabeli Fontana, Karolina Kurkova, Liya Kebede, Hana Soukupova, Gemma Ward, and Karen Elson. Bündchen appeared on the covers of W, Allure, GQ, Forbes, Marie Claire, TIME, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and in the Pirelli Calendar.
Bündchen co-starred with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon in the 2004 remake of Taxi, and Bündchen played Serena in The Devil Wears Prada in 2006. In 2007, Mario Testino photographed Bündchen for the cover of Vanity Fairs style issue. In 2008, she appeared on the controversial cover of Vogue with NBA player LeBron James. The cover was criticized for perpetuating racial stereotypes after James bared his teeth in a gorilla-type pose.
Forbes listed Bündchen as No. 53 on their 2007 list of the most powerful celebrities. In 2010, Bündchen's flip-flop line for Ipanema sold more than 250 pairs for an estimated $197 million. In May 2007, Bündchen ended her contract with Victoria's Secret. In her memoir, "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life," Bündchen said she left Victoria's Secret because she was uncomfortable being photographed in lingerie. In August 2008, the New York Daily News named Bündchen as the one of the most powerful people in the fashion world.
2009–2011: Continued success
The Independent referred to Bündchen the biggest star in fashion history in May 2009. In April 2010, Bündchen appeared on the cover of American Vogue for the 11th time. Bündchen closed Balenciaga's 2010 show in a surprise appearance. In 2011, CEOWorld Magazine ranked Bündchen among their Top Accomplished Women Entertainers. She was ranked No. 95 in FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011. In 2007, Bündchen was named by Forbes as the World's Richest Supermodel. On April 11, 2008, a black-and-white photo of Bündchen shot by Irving Penn was auctioned for $193,000.
By 2010, Bündchen had appeared on two Vogue Shape issue covers, more than any other celebrity or model. She ranked No. 45 in the 2011 FHM Australia list of 100 Sexiest Women in the World. In 2011, Men's Health named Bündchen as No. 25 of the 100 Hottest Women of All Time. Bündchen closed the 2011 Givenchy spring-summer fashion show in a surprise appearance during Paris Fashion Week. That year, Bündchen launched eco-friendly Sejaa Pure Skincare, a skin care product line using all-natural ingredients.
She appeared on eight Vogue covers in 2011, more than any other model or celebrity that year. Her July Vogue Brasil 2011 cover that was shot in the Amazon sold 70,743 copies, making it the magazine's highest-selling issue. In early 2011, Procter & Gamble's Pantene shampoo sales increased 40 percent in Latin America after Bündchen started representing the product.
2012–present: Modelling campaigns and music endeavors
In spring 2012, Bündchen was featured in three spring campaigns, Versace, Givenchy, and Salvatore Ferragamo. She became the face of Banco do Brasil's first global ad campaign in 2012.
In April 2012, Time listed Bündchen on its All-TIME 100 Fashion Icons list, which highlighted the most influential fashion icons since 1923. Vogue included Bündchen in its spotlight of the 10 women who had most appeared on its covers to honor the magazine's 120th anniversary in August 2012.
Bündchen made 5,600 appearances in commercials in Brazil in 2012. She replaced Kate Moss as the face of David Yurman in August 2012. She was photographed by Peter Lindbergh for the fall 2012 campaign. By 2012, Bündchen had appeared on 120 Vogue covers. She holds the record for appearing on the most Vogue Brasil covers.
In February 2013, Bündchen became the face of Chanel's make-up line, Les Beiges. The campaign was photographed by Mario Testino. For Louis Vuitton's spring/summer 2014 campaign, Marc Jacobs chose Bündchen, Catherine Deneuve, Sofia Coppola, Fan Bingbing, Caroline de Maigret and Edie Campbell as his muses. In December 2013, Bündchen became Pantene's ambassador, a deal worth $4 million per year.
Bündchen released a cover of the Kinks "All Day and All of the Night" as a contribution to H&M's 2013 charity campaign. She contributed to H&M's 2014 charity campaign by teaming with French music producer and DJ Bob Sinclar to record a cover of Blondie's 1979 classic "Heart of Glass", on which she was credited as Gisele. The single charted in France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Belgium.
In May 2014, Bündchen was chosen as the spokeswoman for Chanel No. 5. Within the first quarter of 2014, Bündchen appeared on 17 international editions of Elle, including the Brazilian, German, Italian, Canadian, Japanese and Chinese editions. Under Armour signed Bündchen to a multiyear deal in September 2014. In 2014 and 2015, Bündchen appeared in more television commercial spots than any other Brazilian celebrity in the course of one year in Brazil.
Bündchen was featured in the 2015 Guinness World Record book as the model who earned the most money from June 2014 to June 2015.
Bündchen's $700 Taschen book released in celebration of her 20th year career sold out in one day.
By 2015, Bündchen appeared in more than 550 ad campaigns, 2000 magazine covers, 3500 magazine editorials and 800 fashion shows.
Bündchen appeared at the Maracanã Stadium at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on 5 August 2016.
Forbes ranked Bündchen No. 61 on its Most Powerful Celebrities list in 2012.
Forbes ranked her fourth on the World's Most Powerful Latino Celebrity list in May 2012. In 2013, she ranked No. 5 on the Forbes 10 Most Powerful Businesswomen in Brazil.
In 2013, Bündchen's Ipanema sandals sold about 25 million pairs annually and accounted for more than 60 percent of shoe manufacturer Grendene's annual exports of about $250 million.
In 2014, Bündchen signed a contract with Under Armour, which is reportedly on par with the endorsement compensations of professional athletes and exceeds her former Victoria's Secret contract. In 2016, Under Armour's CEO Kevin Plank said sales for the company's women's brand had increased because of its association with Bündchen.
In 2018, Gisele released her book called Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life, which was a New York Times bestseller and was the best selling book for over six months in the non-fiction category in Brazil. The proceeds from her book went to support social and environmental causes.
In February 2021, it was reported that Bündchen was leaving IMG Models after 22 years and that her twin sister, Patricia would be taking over as her manager.
Public image
In September 2000, Newsweek reported on a survey conducted by Brazilian magazine Capricho, where 86 percent of Brazilian teenagers said they wanted to become fashion models. Capricho attributed the interest in modelling to Bündchen.
By 2014, Bündchen was listed by Forbes as the 89th most powerful woman in the world.
Forbes Brasil listed Bündchen as the No. 2 biggest Brazilian celebrity of 2015 based on media presence and influence in Brazil.
In a 2006 Elle survey, more than 50 percent of American stylists asked gave Bündchen the title of the best hair in Hollywood. A February 2008 survey of more than 20,000 plastic surgeons in 84 countries revealed Bündchen was the celebrity most mentioned for patients having work done on their abdomens and hair, and the second-most mentioned celebrity in the breasts category.
Bündchen was second on Vanity Fairs World's Most Beautiful poll in 2009.
In January 2011, Bündchen's was the most desired female body on the 14th Annual Famed Hottest Looks survey. In 2011, Bündchen was one of three women to make AskMen.com's annual "Most Desirable Women" list every year for 10 consecutive years.
Bündchen is ranked No. 4 on Forbes Brasils list of the 100 most influential Brazilian celebrities.
In May 2014, Bündchen was ranked No. 89 on Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the world, the only model on the list.
In November 2014, Forbes Brasil ranked Bündchen fifth of the 25 biggest celebrities in Brazil, moving her up to second in 2015.
Vogue Italia called Bündchen the "King Midas of fashion" in February 2012, saying companies that invest in her reap the awards of her representation. An Esprit public awareness campaign featuring Bündchen helped raise consumer awareness 9 percent in Germany and 19 percent in China.
In 2016, Bündchen participated in The Beginning of Life, a documentary about "the crucial role that the early years of children’s lives play in determining their futures successes".
Philanthropy
Since the 2000s, Bündchen's main focus has been social and environmental causes. She has also supported the Breast Cancer Campaign to educate women on how to perform a breast self-exam.
Charitable activities
Bündchen donated $150,000 to Brazil's Zero Hunger program. She designed a limited necklace edition for Harper's Bazaar, crafted by jewelers Gumuchian Fils, which were sold to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
An iPod autographed by Bündchen and loaded with her personal playlist was auctioned, and proceeds were donated to Music Rising, a campaign founded in 2005, to replace lost or destroyed instruments of musicians in the Gulf Coast Region after hurricane disasters.
Bündchen became the face of American Express's Product Red-affiliated card in 2006. A portion of earnings from the credit card are donated to HIV/AIDS victims in Africa. In the same year she took part in the I am African fundraising campaign to make AIDS treatment accessible to all of Africa. In 2009, she appeared on 30 covers of the international issues of Elle wearing Product Red clothing and posing with products from companies that support its mission.
Bündchen started The Luz Foundation in 2007, a project to empower girls and help them deal with self-esteem issues.
In 2008, Bündchen auctioned a collection of diamonds to benefit the Diamond Empowerment Fund, a nonprofit organization to education initiatives in countries where diamonds are a natural resource. The collection featured the Ponahalo Diamonds which were valued at $2 million to $4 million, a 6-carat diamond ring worth $120,000–$150,000 and a 3.35-carat Sabbadini diamond ring worth $15,000–$20,000. In 2010, she donated $1.5 million to the Red Cross to aid the relief effort in Haiti after seeing the devastation done by the earthquake. The donation put Bündchen tied for 14th on The Giving Back Fund's list of 30 celebrities who made the largest donations to charity in 2011.
In 2010, together with former president Bill Clinton, Bündchen joined the event that partnered Pantene and the Children's Safe Drinking Water Program to provide clean water to people in need. Bündchen and Indonesian singer-songwriter Anggun announced the kick-off of the Healthy Hair for Healthy Water program at P&G's reception that was held in conjunction with the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Bündchen also attended the Brazil Foundation's 8th Annual Gala to raise funds for fighting challenges faced by poor communities in Brazil. Bündchen created an exclusive design for SIGG water bottles, with proceeds going to WaterCan NGO, a humanitarian organization in Canada that provides the poorest people in the world access to clean water, toilets, and information on hygiene.
In 2020, Bündchen formed the Luz Alliance fund in partnership with the Brazil Foundation with a donation of 1,000,000 reals. The fund supports the purchase of hygiene kits, food, and financial assistance to families in Brazil through eight different charitable organizations and emergency-response efforts to offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bündchen, along with her husband Brady, partnered with Wheels Up to donate 10 million meals to Feeding America for their "Meals Up" initiative and helped fund thousands of meals for Feeding Tampa Bay and The Greater Boston Food Bank to alleviate food insecurity. Bündchen also partnered with the "All in Challenge" by donated an experience with her at a photo shoot in New York, with all proceeds going to Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry.
Environmental work
In 2004, after visiting an Amerindian tribe at the Xingu region in Brazil and seeing firsthand the problems those communities were facing due to water pollution and deforestation, Bündchen decided she had to do something to help bring attention to social and environmental issues. She advocated for the cause and through the years she has supported different projects, especially forest and water related projects in the Amazon rainforest and Atlantic Forest.
In 2007, she signed a "Hotter than I Should Be" T-shirt that was auctioned on eBay for the World Wide Fund for Nature to support the charity's campaign to raise awareness about the causes and impacts of climate change.
Bündchen returned to her hometown of Horizontina in 2008 and with her family launched Projeto Água Limpa (Clean Water Project), which implements sustainable environmental management and promotes the recovery of riparian vegetation and the micro basins of the region. More than one million trees were planted in Bündchen's name following her 2008 American Photo cover to promote Forests of the Future, a project to assist in the reforestation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
In May 2009, Bündchen co-hosted the annual gala of the Rainforest Alliance to honor leaders in sustainability. In May 2011, Bündchen received the Global Environmental Citizen Award in recognition of her eco-efforts. In November 2011, she was awarded Greenest Celebrity at the 2011 International Green awards at the Natural History Museum, London.
Bündchen donates proceeds from the sales from her Ipanema sandals to a different charity each year. Starting in 2006, Bündchen dedicated a percentage of the sales of her line of sandals to environmental projects including "Y Ikatu Xingu", meaning "Save the Good Water of Xingu", the project aimed to recover and protect springs and headwaters of the Xingu River in Brazil. In 2007, she supported World Wildlife Fund project "Nascentes do Brasil" and "De olho nos manaciais" from ISA. In 2008, the project supported was "Florestas do futuro" from SOS Mata Atlantica, a reforestation program for recovery of native species, which contributes to water conservation and biodiversity. A forest was named after her, the Gisele Bündchen Forest, where more than 25000 seedlings of 100 different tree species were planted in her honor, which recovered more than 15 hectares of Atlantic Forest. In 2011, the donation went to the Socio-Environmental Institute. In 2009, she also helped the "Tamar Project", a research initiative and environmental protection of the five species of sea turtles along the Brazilian coast.
In 2012, Bündchen planted a sapling of Sapucaia tree during her visit to Green Nation Fest, an event that occurs every year during the Environment Week and, that year, prior to the realization of Rio +20. Over the years Bündchen participated in several United Nations campaigns to fight against climate change. She participated in challenges on World Environment Day to mobilize people to take action in helping protect the forest, the wildlife, the green economy and to encourage people to reduce their food waste. Bündchen attended Champions of the Earth and Equator Prize ceremonies multiples times.
In 2013, Bündchen supported the United Nations campaign against food waste, THINK.EAT.SAVE. Bündchen and chef Eric Ripert participated in the Today Show program where they showed that it is possible to cook more efficiently.
Bündchen and her husband promote the Earth Hour global movement, a symbolic act promoted worldwide by the World Wildlife Foundation in which governments, companies, and people demonstrate concern for the environment, turning off their lights for sixty minutes.
In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors. Later that year she attended, as a guest of honor the spring annual gala, a ceremony that recognized the industry champions that have sustainability as a priority. In 2014 Bündchen supported the SOKO + The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women partnership to support the financial and physical security of women and girls around the world. SOKO artisans in Kenya created a pair of handmade bracelets to raise awareness for the fund. Bündchen had her work in the defense of the environment recognized and was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Since then, Bündchen has helped UNEP in the mission of raising awareness and inspiring action to protect the environment.
In 2016, she joined the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously as one of its celebrity correspondents.
In addition to using her social networks to share information about different subjects related to the importance of preserving all forms of life, Bündchen also attended a meeting to discuss the matter at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, which happened on the World Wildlife Day in 2016. The date was celebrated with the theme "Wildlife Future is in Our Hands". She also participated in the Wild For Life campaign against the illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife, including the campaign that won the People's Choice Award in the green category of 2019 Webby Awards.
In 2019, Bündchen executive produced a documentary entitled Kiss the Ground. The feature focuses on a group of activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians who band together in a global movement of "Regenerative Agriculture" to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. The film features Bündchen alongside Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, Patricia Arquette, David Arquette, Tom Brady, and Jason Mraz. The documentary premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. In 2020 on her birthday Bündchen launched the Viva a Vida initiative and donated funds to plant 40,000 trees along the Xingu and Araguaia River in Brazil.
Goodwill ambassador
Bündchen and her husband, Tom Brady, served Thanksgiving dinner to more than 400 job trainees at Goodwill Industries International's headquarters in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in November 2008.
In September 2009, Bündchen was designated Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. She made her first visit to Africa as UNEP Goodwill Ambassador in January 2012.
In January 2012, Bündchen visited Kenya to experience the reality of energy poverty as part of the Energy for All 2030 project. On the eve of World Environment Day in June 2012, Bündchen, planted the first of a series of 50,000 trees in Rio de Janeiro. In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors.
Personal life
From 2000 to 2005, Bündchen was in a relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2004, Bündchen and DiCaprio made Peoples annual Most Beautiful Couples List. After experiencing a period of depression, Bündchen decided to end her relationship with DiCaprio after she felt their lifestyles no longer complemented, saying in her memoir Lessons, "[...] I was becoming more and more aware of things that I'd chosen not to look at. Was I alone in wanting to do some serious soul-searching while he stayed the same? In the end, unfortunately, the answer was yes."
In December 2006, Bündchen began dating NFL quarterback Tom Brady, after a mutual friend introduced them on a blind date. The couple married on 26 February 2009 in a small ceremony at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California. In April 2009, the couple had a second marriage ceremony, in Costa Rica. Bündchen and Brady have two children: son Benjamin Rein (born 2009), and daughter Vivian Lake (born 2012). She is the stepmother of Brady's first son (born 2007) from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan. Bündchen and Brady are Roman Catholics.
Bündchen practices Transcendental Meditation. She and her family adhere to a primarily plant-based diet developed by their personal chef Allen Campbell. They have lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, when Tom Brady played for the New England Patriots, and reside part-time in New York City. They have since moved to Tampa, Florida, after Brady went to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In December 2020, the couple reportedly bought a home in Indian Creek, Florida.
Wealth
In August 2011, Bündchen ranked 60th on the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. At age 31, she ranked third on The 20 Youngest Power Women of 2011 List. In 2011, Forbes named Bündchen and Brady as the World's Highest-Paid Celebrity couple. In August 2012, Bündchen was one of four people in the fashion industry and the only model to be ranked on the Forbes list of "The World's Most Powerful Women", at No. 83. She ranked eighth in the top 10 of the Forbes list of "Entertainment's Highest-Paid Women" in 2012.
Forbes ranked Bündchen as the world's top-earning model for the fifth consecutive time in May 2011. Bündchen disputed the number used by Forbes, telling Brazilian website MdeMulher that the inflated estimates have made her a subject of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service. In 2013, Bündchen ranked third on the 16 Most Successful Female Entrepreneurs list by Forbes. Forbes estimated Bündchen's 2016 income at $30.5 million. Bündchen was the highest-paid model in the world from 2002 to 2017.
Filmography
Discography
Singles
Music videos
Awards and nominations
See also
List of Brazilians
References
External links
Voguepedia
1980 births
Living people
Brazilian bloggers
Brazilian expatriates in the United States
Brazilian environmentalists
Brazilian women environmentalists
Brazilian female models
Brazilian people of German descent
Brazilian models of German descent
Breastfeeding activists
Brazilian Roman Catholics
Environmental bloggers
IMG Models models
People from Rio Grande do Sul
Victoria's Secret
Women bloggers
Twin models
Brazilian health activists
Victoria's Secret Angels
American footballers' wives and girlfriends
Brazilian women activists
The Lions (agency) models
Tom Brady | false | [
"Lullaby is a documentary film by Adi Arbel that interviews both Palestinian and Israeli mothers whose children have been killed as a result of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.\n\nSummary\nOver 150 Israeli and Palestinian children have been killed since the start of the Second Intifada in 2000. Lullaby tells the story of those grieving mothers in their own words.\n\n“My daughter was born on the day the Intifada set off. When she turned 6 months old\nan Israeli baby was shot in the head; a month later a Palestinian baby was shot. This for me was intolerable,” says filmmaker Adi Arbel of her inspiration for making the film.\n\nIn the film, eleven women describe their children's deaths in this horrible conflict. Their own struggles to cope with their personal tragedies show candor, emotion, and at times even a sense of humor. Transmitted throughout the film are penetrating revelations about motherhood, the gruesomeness of armed conflict, and the burden of bearing witness in the most tragic way possible.\n\nThese eleven women come from varied backgrounds: Palestinians, Israelis, a Russian immigrant, and an American Christian living in Israel. The stories of their children's deaths are chilling, sometimes shared in explicit detail, and through these stories the viewer comes to understand a common thread among them.\n\nFor some of the mothers, their tragedy is seeing their child brutally killed before their eyes; for others, their tragedy is not having been there to witness their child's last moments. A baby-faced Palestinian mother is as traumatized by having found her infant daughter's body ripped open by IDF gunfire as an older Israeli grandmother is by not knowing what happened to her daughter and two of her four grandchildren in their last moments. “The neighbor told me she screamed ‘Mommy’ as hard as she could,” cries the grandmother in the film, “and I’m just trying to imagine, to put pieces together to know what happened to my daughter in that moment…and I can’t solve this mystery.”\n\nTheir children's deaths serve for all the mothers as a challenge to their motherhood, as they find themselves tortured by their inability to do what they feel is a mother's primary responsibility: to protect her children. “She is so small and helpless and you are everything for her because without you she couldn’t live…and all of a sudden, in this attack, you are there for her, but you can’t do anything. Nothing,” relates a secular Israeli. “Forgive me son, I could not help you when you called out to me, I was under debris,” a Palestinian mother recalls pleading to her son as she held him for the last time.\n\nBut overwhelmingly, the greatest pain these mothers share is in missing the presence of their children. They all have that same wonder of what sort of adults their children would have become, and describe being haunted by their memories of their children.\n\nFinally, they share the necessary struggle of moving on, and of being complete parents to their remaining children. As the young Palestinian mother asks, “Tomorrow, when my children grow up, how are they to see me like this? I am supposed to instill courage in them. They shouldn’t be scared of anything. But I myself am scared, I am terrorized.”\n\nSee also\nOther documentaries about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:\nThe Land of the Settlers\nAt the Green Line\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nThe Jewish Channel reviews Lullaby\nLullaby's film trailer\n\nIsraeli films\nDocumentary films about Jews and Judaism\nDocumentary films about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict",
"A messabout is an event where a group of people get together to discuss and \"mess about\" in boats. The concept is not new but the name is. The term originated in April 1990 when Joe Tribulato organized the first such event with this name. This was the beginning of the Southern California Small Boat Messabout Society, SCSBMS.\n\nThe term is derived from the children's book \"The Wind in the Willows\", by Kenneth Grahame. In the story, Mole and Rat are rowing up the river in Rat's boat. They are discussing nautical things and life in general when Rat is heard to utter, \nBelieve me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing... about in boats — or with boats. In or out of ’em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not.\nMessabouts are usually attended by a group of people who have taken up boat building, boating and all things boat-related as their primary hobby. While many people have been at this hobby for quite some time, the advent of the Internet has allowed them to network on a level not seen before. They come from all over to get together for camaraderie. \"Messabouts\" is replaced in UK especially on canals by \"banter\" and the emphasis will be more on talk and camaraderie than actually doing anything constructive.\n\nExternal links\nDuckworks magazine, with information on scheduled messabouts.\nThe Traditional Small Craft Association, with 24 chapters around the USA hosting messabouts to celebrate the virtues of traditional rowing and sailing craft.\n\nBoats\nSocial events"
]
|
[
"Gisele Bündchen",
"1997-2000: Career beginnings",
"What happened to Gisele Bundchen in her career beginnings?",
"Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows.",
"Did she get a role in either of those shows?",
"She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 \"rain\" ready-to-wear show.",
"How well did that show go?",
"I don't know.",
"What else happened during her career beginnings?",
"As the year 2000 approached, Gisele Bundchen was the world's hottest model, opening up a new category in the popular imagination: the Brazilian bombshell.\"",
"Did her fame keep rising?",
"She won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and a January 2000 cover gave her three consecutive Vogue covers.",
"Did she do anything else along with that?",
"Bundchen has appeared on the covers of many top fashion magazines, including W, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Allure, as well as style and lifestyle publications",
"Is there anything else important that you would like to share about the start of her career?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_e6582aeda7d44f54b6d7d722a705480a_1 | Did she have any downfalls? | 8 | Did Gisele Bündchen have any downfalls? | Gisele Bündchen | Bundchen travelled to London in 1997, where she auditioned for 42 shows. She got her big break when chosen for her ability to walk in towering heels on a slippery runway for Alexander McQueen's spring 1998 "rain" ready-to-wear show. Echoing similar accolades for Elle Macpherson a decade earlier, McQueen dubbed Bundchen "the Body", immediately boosting her bookings. In 1998, she posed for Missoni, Chloe, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferre, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She made the cover of the French edition of Vogue, and fashion magazine i-D featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele." The Vogue online encyclopedia of models states, "As the year 2000 approached, Gisele Bundchen was the world's hottest model, opening up a new category in the popular imagination: the Brazilian bombshell." She appeared on the cover of Vogue in July, November and December 1999. She won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year for 1999, and a January 2000 cover gave her three consecutive Vogue covers. In 2000, she became the fourth model to appear on the cover of the music magazine Rolling Stone when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Bundchen has appeared on the covers of many top fashion magazines, including W, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Allure, as well as style and lifestyle publications such as The Face, Arena, Citizen K, Flair, GQ, Esquire, and Marie Claire, and in the Pirelli Calendar in 2001 and 2006. She has also been seen in TIME, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Newsweek, and Veja. Bundchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers throughout the world. She simultaneously featured on the covers of both the US and British editions of Vogue in January 2000. Take the case of 18-year-old Gisele Bundchen, a.k.a. Gisele, fashion's new uber- (not super-) model. Gisele is currently shooting five massive advertising campaigns, starring on the cover of W, and playing the muse to t/bersnappers Steven Meisel and Mario Testino. In short, Gisele is huge. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Gisele Caroline Bündchen (, , born 20 July 1980) is a Brazilian fashion model. Since 2001, she has been one of the highest-paid models in the world. In 2007, Bündchen was the 16th richest woman in the entertainment industry and earned the top spot on Forbes top-earning models list in 2012. In 2014, she was listed as the 89th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes.
Vogue credited Bündchen with ending the heroin chic era of modelling in 1999. Bündchen was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 until 2006. She is credited with pioneering and popularizing the horse walk, a stomping movement created by a model lifting her knees high and kicking her feet to step. In 2007, Claudia Schiffer called Bündchen the only remaining supermodel. Bündchen has appeared on more than 1,200 magazine covers.
Bündchen was nominated for Choice Movie Female Breakout Star and for Choice Movie Villain at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards for her supporting role in Taxi (2004). She had a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and was the executive producer of an educational environmental cartoon, Gisele & the Green Team, in 2010 to 2011.
In 2016, she appeared in the Emmy award-winning documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, in the episode "Fueling the Fire".
Bündchen's charitable endeavors include Save the Children, Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program since 2009.
Family and early life
Born in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, Bündchen is a sixth-generation German Brazilian, born to Vânia (née Nonnenmacher), a bank clerk pensioner, and Valdir Bündchen, a sociologist and writer. Her grandfather, Walter Bündchen, once served as mayor of Horizontina. She grew up with five sisters, Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela and her fraternal twin, Patrícia. The family was Roman Catholic. Although her parents speak German and Bündchen learned German in school, she no longer speaks the language. Bündchen speaks Portuguese, English, Italian, Spanish and French.
Bündchen aspired to be a volleyball player, but in 1993 her mother enrolled her and sisters Patrícia and Gabriela in a modelling course to teach them confidence and better posture. After the course ended, the girls were rewarded by a trip to Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where she was discovered by Elite Model Management at a shopping mall. Bündchen was placed second in a national contest, Elite Model Look, that was then known as Look of the Year. In 1995, Bündchen moved to São Paulo to launch her modelling career. She debuted at New York Fashion Week in 1996.
Career
1997–2000: Career beginnings
In 1997, Bündchen was rejected 42 times in London before being cast in an Alexander McQueen runway show in 1998. In 1998, Bündchen posed for Missoni, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferré, Ralph Lauren, and Versace campaigns. She appeared on the cover of Vogue Paris, her first cover of British Vogue, and i-D, which featured her on its cover, profiling "A Girl Called Gisele". Dissatisfied with Elite Model Management's work environment, Bündchen signed with IMG Models in 1999.
Bündchen's first U.S Vogue cover, where Vogue announced Bündchen was "the return of the sexy model", was the first of three Vogue covers for her in 1999. In November she appeared in a group Vogue cover with Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Christy Turlington, Iman, Lauren Hutton, Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Claudia Schiffer, Lisa Taylor, Paulina Porizkova, Carolyn Murphy, and Patti Hansen, and appeared in a solo U.S. Vogue cover in December. Bündchen won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year in 1999. After Bündchen appeared in five major campaigns at age 18, New York magazine editor Sally Singer deemed her an "über" model. She became the fourth model to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine when she was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" in 2000. In 2000, Vogues online encyclopedia of models called Bündchen the world's hottest model and called Bündchen "the Brazilian bombshell".
2000–2009: Modelling breakthrough, international success, and acting debut
In 2000, Bündchen appeared on 37 international Vogue covers, including three in the American edition. In January 2000, Bündchen was featured on the covers of the U.S. and British editions of Vogue. For spring 2000 fashion week, she opened shows for Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior, and Valentino in New York, Milan and Paris. From 1998 to 2003, Bündchen was in 11 consecutive Dolce & Gabbana fashion campaigns. From 2006 to 2009 she became the face of Dolce & Gabbana's fragrance "The One". Bündchen retired from the runway after signing a five-year contract with Victoria's Secret.
In 2000, Bündchen wore Victoria's Secret's Red Hot Fantasy Bra worth $15 million and listed in Guinness World Records as the most expensive lingerie ever created. Bündchen modeled the Sexy Splendor Fantasy Bra in 2005, the second-most expensive bra valued at $12.5 million.
In 2004, she appeared on a group U.S. Vogue cover, with Daria Werbowy, Natalia Vodianova, Isabeli Fontana, Karolina Kurkova, Liya Kebede, Hana Soukupova, Gemma Ward, and Karen Elson. Bündchen appeared on the covers of W, Allure, GQ, Forbes, Marie Claire, TIME, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and in the Pirelli Calendar.
Bündchen co-starred with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon in the 2004 remake of Taxi, and Bündchen played Serena in The Devil Wears Prada in 2006. In 2007, Mario Testino photographed Bündchen for the cover of Vanity Fairs style issue. In 2008, she appeared on the controversial cover of Vogue with NBA player LeBron James. The cover was criticized for perpetuating racial stereotypes after James bared his teeth in a gorilla-type pose.
Forbes listed Bündchen as No. 53 on their 2007 list of the most powerful celebrities. In 2010, Bündchen's flip-flop line for Ipanema sold more than 250 pairs for an estimated $197 million. In May 2007, Bündchen ended her contract with Victoria's Secret. In her memoir, "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life," Bündchen said she left Victoria's Secret because she was uncomfortable being photographed in lingerie. In August 2008, the New York Daily News named Bündchen as the one of the most powerful people in the fashion world.
2009–2011: Continued success
The Independent referred to Bündchen the biggest star in fashion history in May 2009. In April 2010, Bündchen appeared on the cover of American Vogue for the 11th time. Bündchen closed Balenciaga's 2010 show in a surprise appearance. In 2011, CEOWorld Magazine ranked Bündchen among their Top Accomplished Women Entertainers. She was ranked No. 95 in FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011. In 2007, Bündchen was named by Forbes as the World's Richest Supermodel. On April 11, 2008, a black-and-white photo of Bündchen shot by Irving Penn was auctioned for $193,000.
By 2010, Bündchen had appeared on two Vogue Shape issue covers, more than any other celebrity or model. She ranked No. 45 in the 2011 FHM Australia list of 100 Sexiest Women in the World. In 2011, Men's Health named Bündchen as No. 25 of the 100 Hottest Women of All Time. Bündchen closed the 2011 Givenchy spring-summer fashion show in a surprise appearance during Paris Fashion Week. That year, Bündchen launched eco-friendly Sejaa Pure Skincare, a skin care product line using all-natural ingredients.
She appeared on eight Vogue covers in 2011, more than any other model or celebrity that year. Her July Vogue Brasil 2011 cover that was shot in the Amazon sold 70,743 copies, making it the magazine's highest-selling issue. In early 2011, Procter & Gamble's Pantene shampoo sales increased 40 percent in Latin America after Bündchen started representing the product.
2012–present: Modelling campaigns and music endeavors
In spring 2012, Bündchen was featured in three spring campaigns, Versace, Givenchy, and Salvatore Ferragamo. She became the face of Banco do Brasil's first global ad campaign in 2012.
In April 2012, Time listed Bündchen on its All-TIME 100 Fashion Icons list, which highlighted the most influential fashion icons since 1923. Vogue included Bündchen in its spotlight of the 10 women who had most appeared on its covers to honor the magazine's 120th anniversary in August 2012.
Bündchen made 5,600 appearances in commercials in Brazil in 2012. She replaced Kate Moss as the face of David Yurman in August 2012. She was photographed by Peter Lindbergh for the fall 2012 campaign. By 2012, Bündchen had appeared on 120 Vogue covers. She holds the record for appearing on the most Vogue Brasil covers.
In February 2013, Bündchen became the face of Chanel's make-up line, Les Beiges. The campaign was photographed by Mario Testino. For Louis Vuitton's spring/summer 2014 campaign, Marc Jacobs chose Bündchen, Catherine Deneuve, Sofia Coppola, Fan Bingbing, Caroline de Maigret and Edie Campbell as his muses. In December 2013, Bündchen became Pantene's ambassador, a deal worth $4 million per year.
Bündchen released a cover of the Kinks "All Day and All of the Night" as a contribution to H&M's 2013 charity campaign. She contributed to H&M's 2014 charity campaign by teaming with French music producer and DJ Bob Sinclar to record a cover of Blondie's 1979 classic "Heart of Glass", on which she was credited as Gisele. The single charted in France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Belgium.
In May 2014, Bündchen was chosen as the spokeswoman for Chanel No. 5. Within the first quarter of 2014, Bündchen appeared on 17 international editions of Elle, including the Brazilian, German, Italian, Canadian, Japanese and Chinese editions. Under Armour signed Bündchen to a multiyear deal in September 2014. In 2014 and 2015, Bündchen appeared in more television commercial spots than any other Brazilian celebrity in the course of one year in Brazil.
Bündchen was featured in the 2015 Guinness World Record book as the model who earned the most money from June 2014 to June 2015.
Bündchen's $700 Taschen book released in celebration of her 20th year career sold out in one day.
By 2015, Bündchen appeared in more than 550 ad campaigns, 2000 magazine covers, 3500 magazine editorials and 800 fashion shows.
Bündchen appeared at the Maracanã Stadium at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on 5 August 2016.
Forbes ranked Bündchen No. 61 on its Most Powerful Celebrities list in 2012.
Forbes ranked her fourth on the World's Most Powerful Latino Celebrity list in May 2012. In 2013, she ranked No. 5 on the Forbes 10 Most Powerful Businesswomen in Brazil.
In 2013, Bündchen's Ipanema sandals sold about 25 million pairs annually and accounted for more than 60 percent of shoe manufacturer Grendene's annual exports of about $250 million.
In 2014, Bündchen signed a contract with Under Armour, which is reportedly on par with the endorsement compensations of professional athletes and exceeds her former Victoria's Secret contract. In 2016, Under Armour's CEO Kevin Plank said sales for the company's women's brand had increased because of its association with Bündchen.
In 2018, Gisele released her book called Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life, which was a New York Times bestseller and was the best selling book for over six months in the non-fiction category in Brazil. The proceeds from her book went to support social and environmental causes.
In February 2021, it was reported that Bündchen was leaving IMG Models after 22 years and that her twin sister, Patricia would be taking over as her manager.
Public image
In September 2000, Newsweek reported on a survey conducted by Brazilian magazine Capricho, where 86 percent of Brazilian teenagers said they wanted to become fashion models. Capricho attributed the interest in modelling to Bündchen.
By 2014, Bündchen was listed by Forbes as the 89th most powerful woman in the world.
Forbes Brasil listed Bündchen as the No. 2 biggest Brazilian celebrity of 2015 based on media presence and influence in Brazil.
In a 2006 Elle survey, more than 50 percent of American stylists asked gave Bündchen the title of the best hair in Hollywood. A February 2008 survey of more than 20,000 plastic surgeons in 84 countries revealed Bündchen was the celebrity most mentioned for patients having work done on their abdomens and hair, and the second-most mentioned celebrity in the breasts category.
Bündchen was second on Vanity Fairs World's Most Beautiful poll in 2009.
In January 2011, Bündchen's was the most desired female body on the 14th Annual Famed Hottest Looks survey. In 2011, Bündchen was one of three women to make AskMen.com's annual "Most Desirable Women" list every year for 10 consecutive years.
Bündchen is ranked No. 4 on Forbes Brasils list of the 100 most influential Brazilian celebrities.
In May 2014, Bündchen was ranked No. 89 on Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the world, the only model on the list.
In November 2014, Forbes Brasil ranked Bündchen fifth of the 25 biggest celebrities in Brazil, moving her up to second in 2015.
Vogue Italia called Bündchen the "King Midas of fashion" in February 2012, saying companies that invest in her reap the awards of her representation. An Esprit public awareness campaign featuring Bündchen helped raise consumer awareness 9 percent in Germany and 19 percent in China.
In 2016, Bündchen participated in The Beginning of Life, a documentary about "the crucial role that the early years of children’s lives play in determining their futures successes".
Philanthropy
Since the 2000s, Bündchen's main focus has been social and environmental causes. She has also supported the Breast Cancer Campaign to educate women on how to perform a breast self-exam.
Charitable activities
Bündchen donated $150,000 to Brazil's Zero Hunger program. She designed a limited necklace edition for Harper's Bazaar, crafted by jewelers Gumuchian Fils, which were sold to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
An iPod autographed by Bündchen and loaded with her personal playlist was auctioned, and proceeds were donated to Music Rising, a campaign founded in 2005, to replace lost or destroyed instruments of musicians in the Gulf Coast Region after hurricane disasters.
Bündchen became the face of American Express's Product Red-affiliated card in 2006. A portion of earnings from the credit card are donated to HIV/AIDS victims in Africa. In the same year she took part in the I am African fundraising campaign to make AIDS treatment accessible to all of Africa. In 2009, she appeared on 30 covers of the international issues of Elle wearing Product Red clothing and posing with products from companies that support its mission.
Bündchen started The Luz Foundation in 2007, a project to empower girls and help them deal with self-esteem issues.
In 2008, Bündchen auctioned a collection of diamonds to benefit the Diamond Empowerment Fund, a nonprofit organization to education initiatives in countries where diamonds are a natural resource. The collection featured the Ponahalo Diamonds which were valued at $2 million to $4 million, a 6-carat diamond ring worth $120,000–$150,000 and a 3.35-carat Sabbadini diamond ring worth $15,000–$20,000. In 2010, she donated $1.5 million to the Red Cross to aid the relief effort in Haiti after seeing the devastation done by the earthquake. The donation put Bündchen tied for 14th on The Giving Back Fund's list of 30 celebrities who made the largest donations to charity in 2011.
In 2010, together with former president Bill Clinton, Bündchen joined the event that partnered Pantene and the Children's Safe Drinking Water Program to provide clean water to people in need. Bündchen and Indonesian singer-songwriter Anggun announced the kick-off of the Healthy Hair for Healthy Water program at P&G's reception that was held in conjunction with the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Bündchen also attended the Brazil Foundation's 8th Annual Gala to raise funds for fighting challenges faced by poor communities in Brazil. Bündchen created an exclusive design for SIGG water bottles, with proceeds going to WaterCan NGO, a humanitarian organization in Canada that provides the poorest people in the world access to clean water, toilets, and information on hygiene.
In 2020, Bündchen formed the Luz Alliance fund in partnership with the Brazil Foundation with a donation of 1,000,000 reals. The fund supports the purchase of hygiene kits, food, and financial assistance to families in Brazil through eight different charitable organizations and emergency-response efforts to offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bündchen, along with her husband Brady, partnered with Wheels Up to donate 10 million meals to Feeding America for their "Meals Up" initiative and helped fund thousands of meals for Feeding Tampa Bay and The Greater Boston Food Bank to alleviate food insecurity. Bündchen also partnered with the "All in Challenge" by donated an experience with her at a photo shoot in New York, with all proceeds going to Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry.
Environmental work
In 2004, after visiting an Amerindian tribe at the Xingu region in Brazil and seeing firsthand the problems those communities were facing due to water pollution and deforestation, Bündchen decided she had to do something to help bring attention to social and environmental issues. She advocated for the cause and through the years she has supported different projects, especially forest and water related projects in the Amazon rainforest and Atlantic Forest.
In 2007, she signed a "Hotter than I Should Be" T-shirt that was auctioned on eBay for the World Wide Fund for Nature to support the charity's campaign to raise awareness about the causes and impacts of climate change.
Bündchen returned to her hometown of Horizontina in 2008 and with her family launched Projeto Água Limpa (Clean Water Project), which implements sustainable environmental management and promotes the recovery of riparian vegetation and the micro basins of the region. More than one million trees were planted in Bündchen's name following her 2008 American Photo cover to promote Forests of the Future, a project to assist in the reforestation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
In May 2009, Bündchen co-hosted the annual gala of the Rainforest Alliance to honor leaders in sustainability. In May 2011, Bündchen received the Global Environmental Citizen Award in recognition of her eco-efforts. In November 2011, she was awarded Greenest Celebrity at the 2011 International Green awards at the Natural History Museum, London.
Bündchen donates proceeds from the sales from her Ipanema sandals to a different charity each year. Starting in 2006, Bündchen dedicated a percentage of the sales of her line of sandals to environmental projects including "Y Ikatu Xingu", meaning "Save the Good Water of Xingu", the project aimed to recover and protect springs and headwaters of the Xingu River in Brazil. In 2007, she supported World Wildlife Fund project "Nascentes do Brasil" and "De olho nos manaciais" from ISA. In 2008, the project supported was "Florestas do futuro" from SOS Mata Atlantica, a reforestation program for recovery of native species, which contributes to water conservation and biodiversity. A forest was named after her, the Gisele Bündchen Forest, where more than 25000 seedlings of 100 different tree species were planted in her honor, which recovered more than 15 hectares of Atlantic Forest. In 2011, the donation went to the Socio-Environmental Institute. In 2009, she also helped the "Tamar Project", a research initiative and environmental protection of the five species of sea turtles along the Brazilian coast.
In 2012, Bündchen planted a sapling of Sapucaia tree during her visit to Green Nation Fest, an event that occurs every year during the Environment Week and, that year, prior to the realization of Rio +20. Over the years Bündchen participated in several United Nations campaigns to fight against climate change. She participated in challenges on World Environment Day to mobilize people to take action in helping protect the forest, the wildlife, the green economy and to encourage people to reduce their food waste. Bündchen attended Champions of the Earth and Equator Prize ceremonies multiples times.
In 2013, Bündchen supported the United Nations campaign against food waste, THINK.EAT.SAVE. Bündchen and chef Eric Ripert participated in the Today Show program where they showed that it is possible to cook more efficiently.
Bündchen and her husband promote the Earth Hour global movement, a symbolic act promoted worldwide by the World Wildlife Foundation in which governments, companies, and people demonstrate concern for the environment, turning off their lights for sixty minutes.
In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors. Later that year she attended, as a guest of honor the spring annual gala, a ceremony that recognized the industry champions that have sustainability as a priority. In 2014 Bündchen supported the SOKO + The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women partnership to support the financial and physical security of women and girls around the world. SOKO artisans in Kenya created a pair of handmade bracelets to raise awareness for the fund. Bündchen had her work in the defense of the environment recognized and was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Since then, Bündchen has helped UNEP in the mission of raising awareness and inspiring action to protect the environment.
In 2016, she joined the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously as one of its celebrity correspondents.
In addition to using her social networks to share information about different subjects related to the importance of preserving all forms of life, Bündchen also attended a meeting to discuss the matter at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, which happened on the World Wildlife Day in 2016. The date was celebrated with the theme "Wildlife Future is in Our Hands". She also participated in the Wild For Life campaign against the illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife, including the campaign that won the People's Choice Award in the green category of 2019 Webby Awards.
In 2019, Bündchen executive produced a documentary entitled Kiss the Ground. The feature focuses on a group of activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians who band together in a global movement of "Regenerative Agriculture" to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. The film features Bündchen alongside Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, Patricia Arquette, David Arquette, Tom Brady, and Jason Mraz. The documentary premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. In 2020 on her birthday Bündchen launched the Viva a Vida initiative and donated funds to plant 40,000 trees along the Xingu and Araguaia River in Brazil.
Goodwill ambassador
Bündchen and her husband, Tom Brady, served Thanksgiving dinner to more than 400 job trainees at Goodwill Industries International's headquarters in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in November 2008.
In September 2009, Bündchen was designated Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. She made her first visit to Africa as UNEP Goodwill Ambassador in January 2012.
In January 2012, Bündchen visited Kenya to experience the reality of energy poverty as part of the Energy for All 2030 project. On the eve of World Environment Day in June 2012, Bündchen, planted the first of a series of 50,000 trees in Rio de Janeiro. In January 2014, Bündchen joined the Rainforest Alliance board of directors.
Personal life
From 2000 to 2005, Bündchen was in a relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2004, Bündchen and DiCaprio made Peoples annual Most Beautiful Couples List. After experiencing a period of depression, Bündchen decided to end her relationship with DiCaprio after she felt their lifestyles no longer complemented, saying in her memoir Lessons, "[...] I was becoming more and more aware of things that I'd chosen not to look at. Was I alone in wanting to do some serious soul-searching while he stayed the same? In the end, unfortunately, the answer was yes."
In December 2006, Bündchen began dating NFL quarterback Tom Brady, after a mutual friend introduced them on a blind date. The couple married on 26 February 2009 in a small ceremony at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California. In April 2009, the couple had a second marriage ceremony, in Costa Rica. Bündchen and Brady have two children: son Benjamin Rein (born 2009), and daughter Vivian Lake (born 2012). She is the stepmother of Brady's first son (born 2007) from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan. Bündchen and Brady are Roman Catholics.
Bündchen practices Transcendental Meditation. She and her family adhere to a primarily plant-based diet developed by their personal chef Allen Campbell. They have lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, when Tom Brady played for the New England Patriots, and reside part-time in New York City. They have since moved to Tampa, Florida, after Brady went to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In December 2020, the couple reportedly bought a home in Indian Creek, Florida.
Wealth
In August 2011, Bündchen ranked 60th on the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. At age 31, she ranked third on The 20 Youngest Power Women of 2011 List. In 2011, Forbes named Bündchen and Brady as the World's Highest-Paid Celebrity couple. In August 2012, Bündchen was one of four people in the fashion industry and the only model to be ranked on the Forbes list of "The World's Most Powerful Women", at No. 83. She ranked eighth in the top 10 of the Forbes list of "Entertainment's Highest-Paid Women" in 2012.
Forbes ranked Bündchen as the world's top-earning model for the fifth consecutive time in May 2011. Bündchen disputed the number used by Forbes, telling Brazilian website MdeMulher that the inflated estimates have made her a subject of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service. In 2013, Bündchen ranked third on the 16 Most Successful Female Entrepreneurs list by Forbes. Forbes estimated Bündchen's 2016 income at $30.5 million. Bündchen was the highest-paid model in the world from 2002 to 2017.
Filmography
Discography
Singles
Music videos
Awards and nominations
See also
List of Brazilians
References
External links
Voguepedia
1980 births
Living people
Brazilian bloggers
Brazilian expatriates in the United States
Brazilian environmentalists
Brazilian women environmentalists
Brazilian female models
Brazilian people of German descent
Brazilian models of German descent
Breastfeeding activists
Brazilian Roman Catholics
Environmental bloggers
IMG Models models
People from Rio Grande do Sul
Victoria's Secret
Women bloggers
Twin models
Brazilian health activists
Victoria's Secret Angels
American footballers' wives and girlfriends
Brazilian women activists
The Lions (agency) models
Tom Brady | false | [
"Judgment sample, or Expert sample, is a type of non-random sample that is selected based on the opinion of an expert. Results obtained from a judgment sample are subject to some degree of bias, due to the frame and population not being identical. The frame is a list of all the units, items, people, etc., that define the population to be studied.\nJudgement sampling is the noble to provide detailed information about the difficulties in obtaining the distinction. A random sample would provide less bias, but potentially less raw information. \nThe downfalls of this system are significant as any non-random sample brings bias into question, which limits the types of statistical analyses that you may reasonably perform, and there are considerable limits to an experts ability to choose a good sample.\n\nReferences\n\nSampling (statistics)",
"Deadtime Stories is a 2010 hidden object PC game developed by I-play and distributed by Big Fish Games. The premise of the game centers around a mysterious gentleman, named \"Edward Blackgate\", and the lost souls interred in his private cemetery, \"Everlasting Life\". The player meets these lost souls and learns about the events that lead to their respective downfalls.\n\nJessie Bodeen\nMiss Jessie Bodeen was a New Orleans Voodoo queen, who acted as a healer for the local African Americans working as servants in the city, as healer she had pledged to do no harm. Now a resident at \"Everlasting Life\", she tells the story of her downfall when she accepted a commission from one Delphine LaLaurie (a historically infamous real-life murderess). For $150 (a lot of money back then), she was to drive away another socialite, Mrs. Anton, a wealthy young widow who was new in town and already more popular than Delphine LaLaurie. For the next three months, Jessie is able to discreetly poison Mrs. Anton with small amounts of aconite to keep her too ill to attend any parties, having been warned against invoking the Loa to curse Mrs. Anton by Mambo Marie, a fellow Voodoo practitioner. However, when the three months are done and the social season in New Orleans is over for the year, Delphine LaLaurie reneges on their deal after Jessie Bodeen had kept up her end of the bargain. Furious, after the lengths she had compromised her principles to for that money, Jessie Bodeen makes up her mind to seek revenge on Delphine LaLaurie by invoking the Loa, particularly Damballa, to avenge her. The Loa punishes Delphine LaLaurie, regardless of collateral damages and innocent bystanders, and 10 years later, they also punish Jessie Bodeen for having taken on Delphine LaLaurie's commission in the first place (\"The Loa cast their own judgements\").\n\nExternal links\n Deadtime Stories, on Big Fish Games\n Deadtime Stories Walkthrough, on Big Fish Games\n Deadtime Stories, on I-play\n\n2010 video games\nBig Fish Games games\nCasual games\nHidden object games\nVideo game franchises\nVideo games developed in the United States\nWindows games\nWindows-only games\nSingle-player video games\nFiction about Louisiana Voodoo\nVideo games set in cemeteries\nVideo games set in New Orleans"
]
|
[
"Carousel (musical)",
"Film, television and concert versions"
]
| C_d59717368f914b249db2290d234441fe_1 | which version came out first? (film tv or concert?) | 1 | Which version of Carousel (musical) came out first? (film tv or concert?) | Carousel (musical) | A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. It follows the musical's story fairly closely, although a prologue, set in the Starkeeper's heaven, was added. The film was released only a few months after the release of the film version of Oklahoma!. It garnered some good reviews, and the soundtrack recording was a best seller. As the same stars appeared in both pictures, however, the two films were often compared, generally to the disadvantage of Carousel. Thomas Hischak, in The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, later wondered "if the smaller number of Carousel stage revivals is the product of this often-lumbering [film] musical". There was also an abridged (100 minute) 1967 network television version that starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella. The New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version of the musical from February 28 to March 2, 2013, at Avery Fisher Hall. Kelli O'Hara played Julie, with Nathan Gunn as Billy, Stephanie Blythe as Nettie, Jessie Mueller as Carrie, Jason Danieley as Enoch, Shuler Hensley as Jigger, John Cullum as the Starkeeper, and Kate Burton as Mrs. Mullin. Tiler Peck danced the role of Louise to choreography by Warren Carlyle. The production was directed by John Rando. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, "this is as gorgeously sung a production of this sublime 1945 Broadway musical as you are ever likely to hear." It was broadcast as part of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center series, premiering on April 26, 2013. CANNOTANSWER | musical | Carousel is the second musical by the team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics). The 1945 work was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline. The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He participates in a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes tragically wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show includes the well-known songs "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone". Richard Rodgers later wrote that Carousel was his favorite of all his musicals.
Following the spectacular success of the first Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma! (1943), the pair sought to collaborate on another piece, knowing that any resulting work would be compared with Oklahoma!, most likely unfavorably. They were initially reluctant to seek the rights to Liliom; Molnár had refused permission for the work to be adapted in the past, and the original ending was considered too depressing for the musical theatre. After acquiring the rights, the team created a work with lengthy sequences of music and made the ending more hopeful.
The musical required considerable modification during out-of-town tryouts, but once it opened on Broadway on April 19, 1945, it was an immediate hit with both critics and audiences. Carousel initially ran for 890 performances and duplicated its success in the West End in 1950. Though it has never achieved as much commercial success as Oklahoma!, the piece has been repeatedly revived, recorded several times and was filmed in 1956. A production by Nicholas Hytner enjoyed success in 1992 in London, in 1994 in New York and on tour. Another Broadway revival opened in 2018. In 1999, Time magazine named Carousel the best musical of the 20th century.
Background
Liliom
Ferenc Molnár's Hungarian-language drama, Liliom, premiered in Budapest in 1909. The audience was puzzled by the work, and it lasted only thirty-odd performances before being withdrawn, the first shadow on Molnár's successful career as a playwright. Liliom was not presented again until after World War I. When it reappeared on the Budapest stage, it was a tremendous hit.
Except for the ending, the plots of Liliom and Carousel are very similar. Andreas Zavocky (nicknamed Liliom, the Hungarian word for "lily", a slang term for "tough guy"), a carnival barker, falls in love with Julie Zeller, a servant girl, and they begin living together. With both discharged from their jobs, Liliom is discontented and contemplates leaving Julie, but decides not to do so on learning that she is pregnant. A subplot involves Julie's friend Marie, who has fallen in love with Wolf Biefeld, a hotel porter—after the two marry, he becomes the owner of the hotel. Desperate to make money so that he, Julie and their child can escape to America and a better life, Liliom conspires with lowlife Ficsur to commit a robbery, but it goes badly, and Liliom stabs himself. He dies, and his spirit is taken to heaven's police court. As Ficsur suggested while the two waited to commit the crime, would-be robbers like them do not come before God Himself. Liliom is told by the magistrate that he may go back to Earth for one day to attempt to redeem the wrongs he has done to his family, but must first spend sixteen years in a fiery purgatory.
On his return to Earth, Liliom encounters his daughter, Louise, who like her mother is now a factory worker. Saying that he knew her father, he tries to give her a star he stole from the heavens. When Louise refuses to take it, he strikes her. Not realizing who he is, Julie confronts him, but finds herself unable to be angry with him. Liliom is ushered off to his fate, presumably Hell, and Louise asks her mother if it is possible to feel a hard slap as if it was a kiss. Julie reminiscently tells her daughter that it is very possible for that to happen.
An English translation of Liliom was credited to Benjamin "Barney" Glazer, though there is a story that the actual translator, uncredited, was Rodgers' first major partner Lorenz Hart. The Theatre Guild presented it in New York City in 1921, with Joseph Schildkraut as Liliom, and the play was a success, running 300 performances. A 1940 revival with Burgess Meredith and Ingrid Bergman was seen by both Hammerstein and Rodgers. Glazer, in introducing the English translation of Liliom, wrote of the play's appeal:
And where in modern dramatic literature can such pearls be matched—Julie incoherently confessing to her dead lover the love she had always been ashamed to tell; Liliom crying out to the distant carousel the glad news that he is to be a father; the two thieves gambling for the spoils of their prospective robbery; Marie and Wolf posing for their portrait while the broken-hearted Julie stands looking after the vanishing Liliom, the thieves' song ringing in her ears; the two policemen grousing about pay and pensions while Liliom lies bleeding to death; Liliom furtively proffering his daughter the star he has stolen for her in heaven. ... The temptation to count the whole scintillating string is difficult to resist.
Inception
In the 1920s and 1930s, Rodgers and Hammerstein both became well known for creating Broadway hits with other partners. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced a string of over two dozen musicals, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Some of Rodgers' work with Hart broke new ground in musical theatre: On Your Toes was the first use of ballet to sustain the plot (in the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" scene), while Pal Joey flouted Broadway tradition by presenting a knave as its hero. Hammerstein had written or co-written the words for such hits as Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote material for musicals and films, sharing an Oscar for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good.
By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, becoming unreliable and prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him. Hammerstein was eager to do so, and their first collaboration was Oklahoma! (1943). Thomas Hischak states, in his The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, that Oklahoma! is "the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. In fact, the history of the Broadway musical can accurately be divided into what came before Oklahoma! and what came after it." An innovation for its time in integrating song, character, plot and dance, Oklahoma! would serve, according to Hischak, as "the model for Broadway shows for decades", and proved a huge popular and financial success. Once it was well-launched, what to do as an encore was a daunting challenge for the pair. Film producer Samuel Goldwyn saw Oklahoma! and advised Rodgers to shoot himself, which according to Rodgers "was Sam's blunt but funny way of telling me that I'd never create another show as good as Oklahoma!" As they considered new projects, Hammerstein wrote, "We're such fools. No matter what we do, everyone is bound to say, 'This is not another Oklahoma! "
Oklahoma! had been a struggle to finance and produce. Hammerstein and Rodgers met weekly in 1943 with Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Theatre Guild, producers of the blockbuster musical, who together formed what they termed "the Gloat Club". At one such luncheon, Helburn and Langner proposed to Rodgers and Hammerstein that they turn Molnár's Liliom into a musical. Both men refused—they had no feeling for the Budapest setting and thought that the unhappy ending was unsuitable for musical theatre. In addition, given the unstable wartime political situation, they might need to change the setting from Hungary while in rehearsal. At the next luncheon, Helburn and Langner again proposed Liliom, suggesting that they move the setting to Louisiana and make Liliom a Creole. Rodgers and Hammerstein played with the idea over the next few weeks, but decided that Creole dialect, filled with "zis" and "zose", would sound corny and would make it difficult to write effective lyrics.
A breakthrough came when Rodgers, who owned a house in Connecticut, proposed a New England setting. Hammerstein wrote of this suggestion in 1945,
I began to see an attractive ensemble—sailors, whalers, girls who worked in the mills up the river, clambakes on near-by islands, an amusement park on the seaboard, things people could do in crowds, people who were strong and alive and lusty, people who had always been depicted on the stage as thin-lipped puritans—a libel I was anxious to refute ... as for the two leading characters, Julie with her courage and inner strength and outward simplicity seemed more indigenous to Maine than to Budapest. Liliom is, of course, an international character, indigenous to nowhere.
Rodgers and Hammerstein were also concerned about what they termed "the tunnel" of Molnár's second act—a series of gloomy scenes leading up to Liliom's suicide—followed by a dark ending. They also felt it would be difficult to set Liliom's motivation for the robbery to music. Molnár's opposition to having his works adapted was also an issue; he had famously turned down Giacomo Puccini when the great composer wished to transform Liliom into an opera, stating that he wanted the piece to be remembered as his, not Puccini's. In 1937, Molnár, who had recently emigrated to the United States, had declined another offer from Kurt Weill to adapt the play into a musical.
The pair continued to work on the preliminary ideas for a Liliom adaptation while pursuing other projects in late 1943 and early 1944—writing the film musical State Fair and producing I Remember Mama on Broadway. Meanwhile, the Theatre Guild took Molnár to see Oklahoma! Molnár stated that if Rodgers and Hammerstein could adapt Liliom as beautifully as they had modified Green Grow the Lilacs into Oklahoma!, he would be pleased to have them do it. The Guild obtained the rights from Molnár in October 1943. The playwright received one percent of the gross and $2,500 for "personal services". The duo insisted, as part of the contract, that Molnár permit them to make changes in the plot. At first, the playwright refused, but eventually yielded. Hammerstein later stated that if this point had not been won, "we could never have made Carousel."
In seeking to establish through song Liliom's motivation for the robbery, Rodgers remembered that he and Hart had a similar problem in Pal Joey. Rodgers and Hart had overcome the problem with a song that Joey sings to himself, "I'm Talking to My Pal". This inspired "Soliloquy". Both partners later told a story that "Soliloquy" was only intended to be a song about Liliom's dreams of a son, but that Rodgers, who had two daughters, insisted that Liliom consider that Julie might have a girl. However, the notes taken at their meeting of December 7, 1943 state: "Mr. Rodgers suggested a fine musical number for the end of the scene where Liliom discovers he is to be a father, in which he sings first with pride of the growth of a boy, and then suddenly realizes it might be a girl and changes completely."
Hammerstein and Rodgers returned to the Liliom project in mid-1944. Hammerstein was uneasy as he worked, fearing that no matter what they did, Molnár would disapprove of the results. Green Grow the Lilacs had been a little-known work; Liliom was a theatrical standard. Molnár's text also contained considerable commentary on the Hungarian politics of 1909 and the rigidity of that society. A dismissed carnival barker who hits his wife, attempts a robbery and commits suicide seemed an unlikely central character for a musical comedy. Hammerstein decided to use the words and story to make the audience sympathize with the lovers. He also built up the secondary couple, who are incidental to the plot in Liliom; they became Enoch Snow and Carrie Pipperidge. "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" was repurposed from a song, "A Real Nice Hayride", written for Oklahoma! but not used.
Molnár's ending was unsuitable, and after a couple of false starts, Hammerstein conceived the graduation scene that ends the musical. According to Frederick Nolan in his book on the team's works: "From that scene the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" sprang almost naturally." In spite of Hammerstein's simple lyrics for "You'll Never Walk Alone", Rodgers had great difficulty in setting it to music. Rodgers explained his rationale for the changed ending,
Liliom was a tragedy about a man who cannot learn to live with other people. The way Molnár wrote it, the man ends up hitting his daughter and then having to go back to purgatory, leaving his daughter helpless and hopeless. We couldn't accept that. The way we ended Carousel it may still be a tragedy but it's a hopeful one because in the final scene it is clear that the child has at last learned how to express herself and communicate with others.
When the pair decided to make "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" into an ensemble number, Hammerstein realized he had no idea what a clambake was like, and researched the matter. Based on his initial findings, he wrote the line, "First came codfish chowder". However, further research convinced him the proper term was "codhead chowder", a term unfamiliar to many playgoers. He decided to keep it as "codfish". When the song proceeded to discuss the lobsters consumed at the feast, Hammerstein wrote the line "We slit 'em down the back/And peppered 'em good". He was grieved to hear from a friend that lobsters are always slit down the front. The lyricist sent a researcher to a seafood restaurant and heard back that lobsters are always slit down the back. Hammerstein concluded that there is disagreement about which side of a lobster is the back. One error not caught involved the song "June Is Bustin' Out All Over", in which sheep are depicted as seeking to mate in late spring—they actually do so in the winter. Whenever this was brought to Hammerstein's attention, he told his informant that 1873 was a special year, in which sheep mated in the spring.
Rodgers early decided to dispense with an overture, feeling that the music was hard to hear over the banging of seats as latecomers settled themselves. In his autobiography, Rodgers complained that only the brass section can be heard during an overture because there are never enough strings in a musical's small orchestra. He determined to force the audience to concentrate from the beginning by opening with a pantomime scene accompanied by what became known as "The Carousel Waltz". The pantomime paralleled one in the Molnár play, which was also used to introduce the characters and situation to the audience. Author Ethan Mordden described the effectiveness of this opening:
Other characters catch our notice—Mr. Bascombe, the pompous mill owner, Mrs. Mullin, the widow who runs the carousel and, apparently, Billy; a dancing bear; an acrobat. But what draws us in is the intensity with which Julie regards Billy—the way she stands frozen, staring at him, while everyone else at the fair is swaying to the rhythm of Billy's spiel. And as Julie and Billy ride together on the swirling carousel, and the stage picture surges with the excitement of the crowd, and the orchestra storms to a climax, and the curtain falls, we realize that R & H have not only skipped the overture and the opening number but the exposition as well. They have plunged into the story, right into the middle of it, in the most intense first scene any musical ever had.
Casting and out-of-town tryouts
The casting for Carousel began when Oklahoma!s production team, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, was seeking a replacement for the part of Curly (the male lead in Oklahoma!). Lawrence Langner had heard, through a relative, of a California singer named John Raitt, who might be suitable for the part. Langner went to hear Raitt, then urged the others to bring Raitt to New York for an audition. Raitt asked to sing "Largo al factotum", Figaro's aria from The Barber of Seville, to warm up. The warmup was sufficient to convince the producers that not only had they found a Curly, they had found a Liliom (or Billy Bigelow, as the part was renamed). Theresa Helburn made another California discovery, Jan Clayton, a singer/actress who had made a few minor films for MGM. She was brought east and successfully auditioned for the part of Julie.
The producers sought to cast unknowns. Though many had played in previous Hammerstein or Rodgers works, only one, Jean Casto (cast as carousel owner Mrs. Mullin, and a veteran of Pal Joey), had ever played on Broadway before. It proved harder to cast the ensemble than the leads, due to the war—Rodgers told his casting director, John Fearnley, that the sole qualification for a dancing boy was that he be alive. Rodgers and Hammerstein reassembled much of the creative team that had made Oklahoma! a success, including director Rouben Mamoulian and choreographer Agnes de Mille. Miles White was the costume designer while Jo Mielziner (who had not worked on Oklahoma!) was the scenic and lighting designer. Even though Oklahoma! orchestrator Russell Bennett had informed Rodgers that he was unavailable to work on Carousel due to a radio contract, Rodgers insisted he do the work in his spare time. He orchestrated "The Carousel Waltz" and "(When I Marry) Mister Snow" before finally being replaced by Don Walker. A new member of the creative team was Trude Rittmann, who arranged the dance music. Rittmann initially felt that Rodgers mistrusted her because she was a woman, and found him difficult to work with, but the two worked together on Rodgers' shows until the 1970s.
Rehearsals began in January 1945; either Rodgers or Hammerstein was always present. Raitt was presented with the lyrics for "Soliloquy" on a five-foot long sheet of paper—the piece ran nearly eight minutes. Staging such a long solo number presented problems, and Raitt later stated that he felt that they were never fully addressed. At some point during rehearsals, Molnár came to see what they had done to his play. There are a number of variations on the story.Fordin, pp. 231–32 As Rodgers told it, while watching rehearsals with Hammerstein, the composer spotted Molnár in the rear of the theatre and whispered the news to his partner. Both sweated through an afternoon of rehearsal in which nothing seemed to go right. At the end, the two walked to the back of the theatre, expecting an angry reaction from Molnár. Instead, the playwright said enthusiastically, "What you have done is so beautiful. And you know what I like best? The ending!" Hammerstein wrote that Molnár became a regular attendee at rehearsals after that.
Like most of the pair's works, Carousel contains a lengthy ballet, "Billy Makes a Journey", in the second act, as Billy looks down to the Earth from "Up There" and observes his daughter. In the original production the ballet was choreographed by de Mille. It began with Billy looking down from heaven at his wife in labor, with the village women gathered for a "birthing". The ballet involved every character in the play, some of whom spoke lines of dialogue, and contained a number of subplots. The focus was on Louise, played by Bambi Linn, who at first almost soars in her dance, expressing the innocence of childhood. She is teased and mocked by her schoolmates, and Louise becomes attracted to the rough carnival people, who symbolize Billy's world. A youth from the carnival attempts to seduce Louise, as she discovers her own sexuality, but he decides she is more girl than woman, and he leaves her. After Julie comforts her, Louise goes to a children's party, where she is shunned. The carnival people reappear and form a ring around the children's party, with Louise lost between the two groups. At the end, the performers form a huge carousel with their bodies.
The play opened for tryouts in New Haven, Connecticut on March 22, 1945. The first act was well-received; the second act was not. Casto recalled that the second act finished about 1:30 a.m. The staff immediately sat down for a two-hour conference. Five scenes, half the ballet, and two songs were cut from the show as the result. John Fearnley commented, "Now I see why these people have hits. I never witnessed anything so brisk and brave in my life." De Mille said of this conference, "not three minutes had been wasted pleading for something cherished. Nor was there any idle joking. ... We cut and cut and cut and then we went to bed." By the time the company left New Haven, de Mille's ballet was down to forty minutes.
A major concern with the second act was the effectiveness of the characters He and She (later called by Rodgers "Mr. and Mrs. God"), before whom Billy appeared after his death. Mr. and Mrs. God were depicted as a New England minister and his wife, seen in their parlor.Block (ed.), p. 129. At this time, according to the cast sheet distributed during the Boston run, Dr. Seldon was listed as the "Minister". The couple was still part of the show at the Boston opening. Rodgers said to Hammerstein, "We've got to get God out of that parlor". When Hammerstein inquired where he should put the deity, Rodgers replied, "I don't care where you put Him. Put Him on a ladder for all I care, only get Him out of that parlor!" Hammerstein duly put Mr. God (renamed the Starkeeper) atop a ladder, and Mrs. God was removed from the show. Rodgers biographer Meryle Secrest terms this change a mistake, leading to a more fantastic afterlife, which was later criticized by The New Republic as "a Rotarian atmosphere congenial to audiences who seek not reality but escape from reality, not truth but escape from truth".
Hammerstein wrote that Molnár's advice, to combine two scenes into one, was key to pulling together the second act and represented "a more radical departure from the original than any change we had made". A reprise of "If I Loved You" was added in the second act, which Rodgers felt needed more music. Three weeks of tryouts in Boston followed the brief New Haven run, and the audience there gave the musical a warm reception. An even shorter version of the ballet was presented the final two weeks in Boston, but on the final night there, de Mille expanded it back to forty minutes, and it brought the house down, causing both Rodgers and Hammerstein to embrace her.
Synopsis
Act 1
Two young female millworkers in 1873 Maine visit the town's carousel after work. One of them, Julie Jordan, attracts the attention of the barker, Billy Bigelow ("The Carousel Waltz"). When Julie lets Billy put his arm around her during the ride, Mrs. Mullin, the widowed owner of the carousel, tells Julie never to return. Julie and her friend, Carrie Pipperidge, argue with Mrs. Mullin. Billy arrives and, seeing that Mrs. Mullin is jealous, mocks her; he is fired from his job. Billy, unconcerned, invites Julie to join him for a drink. As he goes to get his belongings, Carrie presses Julie about her feelings toward him, but Julie is evasive ("You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan"). Carrie has a beau too, fisherman Enoch Snow ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow"), to whom she is newly engaged. Billy returns for Julie as the departing Carrie warns that staying out late means the loss of Julie's job. Mr. Bascombe, owner of the mill, happens by along with a policeman, and offers to escort Julie to her home, but she refuses and is fired. Left alone, she and Billy talk about what life might be like if they were in love, but neither quite confesses to the growing attraction they feel for each other ("If I Loved You").
Over a month passes, and preparations for the summer clambake are under way ("June Is Bustin' Out All Over"). Julie and Billy, now married, live at Julie's cousin Nettie's spa. Julie confides in Carrie that Billy, frustrated over being unemployed, hit her. Carrie has happier news—she is engaged to Enoch, who enters as she discusses him ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow (reprise))". Billy arrives with his ne'er-do-well whaler friend, Jigger. The former barker is openly rude to Enoch and Julie, then leaves with Jigger, followed by a distraught Julie. Enoch tells Carrie that he expects to become rich selling herring and to have a large family, larger perhaps than Carrie is comfortable having ("When the Children Are Asleep").
Jigger and his shipmates, joined by Billy, then sing about life on the sea ("Blow High, Blow Low"). The whaler tries to recruit Billy to help with a robbery, but Billy declines, as the victim—Julie's former boss, Mr. Bascombe—might have to be killed. Mrs. Mullin enters and tries to tempt Billy back to the carousel (and to her). He would have to abandon Julie; a married barker cannot evoke the same sexual tension as one who is single. Billy reluctantly mulls it over as Julie arrives and the others leave. She tells him that she is pregnant, and Billy is overwhelmed with happiness, ending all thoughts of returning to the carousel. Once alone, Billy imagines the fun he will have with Bill Jr.—until he realizes that his child might be a girl, and reflects soberly that "you've got to be a father to a girl" ("Soliloquy"). Determined to provide financially for his future child, whatever the means, Billy decides to be Jigger's accomplice.
The whole town leaves for the clambake. Billy, who had earlier refused to go, agrees to join in, to Julie's delight, as he realizes that being seen at the clambake is integral to his and Jigger's alibi ("Act I Finale").
Act 2
Everyone reminisces about the huge meal and much fun ("This Was a Real Nice Clambake"). Jigger tries to seduce Carrie; Enoch walks in at the wrong moment, and declares that he is finished with her ("Geraniums In the Winder"), as Jigger jeers ("There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman"). The girls try to comfort Carrie, but for Julie all that matters is that "he's your feller and you love him" ("What's the Use of Wond'rin'?"). Julie sees Billy trying to sneak away with Jigger and, trying to stop him, feels the knife hidden in his shirt. She begs him to give it to her, but he refuses and leaves to commit the robbery.
As they wait, Jigger and Billy gamble with cards. They stake their shares of the anticipated robbery spoils. Billy loses: his participation is now pointless. Unknown to Billy and Jigger, Mr. Bascombe, the intended victim, has already deposited the mill's money. The robbery fails: Bascombe pulls a gun on Billy while Jigger escapes. Billy stabs himself with his knife; Julie arrives just in time for him to say his last words to her and die. Julie strokes his hair, finally able to tell him that she loved him. Carrie and Enoch, reunited by the crisis, attempt to console Julie; Nettie arrives and gives Julie the resolve to keep going despite her despair ("You'll Never Walk Alone").
Billy's defiant spirit ("The Highest Judge of All") is taken Up There to see the Starkeeper, a heavenly official. The Starkeeper tells Billy that the good he did in life was not enough to get into heaven, but so long as there is a person alive who remembers him, he can return for a day to try to do good to redeem himself. He informs Billy that fifteen years have passed on Earth since his suicide, and suggests that Billy can get himself into heaven if he helps his daughter, Louise. He helps Billy look down from heaven to see her (instrumental ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey"). Louise has grown up to be lonely and bitter. The local children ostracize her because her father was a thief and a wife-beater. In the dance, a young ruffian, much like her father at that age, flirts with her and abandons her as too young. The dance concludes, and Billy is anxious to return to Earth and help his daughter. He steals a star to take with him, as the Starkeeper pretends not to notice.
Outside Julie's cottage, Carrie describes her visit to New York with the now-wealthy Enoch. Carrie's husband and their many children enter to fetch her—the family must get ready for the high school graduation later that day. Enoch Jr., the oldest son, remains behind to talk with Louise, as Billy and the Heavenly Friend escorting him enter, invisible to the other characters. Louise confides in Enoch Jr. that she plans to run away from home with an acting troupe. He says that he will stop her by marrying her, but that his father will think her an unsuitable match. Louise is outraged: each insults the other's father, and Louise orders Enoch Jr. to go away. Billy, able to make himself visible at will, reveals himself to the sobbing Louise, pretending to be a friend of her father. He offers her a gift—the star he stole from heaven. She refuses it and, frustrated, he slaps her hand. He makes himself invisible, and Louise tells Julie what happened, stating that the slap miraculously felt like a kiss, not a blow—and Julie understands her perfectly. Louise retreats to the house, as Julie notices the star that Billy dropped; she picks it up and seems to feel Billy's presence ("If I Loved You (Reprise)").
Billy invisibly attends Louise's graduation, hoping for one last chance to help his daughter and redeem himself. The beloved town physician, Dr. Seldon (who resembles the Starkeeper) advises the graduating class not to rely on their parents' success or be held back by their failure (words directed at Louise). Seldon prompts everyone to sing an old song, "You'll Never Walk Alone". Billy, still invisible, whispers to Louise, telling her to believe Seldon's words, and when she tentatively reaches out to another girl, she learns she does not have to be an outcast. Billy goes to Julie, telling her at last that he loved her. As his widow and daughter join in the singing, Billy is taken to his heavenly reward.
Principal roles and notable performers
° denotes original Broadway cast
Musical numbers Act I"List of Songs", Carousel at the IBDB Database. Retrieved July 18, 2012
"The Carousel Waltz" – Orchestra
"You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan" – Carrie Pipperidge and Julie Jordan
"(When I Marry) Mister Snow" – Carrie
"If I Loved You" – Billy Bigelow and Julie
"June Is Bustin' Out All Over" – Nettie Fowler and Chorus
"(When I Marry) Mister Snow" (reprise) – Carrie, Enoch Snow and Female Chorus
"When the Children Are Asleep" – Enoch and Carrie
"Blow High, Blow Low" – Jigger Craigin, Billy and Male Chorus
"Soliloquy" – BillyAct II "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" – Carrie, Nettie, Julie, Enoch and Chorus
"Geraniums in the Winder" – Enoch *
"There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman" – Jigger and Chorus
"What's the Use of Wond'rin'?" – Julie
"You'll Never Walk Alone" – Nettie
"The Highest Judge of All" – Billy
Ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey" – Orchestra
"If I Loved You" (reprise) – Billy
Finale: "You'll Never Walk Alone" (reprise) – Company
Productions
Early productions
The original Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945. The dress rehearsal the day before had gone badly, and the pair feared the new work would not be well received. One successful last-minute change was to have de Mille choreograph the pantomime. The movement of the carnival crowd in the pantomime had been entrusted to Mamoulian, and his version was not working. Rodgers had injured his back the previous week, and he watched the opening from a stretcher propped in a box behind the curtain. Sedated with morphine, he could see only part of the stage. As he could not hear the audience's applause and laughter, he assumed the show was a failure. It was not until friends congratulated him later that evening that he realized that the curtain had been met by wild applause. Bambi Linn, who played Louise, was so enthusiastically received by the audience during her ballet that she was forced to break character, when she next appeared, and bow. Rodgers' daughter Mary caught sight of her friend, Stephen Sondheim, both teenagers then, across several rows; both had eyes wet with tears.
The original production ran for 890 performances, closing on May 24, 1947. The original cast included John Raitt (Billy), Jan Clayton (Julie), Jean Darling (Carrie), Eric Mattson (Enoch Snow), Christine Johnson (Nettie Fowler), Murvyn Vye (Jigger), Bambi Linn (Louise) and Russell Collins (Starkeeper). In December 1945, Clayton left to star in the Broadway revival of Show Boat and was replaced by Iva Withers; Raitt was replaced by Henry Michel in January 1947; Darling was replaced by Margot Moser.Hischak, p. 62
After closing on Broadway, the show went on a national tour for two years. It played for five months in Chicago alone, visited twenty states and two Canadian cities, covered and played to nearly two million people. The touring company had a four-week run at New York City Center in January 1949. Following the City Center run, the show was moved back to the Majestic Theatre in the hopes of filling the theatre until South Pacific opened in early April. However, ticket sales were mediocre, and the show closed almost a month early.
The musical premiered in the West End, London, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on June 7, 1950. The production was restaged by Jerome Whyte, with a cast that included Stephen Douglass (Billy), Iva Withers (Julie) and Margot Moser (Carrie). Carousel ran in London for 566 performances, remaining there for over a year and a half.
Subsequent productions
Carousel was revived in 1954 and 1957 at City Center, presented by the New York City Center Light Opera Company. Both times, the production featured Barbara Cook, though she played Carrie in 1954 and Julie in 1957 (playing alongside Howard Keel as Billy). The production was then taken to Belgium to be performed at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, with David Atkinson as Billy, Ruth Kobart as Nettie, and Clayton reprising the role of Julie, which she had originated.
In August 1965, Rodgers and the Music Theater of Lincoln Center produced Carousel for 47 performances. John Raitt reprised the role of Billy, with Jerry Orbach as Jigger and Reid Shelton as Enoch Snow. The roles of the Starkeeper and Dr. Seldon were played by Edward Everett Horton in his final stage appearance. The following year, New York City Center Light Opera Company brought Carousel back to City Center for 22 performances, with Bruce Yarnell as Billy and Constance Towers as Julie.
Nicholas Hytner directed a new production of Carousel in 1992, at London's Royal National Theatre, with choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan and designs by Bob Crowley. In this staging, the story begins at the mill, where Julie and Carrie work, with the music slowed down to emphasize the drudgery. After work ends, they move to the shipyards and then to the carnival. As they proceed on a revolving stage, carnival characters appear, and at last the carousel is assembled onstage for the girls to ride.Block, p. 175 Louise is seduced by the ruffian boy during her Act 2 ballet, set around the ruins of a carousel. Michael Hayden played Billy not as a large, gruff man, but as a frustrated smaller one, a time bomb waiting to explode. Hayden, Joanna Riding (Julie) and Janie Dee (Carrie) all won Olivier Awards for their performances. Patricia Routledge played Nettie. Enoch and Carrie were cast as an interracial couple whose eight children, according to the review in The New York Times, looked like "a walking United Colors of Benetton ad". Clive Rowe, as Enoch, was nominated for an Olivier Award. The production's limited run from December 1992 through March 1993 was a sellout. It re-opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London in September 1993, presented by Cameron Mackintosh, where it continued until May 1994.
The Hytner production moved to New York's Vivian Beaumont Theater, where it opened on March 24, 1994, and ran for 322 performances. This won five Tony Awards, including best musical revival, as well as awards for Hytner, MacMillan, Crowley and Audra McDonald (as Carrie). The cast also included Sally Murphy as Julie, Shirley Verrett as Nettie, Fisher Stevens as Jigger and Eddie Korbich as Enoch. One change made from the London to the New York production was to have Billy strike Louise across the face, rather than on the hand. According to Hayden, "He does the one unpardonable thing, the thing we can't forgive. It's a challenge for the audience to like him after that." The Hytner Carousel was presented in Japan in May 1995. A U.S. national tour with a scaled-down production began in February 1996 in Houston and closed in May 1997 in Providence, Rhode Island. Producers sought to feature young talent on the tour, with Patrick Wilson as Billy and Sarah Uriarte Berry, and later Jennifer Laura Thompson, as Julie.
A revival opened at London's Savoy Theatre on December 2, 2008, after a week of previews, starring Jeremiah James (Billy), Alexandra Silber (Julie) and Lesley Garrett (Nettie). The production received warm to mixed reviews. It closed in June 2009, a month early. Michael Coveney, writing in The Independent, admired Rodgers' music but stated, "Lindsay Posner's efficient revival doesn't hold a candle to the National Theatre 1992 version". A production at Theater Basel, Switzerland, in 2016 to 2017, with German dialogue, was directed by Alexander Charim and choreographed by Teresa Rotemberg. Bryony Dwyer, Christian Miedl and Cheryl Studer starred, respectively, as Julie Jordan, Billy Bigelow and Nettie Fowler.<ref>[http://operabase.com/diary.cgi?lang=en&code=wsba&date=20161215 "Richard Rodgers: Carousel"] , Diary: Theater Basel, Operabase.com. Retrieved on March 8, 2018</ref> A semi-staged revival by the English National Opera opened at the London Coliseum in 2017. The production was directed by Lonny Price, conducted by David Charles Abell, and starred Alfie Boe as Billy, Katherine Jenkins as Julie and Nicholas Lyndhurst as the Starkeeper. The production received mixed to positive reviews.
The third Broadway revival began previews in February 2018 at the Imperial Theatre and officially opened on April 12. It closed on September 16, 2018. The production starred Jessie Mueller, Joshua Henry, Renée Fleming, Lindsay Mendez and Alexander Gemignani. The production was directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Justin Peck. The songs "Geraniums in the Winder" and "There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman" were cut from this revival. Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times, "The tragic inevitability of Carousel has seldom come across as warmly or as chillingly as it does in this vividly reimagined revival. ... [W]ith thoughtful and powerful performances by Mr. Henry and Ms. Mueller, the love story at the show's center has never seemed quite as ill-starred or, at the same time, as sexy. ... [T]he Starkeeper ... assumes new visibility throughout, taking on the role of Billy's angelic supervisor." Brantley strongly praised the choreography, all the performances and the designers. He was unconvinced, however, by the "mother-daughter dialogue that falls so abrasively on contemporary ears", where Julie tries to justify loving an abusive man, and other scenes in Act 2, particularly those set in heaven, and the optimism of the final scene. Most of the reviewers agreed that while the choreography and performances (especially the singing) were excellent, characterizing the production as sexy and sumptuous, O'Brien's direction did little to help the show deal with modern sensibilities about men's treatment of women, instead indulging in nostalgia.
From July to September 2021 the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London is presenting a staging by its artistic director Timothy Sheader, with choreography by Drew McOnie. The cast includes Carly Bawden as Julie, Declan Bennett as Billy and Joanna Riding as Nettie.
Film, television and concert versions
[[File:Boothbay Harbor in Summer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where the location shots for Carousels movie version were filmed]]
A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. It follows the musical's story fairly closely, although a prologue, set in the Starkeeper's heaven, was added. The film was released only a few months after the release of the film version of Oklahoma! It garnered some good reviews, and the soundtrack recording was a best seller. As the same stars appeared in both pictures, however, the two films were often compared, generally to the disadvantage of Carousel. Thomas Hischak, in The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, later wondered "if the smaller number of Carousel stage revivals is the product of this often-lumbering [film] musical".
There was also an abridged (100 minute) 1967 network television version that starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella.
The New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version of the musical from February 28 to March 2, 2013, at Avery Fisher Hall. Kelli O'Hara played Julie, with Nathan Gunn as Billy, Stephanie Blythe as Nettie, Jessie Mueller as Carrie, Jason Danieley as Enoch, Shuler Hensley as Jigger, John Cullum as the Starkeeper, and Kate Burton as Mrs. Mullin. Tiler Peck danced the role of Louise to choreography by Warren Carlyle. The production was directed by John Rando and conducted by Rob Fisher. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, "this is as gorgeously sung a production of this sublime 1945 Broadway musical as you are ever likely to hear." It was broadcast as part of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center series, premiering on April 26, 2013.
Music and recordings
Musical treatment
Rodgers designed Carousel to be an almost continuous stream of music, especially in Act 1. In later years, Rodgers was asked if he had considered writing an opera. He stated that he had been sorely tempted to, but saw Carousel in operatic terms. He remembered, "We came very close to opera in the Majestic Theatre. ... There's much that is operatic in the music."
Rodgers uses music in Carousel in subtle ways to differentiate characters and tell the audience of their emotional state. In "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan", the music for the placid Carrie is characterized by even eighth-note rhythms, whereas the emotionally restless Julie's music is marked by dotted eighths and sixteenths; this rhythm will characterize her throughout the show. When Billy whistles a snatch of the song, he selects Julie's dotted notes rather than Carrie's. Reflecting the close association in the music between Julie and the as-yet unborn Louise, when Billy sings in "Soliloquy" of his daughter, who "gets hungry every night", he uses Julie's dotted rhythms. Such rhythms also characterize Julie's Act 2 song, "What's the Use of Wond'rin'". The stable love between Enoch and Carrie is strengthened by her willingness to let Enoch not only plan his entire life, but hers as well. This is reflected in "When the Children Are Asleep", where the two sing in close harmony, but Enoch musically interrupts his intended's turn at the chorus with the words "Dreams that won't be interrupted". Rodgers biographer Geoffrey Block, in his book on the Broadway musical, points out that though Billy may strike his wife, he allows her musical themes to become a part of him and never interrupts her music. Block suggests that, as reprehensible as Billy may be for his actions, Enoch requiring Carrie to act as "the little woman", and his having nine children with her (more than she had found acceptable in "When the Children are Asleep") can be considered to be even more abusive.
The twelve-minute "bench scene", in which Billy and Julie get to know each other and which culminates with "If I Loved You", according to Hischak, "is considered the most completely integrated piece of music-drama in the American musical theatre". The scene is almost entirely drawn from Molnár and is one extended musical piece; Stephen Sondheim described it as "probably the single most important moment in the revolution of contemporary musicals". "If I Loved You" has been recorded many times, by such diverse artists as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis Jr., Mario Lanza and Chad and Jeremy. The D-flat major theme that dominates the music for the second act ballet seems like a new melody to many audience members. It is, however, a greatly expanded development of a theme heard during "Soliloquy" at the line "I guess he'll call me 'The old man' ".
When the pair discussed the song that would become "Soliloquy", Rodgers improvised at the piano to give Hammerstein an idea of how he envisioned the song. When Hammerstein presented his collaborator with the lyrics after two weeks of work (Hammerstein always wrote the words first, then Rodgers would write the melodies), Rodgers wrote the music for the eight-minute song in two hours. "What's the Use of Wond'rin' ", one of Julie's songs, worked well in the show but was never as popular on the radio or for recording, and Hammerstein believed that the lack of popularity was because he had concluded the final line, "And all the rest is talk" with a hard consonant, which does not allow the singer a vocal climax.
Irving Berlin later stated that "You'll Never Walk Alone" had the same sort of effect on him as the 23rd Psalm. When singer Mel Tormé told Rodgers that "You'll Never Walk Alone" had made him cry, Rodgers nodded impatiently. "You're supposed to." The frequently recorded song has become a widely accepted hymn.Rodgers, p. 240 The cast recording of Carousel proved popular in Liverpool, like many Broadway albums, and in 1963, the Brian Epstein-managed band, Gerry and the Pacemakers had a number-one hit with the song. At the time, the top ten hits were played before Liverpool F.C. home matches; even after "You'll Never Walk Alone" dropped out of the top ten, fans continued to sing it, and it has become closely associated with the soccer team and the city of Liverpool. A BBC program, Soul Music, ranked it alongside "Silent Night" and "Abide With Me" in terms of its emotional impact and iconic status.
Recordings
The cast album of the 1945 Broadway production was issued on 78s, and the score was significantly cut—as was the 1950 London cast recording. Theatre historian John Kenrick notes of the 1945 recording that a number of songs had to be abridged to fit the 78 format, but that there is a small part of "Soliloquy" found on no other recording, as Rodgers cut it from the score immediately after the studio recording was made.Fick, David. "The Best Carousel Recording", June 11, 2009. Retrieved on April 7, 2016
A number of songs were cut for the 1956 film, but two of the deleted numbers had been recorded and were ultimately retained on the soundtrack album. The expanded CD version of the soundtrack, issued in 2001, contains all of the singing recorded for the film, including the cut portions, and nearly all of the dance music. The recording of the 1965 Lincoln Center revival featured Raitt reprising the role of Billy. Studio recordings of Carousels songs were released in 1956 (with Robert Merrill as Billy, Patrice Munsel as Julie, and Florence Henderson as Carrie), 1962 and 1987. The 1987 version featured a mix of opera and musical stars, including Samuel Ramey, Barbara Cook and Sarah Brightman. Kenrick recommends the 1962 studio recording for its outstanding cast, including Alfred Drake, Roberta Peters, Claramae Turner, Lee Venora, and Norman Treigle.
Both the London (1993) and New York (1994) cast albums of the Hytner production contain portions of dialogue that, according to Hischak, speak to the power of Michael Hayden's portrayal of Billy. Kenrick judges the 1994 recording the best all-around performance of Carousel on disc, despite uneven singing by Hayden, due to Sally Murphy's Julie and the strong supporting cast (calling Audra McDonald the best Carrie he has heard). The Stratford Festival issued a recording in 2015.
Critical reception and legacy
The musical received almost unanimous rave reviews after its opening in 1945. According to Hischak, reviews were not as exuberant as for Oklahoma! as the critics were not taken by surprise this time. John Chapman of the Daily News termed it "one of the finest musical plays I have ever seen and I shall remember it always". The New York Times's reviewer, Lewis Nichols, stated that "Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein 2d, who can do no wrong, have continued doing no wrong in adapting Liliom into a musical play. Their Carousel is on the whole delightful." Wilella Waldorf of the New York Post, however, complained, "Carousel seemed to us a rather long evening. The Oklahoma! formula is becoming a bit monotonous and so are Miss de Mille's ballets. All right, go ahead and shoot!"Suskin, Steven. Opening Night on Broadway. Schirmer Trade Books, 1990, p. 147. . Dance Magazine gave Linn plaudits for her role as Louise, stating, "Bambi doesn't come on until twenty minutes before eleven, and for the next forty minutes, she practically holds the audience in her hand". Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune also applauded the dancing: "It has waited for Miss de Mille to come through with peculiarly American dance patterns for a musical show to become as much a dance as a song show."
When the musical returned to New York in 1949, The New York Times reviewer Brooks Atkinson described Carousel as "a conspicuously superior musical play ... Carousel, which was warmly appreciated when it opened, seems like nothing less than a masterpiece now." In 1954, when Carousel was revived at City Center, Atkinson discussed the musical in his review:
Carousel has no comment to make on anything of topical importance. The theme is timeless and universal: the devotion of two people who love each other through thick and thin, complicated in this case by the wayward personality of the man, who cannot fulfill the responsibilities he has assumed. ... Billy is a bum, but Carousel recognizes the decency of his motives and admires his independence. There are no slick solutions in Carousel.
Stephen Sondheim noted the duo's ability to take the innovations of Oklahoma! and apply them to a serious setting: "Oklahoma! is about a picnic, Carousel is about life and death." Critic Eric Bentley, on the other hand, wrote that "the last scene of Carousel is an impertinence: I refuse to be lectured to by a musical comedy scriptwriter on the education of children, the nature of the good life, and the contribution of the American small town to the salvation of souls."New York Times critic Frank Rich said of the 1992 London production: "What is remarkable about Mr. Hytner's direction, aside from its unorthodox faith in the virtues of simplicity and stillness, is its ability to make a 1992 audience believe in Hammerstein's vision of redemption, which has it that a dead sinner can return to Earth to do godly good." The Hytner production in New York was hailed by many critics as a grittier Carousel, which they deemed more appropriate for the 1990s. Clive Barnes of the New York Post called it a "defining Carousel—hard-nosed, imaginative, and exciting."
Critic Michael Billington has commented that "lyrically [Carousel] comes perilously close to acceptance of the inevitability of domestic violence." BroadwayWorld.com stated in 2013 that Carousel is now "considered somewhat controversial in terms of its attitudes on domestic violence" because Julie chooses to stay with Billy despite the abuse; actress Kelli O'Hara noted that the domestic violence that Julie "chooses to deal with – is a real, existing and very complicated thing. And exploring it is an important part of healing it."
Rodgers considered Carousel his favorite of all his musicals and wrote, "it affects me deeply every time I see it performed". In 1999, Time magazine, in its "Best of the Century" list, named Carousel the Best Musical of the 20th century, writing that Rodgers and Hammerstein "set the standards for the 20th century musical, and this show features their most beautiful score and the most skillful and affecting example of their musical storytelling". Hammerstein's grandson, Oscar Andrew Hammerstein, in his book about his family, suggested that the wartime situation made Carousel's ending especially poignant to its original viewers, "Every American grieved the loss of a brother, son, father, or friend ... the audience empathized with [Billy's] all-too-human efforts to offer advice, to seek forgiveness, to complete an unfinished life, and to bid a proper good-bye from beyond the grave." Author and composer Ethan Mordden agreed with that perspective:
If Oklahoma! developed the moral argument for sending American boys overseas, Carousel offered consolation to those wives and mothers whose boys would only return in spirit. The meaning lay not in the tragedy of the present, but in the hope for a future where no one walks alone.
Awards and nominations
Original 1945 Broadway productionNote: The Tony Awards were not established until 1947, and so Carousel was not eligible to win any Tonys at its premiere.
1957 revival
1992 London revival
1994 Broadway revival
2018 Broadway revival
References
Bibliography
Block, Geoffrey. Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical from Show Boat to Sondheim. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2004. .
Block, Geoffrey (ed.) The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2006. .
Bradley, Ian. You've Got to Have a Dream: The Message of the Broadway Musical. Louisville, Ky., Westminster John Knox Press, 2005. 978-0-664-22854-5.
Easton, Carol. No Intermission: The Life of Agnes DeMille. Jefferson, N.C.: Da Capo Press, 2000 (1st DaCapo Press edition). .
Fordin, Hugh. Getting to Know Him: A Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. Jefferson, N.C.: Da Capo Press, 1995 reprint of 1986 edition. .
Hammerstein, Oscar Andrew. The Hammersteins: A Musical Theatre Family. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2010. .
Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. .
Hyland, William G. Richard Rodgers. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1998. .
Molnár, Ferenc. Liliom: A Legend in Seven Scenes and a Prologue. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1921.
Mordden, Ethan. "Rodgers & Hammerstein". New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992. .
Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2002. .
Rodgers, Richard. Musical Stages: An Autobiography. Jefferson, N.C. Da Capo Press, 2002 reprint of 1975 edition. .
Secrest, Meryle. Somewhere for Me: A Biography of Richard Rodgers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2001. .
External links
Carousel at guidetomusicaltheatre.com
Carousel info page on StageAgent.com – Carousel plot summary and character descriptions
(1967 TV adaptation)
1945 musicals
Broadway musicals
Musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein
West End musicals
Musicals based on plays
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Maine in fiction
Fiction set in 1873
Fiction about the afterlife
Plays set in Maine
Plays set in the 19th century
Tony Award-winning musicals | true | [
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"Carousel (musical)",
"Film, television and concert versions",
"which version came out first? (film tv or concert?)",
"musical"
]
| C_d59717368f914b249db2290d234441fe_1 | what year did the musical come out? | 2 | What year did the Carousel (musical) come out? | Carousel (musical) | A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. It follows the musical's story fairly closely, although a prologue, set in the Starkeeper's heaven, was added. The film was released only a few months after the release of the film version of Oklahoma!. It garnered some good reviews, and the soundtrack recording was a best seller. As the same stars appeared in both pictures, however, the two films were often compared, generally to the disadvantage of Carousel. Thomas Hischak, in The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, later wondered "if the smaller number of Carousel stage revivals is the product of this often-lumbering [film] musical". There was also an abridged (100 minute) 1967 network television version that starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella. The New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version of the musical from February 28 to March 2, 2013, at Avery Fisher Hall. Kelli O'Hara played Julie, with Nathan Gunn as Billy, Stephanie Blythe as Nettie, Jessie Mueller as Carrie, Jason Danieley as Enoch, Shuler Hensley as Jigger, John Cullum as the Starkeeper, and Kate Burton as Mrs. Mullin. Tiler Peck danced the role of Louise to choreography by Warren Carlyle. The production was directed by John Rando. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, "this is as gorgeously sung a production of this sublime 1945 Broadway musical as you are ever likely to hear." It was broadcast as part of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center series, premiering on April 26, 2013. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Carousel is the second musical by the team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics). The 1945 work was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline. The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He participates in a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes tragically wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show includes the well-known songs "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone". Richard Rodgers later wrote that Carousel was his favorite of all his musicals.
Following the spectacular success of the first Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma! (1943), the pair sought to collaborate on another piece, knowing that any resulting work would be compared with Oklahoma!, most likely unfavorably. They were initially reluctant to seek the rights to Liliom; Molnár had refused permission for the work to be adapted in the past, and the original ending was considered too depressing for the musical theatre. After acquiring the rights, the team created a work with lengthy sequences of music and made the ending more hopeful.
The musical required considerable modification during out-of-town tryouts, but once it opened on Broadway on April 19, 1945, it was an immediate hit with both critics and audiences. Carousel initially ran for 890 performances and duplicated its success in the West End in 1950. Though it has never achieved as much commercial success as Oklahoma!, the piece has been repeatedly revived, recorded several times and was filmed in 1956. A production by Nicholas Hytner enjoyed success in 1992 in London, in 1994 in New York and on tour. Another Broadway revival opened in 2018. In 1999, Time magazine named Carousel the best musical of the 20th century.
Background
Liliom
Ferenc Molnár's Hungarian-language drama, Liliom, premiered in Budapest in 1909. The audience was puzzled by the work, and it lasted only thirty-odd performances before being withdrawn, the first shadow on Molnár's successful career as a playwright. Liliom was not presented again until after World War I. When it reappeared on the Budapest stage, it was a tremendous hit.
Except for the ending, the plots of Liliom and Carousel are very similar. Andreas Zavocky (nicknamed Liliom, the Hungarian word for "lily", a slang term for "tough guy"), a carnival barker, falls in love with Julie Zeller, a servant girl, and they begin living together. With both discharged from their jobs, Liliom is discontented and contemplates leaving Julie, but decides not to do so on learning that she is pregnant. A subplot involves Julie's friend Marie, who has fallen in love with Wolf Biefeld, a hotel porter—after the two marry, he becomes the owner of the hotel. Desperate to make money so that he, Julie and their child can escape to America and a better life, Liliom conspires with lowlife Ficsur to commit a robbery, but it goes badly, and Liliom stabs himself. He dies, and his spirit is taken to heaven's police court. As Ficsur suggested while the two waited to commit the crime, would-be robbers like them do not come before God Himself. Liliom is told by the magistrate that he may go back to Earth for one day to attempt to redeem the wrongs he has done to his family, but must first spend sixteen years in a fiery purgatory.
On his return to Earth, Liliom encounters his daughter, Louise, who like her mother is now a factory worker. Saying that he knew her father, he tries to give her a star he stole from the heavens. When Louise refuses to take it, he strikes her. Not realizing who he is, Julie confronts him, but finds herself unable to be angry with him. Liliom is ushered off to his fate, presumably Hell, and Louise asks her mother if it is possible to feel a hard slap as if it was a kiss. Julie reminiscently tells her daughter that it is very possible for that to happen.
An English translation of Liliom was credited to Benjamin "Barney" Glazer, though there is a story that the actual translator, uncredited, was Rodgers' first major partner Lorenz Hart. The Theatre Guild presented it in New York City in 1921, with Joseph Schildkraut as Liliom, and the play was a success, running 300 performances. A 1940 revival with Burgess Meredith and Ingrid Bergman was seen by both Hammerstein and Rodgers. Glazer, in introducing the English translation of Liliom, wrote of the play's appeal:
And where in modern dramatic literature can such pearls be matched—Julie incoherently confessing to her dead lover the love she had always been ashamed to tell; Liliom crying out to the distant carousel the glad news that he is to be a father; the two thieves gambling for the spoils of their prospective robbery; Marie and Wolf posing for their portrait while the broken-hearted Julie stands looking after the vanishing Liliom, the thieves' song ringing in her ears; the two policemen grousing about pay and pensions while Liliom lies bleeding to death; Liliom furtively proffering his daughter the star he has stolen for her in heaven. ... The temptation to count the whole scintillating string is difficult to resist.
Inception
In the 1920s and 1930s, Rodgers and Hammerstein both became well known for creating Broadway hits with other partners. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced a string of over two dozen musicals, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Some of Rodgers' work with Hart broke new ground in musical theatre: On Your Toes was the first use of ballet to sustain the plot (in the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" scene), while Pal Joey flouted Broadway tradition by presenting a knave as its hero. Hammerstein had written or co-written the words for such hits as Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote material for musicals and films, sharing an Oscar for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good.
By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, becoming unreliable and prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him. Hammerstein was eager to do so, and their first collaboration was Oklahoma! (1943). Thomas Hischak states, in his The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, that Oklahoma! is "the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. In fact, the history of the Broadway musical can accurately be divided into what came before Oklahoma! and what came after it." An innovation for its time in integrating song, character, plot and dance, Oklahoma! would serve, according to Hischak, as "the model for Broadway shows for decades", and proved a huge popular and financial success. Once it was well-launched, what to do as an encore was a daunting challenge for the pair. Film producer Samuel Goldwyn saw Oklahoma! and advised Rodgers to shoot himself, which according to Rodgers "was Sam's blunt but funny way of telling me that I'd never create another show as good as Oklahoma!" As they considered new projects, Hammerstein wrote, "We're such fools. No matter what we do, everyone is bound to say, 'This is not another Oklahoma! "
Oklahoma! had been a struggle to finance and produce. Hammerstein and Rodgers met weekly in 1943 with Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Theatre Guild, producers of the blockbuster musical, who together formed what they termed "the Gloat Club". At one such luncheon, Helburn and Langner proposed to Rodgers and Hammerstein that they turn Molnár's Liliom into a musical. Both men refused—they had no feeling for the Budapest setting and thought that the unhappy ending was unsuitable for musical theatre. In addition, given the unstable wartime political situation, they might need to change the setting from Hungary while in rehearsal. At the next luncheon, Helburn and Langner again proposed Liliom, suggesting that they move the setting to Louisiana and make Liliom a Creole. Rodgers and Hammerstein played with the idea over the next few weeks, but decided that Creole dialect, filled with "zis" and "zose", would sound corny and would make it difficult to write effective lyrics.
A breakthrough came when Rodgers, who owned a house in Connecticut, proposed a New England setting. Hammerstein wrote of this suggestion in 1945,
I began to see an attractive ensemble—sailors, whalers, girls who worked in the mills up the river, clambakes on near-by islands, an amusement park on the seaboard, things people could do in crowds, people who were strong and alive and lusty, people who had always been depicted on the stage as thin-lipped puritans—a libel I was anxious to refute ... as for the two leading characters, Julie with her courage and inner strength and outward simplicity seemed more indigenous to Maine than to Budapest. Liliom is, of course, an international character, indigenous to nowhere.
Rodgers and Hammerstein were also concerned about what they termed "the tunnel" of Molnár's second act—a series of gloomy scenes leading up to Liliom's suicide—followed by a dark ending. They also felt it would be difficult to set Liliom's motivation for the robbery to music. Molnár's opposition to having his works adapted was also an issue; he had famously turned down Giacomo Puccini when the great composer wished to transform Liliom into an opera, stating that he wanted the piece to be remembered as his, not Puccini's. In 1937, Molnár, who had recently emigrated to the United States, had declined another offer from Kurt Weill to adapt the play into a musical.
The pair continued to work on the preliminary ideas for a Liliom adaptation while pursuing other projects in late 1943 and early 1944—writing the film musical State Fair and producing I Remember Mama on Broadway. Meanwhile, the Theatre Guild took Molnár to see Oklahoma! Molnár stated that if Rodgers and Hammerstein could adapt Liliom as beautifully as they had modified Green Grow the Lilacs into Oklahoma!, he would be pleased to have them do it. The Guild obtained the rights from Molnár in October 1943. The playwright received one percent of the gross and $2,500 for "personal services". The duo insisted, as part of the contract, that Molnár permit them to make changes in the plot. At first, the playwright refused, but eventually yielded. Hammerstein later stated that if this point had not been won, "we could never have made Carousel."
In seeking to establish through song Liliom's motivation for the robbery, Rodgers remembered that he and Hart had a similar problem in Pal Joey. Rodgers and Hart had overcome the problem with a song that Joey sings to himself, "I'm Talking to My Pal". This inspired "Soliloquy". Both partners later told a story that "Soliloquy" was only intended to be a song about Liliom's dreams of a son, but that Rodgers, who had two daughters, insisted that Liliom consider that Julie might have a girl. However, the notes taken at their meeting of December 7, 1943 state: "Mr. Rodgers suggested a fine musical number for the end of the scene where Liliom discovers he is to be a father, in which he sings first with pride of the growth of a boy, and then suddenly realizes it might be a girl and changes completely."
Hammerstein and Rodgers returned to the Liliom project in mid-1944. Hammerstein was uneasy as he worked, fearing that no matter what they did, Molnár would disapprove of the results. Green Grow the Lilacs had been a little-known work; Liliom was a theatrical standard. Molnár's text also contained considerable commentary on the Hungarian politics of 1909 and the rigidity of that society. A dismissed carnival barker who hits his wife, attempts a robbery and commits suicide seemed an unlikely central character for a musical comedy. Hammerstein decided to use the words and story to make the audience sympathize with the lovers. He also built up the secondary couple, who are incidental to the plot in Liliom; they became Enoch Snow and Carrie Pipperidge. "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" was repurposed from a song, "A Real Nice Hayride", written for Oklahoma! but not used.
Molnár's ending was unsuitable, and after a couple of false starts, Hammerstein conceived the graduation scene that ends the musical. According to Frederick Nolan in his book on the team's works: "From that scene the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" sprang almost naturally." In spite of Hammerstein's simple lyrics for "You'll Never Walk Alone", Rodgers had great difficulty in setting it to music. Rodgers explained his rationale for the changed ending,
Liliom was a tragedy about a man who cannot learn to live with other people. The way Molnár wrote it, the man ends up hitting his daughter and then having to go back to purgatory, leaving his daughter helpless and hopeless. We couldn't accept that. The way we ended Carousel it may still be a tragedy but it's a hopeful one because in the final scene it is clear that the child has at last learned how to express herself and communicate with others.
When the pair decided to make "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" into an ensemble number, Hammerstein realized he had no idea what a clambake was like, and researched the matter. Based on his initial findings, he wrote the line, "First came codfish chowder". However, further research convinced him the proper term was "codhead chowder", a term unfamiliar to many playgoers. He decided to keep it as "codfish". When the song proceeded to discuss the lobsters consumed at the feast, Hammerstein wrote the line "We slit 'em down the back/And peppered 'em good". He was grieved to hear from a friend that lobsters are always slit down the front. The lyricist sent a researcher to a seafood restaurant and heard back that lobsters are always slit down the back. Hammerstein concluded that there is disagreement about which side of a lobster is the back. One error not caught involved the song "June Is Bustin' Out All Over", in which sheep are depicted as seeking to mate in late spring—they actually do so in the winter. Whenever this was brought to Hammerstein's attention, he told his informant that 1873 was a special year, in which sheep mated in the spring.
Rodgers early decided to dispense with an overture, feeling that the music was hard to hear over the banging of seats as latecomers settled themselves. In his autobiography, Rodgers complained that only the brass section can be heard during an overture because there are never enough strings in a musical's small orchestra. He determined to force the audience to concentrate from the beginning by opening with a pantomime scene accompanied by what became known as "The Carousel Waltz". The pantomime paralleled one in the Molnár play, which was also used to introduce the characters and situation to the audience. Author Ethan Mordden described the effectiveness of this opening:
Other characters catch our notice—Mr. Bascombe, the pompous mill owner, Mrs. Mullin, the widow who runs the carousel and, apparently, Billy; a dancing bear; an acrobat. But what draws us in is the intensity with which Julie regards Billy—the way she stands frozen, staring at him, while everyone else at the fair is swaying to the rhythm of Billy's spiel. And as Julie and Billy ride together on the swirling carousel, and the stage picture surges with the excitement of the crowd, and the orchestra storms to a climax, and the curtain falls, we realize that R & H have not only skipped the overture and the opening number but the exposition as well. They have plunged into the story, right into the middle of it, in the most intense first scene any musical ever had.
Casting and out-of-town tryouts
The casting for Carousel began when Oklahoma!s production team, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, was seeking a replacement for the part of Curly (the male lead in Oklahoma!). Lawrence Langner had heard, through a relative, of a California singer named John Raitt, who might be suitable for the part. Langner went to hear Raitt, then urged the others to bring Raitt to New York for an audition. Raitt asked to sing "Largo al factotum", Figaro's aria from The Barber of Seville, to warm up. The warmup was sufficient to convince the producers that not only had they found a Curly, they had found a Liliom (or Billy Bigelow, as the part was renamed). Theresa Helburn made another California discovery, Jan Clayton, a singer/actress who had made a few minor films for MGM. She was brought east and successfully auditioned for the part of Julie.
The producers sought to cast unknowns. Though many had played in previous Hammerstein or Rodgers works, only one, Jean Casto (cast as carousel owner Mrs. Mullin, and a veteran of Pal Joey), had ever played on Broadway before. It proved harder to cast the ensemble than the leads, due to the war—Rodgers told his casting director, John Fearnley, that the sole qualification for a dancing boy was that he be alive. Rodgers and Hammerstein reassembled much of the creative team that had made Oklahoma! a success, including director Rouben Mamoulian and choreographer Agnes de Mille. Miles White was the costume designer while Jo Mielziner (who had not worked on Oklahoma!) was the scenic and lighting designer. Even though Oklahoma! orchestrator Russell Bennett had informed Rodgers that he was unavailable to work on Carousel due to a radio contract, Rodgers insisted he do the work in his spare time. He orchestrated "The Carousel Waltz" and "(When I Marry) Mister Snow" before finally being replaced by Don Walker. A new member of the creative team was Trude Rittmann, who arranged the dance music. Rittmann initially felt that Rodgers mistrusted her because she was a woman, and found him difficult to work with, but the two worked together on Rodgers' shows until the 1970s.
Rehearsals began in January 1945; either Rodgers or Hammerstein was always present. Raitt was presented with the lyrics for "Soliloquy" on a five-foot long sheet of paper—the piece ran nearly eight minutes. Staging such a long solo number presented problems, and Raitt later stated that he felt that they were never fully addressed. At some point during rehearsals, Molnár came to see what they had done to his play. There are a number of variations on the story.Fordin, pp. 231–32 As Rodgers told it, while watching rehearsals with Hammerstein, the composer spotted Molnár in the rear of the theatre and whispered the news to his partner. Both sweated through an afternoon of rehearsal in which nothing seemed to go right. At the end, the two walked to the back of the theatre, expecting an angry reaction from Molnár. Instead, the playwright said enthusiastically, "What you have done is so beautiful. And you know what I like best? The ending!" Hammerstein wrote that Molnár became a regular attendee at rehearsals after that.
Like most of the pair's works, Carousel contains a lengthy ballet, "Billy Makes a Journey", in the second act, as Billy looks down to the Earth from "Up There" and observes his daughter. In the original production the ballet was choreographed by de Mille. It began with Billy looking down from heaven at his wife in labor, with the village women gathered for a "birthing". The ballet involved every character in the play, some of whom spoke lines of dialogue, and contained a number of subplots. The focus was on Louise, played by Bambi Linn, who at first almost soars in her dance, expressing the innocence of childhood. She is teased and mocked by her schoolmates, and Louise becomes attracted to the rough carnival people, who symbolize Billy's world. A youth from the carnival attempts to seduce Louise, as she discovers her own sexuality, but he decides she is more girl than woman, and he leaves her. After Julie comforts her, Louise goes to a children's party, where she is shunned. The carnival people reappear and form a ring around the children's party, with Louise lost between the two groups. At the end, the performers form a huge carousel with their bodies.
The play opened for tryouts in New Haven, Connecticut on March 22, 1945. The first act was well-received; the second act was not. Casto recalled that the second act finished about 1:30 a.m. The staff immediately sat down for a two-hour conference. Five scenes, half the ballet, and two songs were cut from the show as the result. John Fearnley commented, "Now I see why these people have hits. I never witnessed anything so brisk and brave in my life." De Mille said of this conference, "not three minutes had been wasted pleading for something cherished. Nor was there any idle joking. ... We cut and cut and cut and then we went to bed." By the time the company left New Haven, de Mille's ballet was down to forty minutes.
A major concern with the second act was the effectiveness of the characters He and She (later called by Rodgers "Mr. and Mrs. God"), before whom Billy appeared after his death. Mr. and Mrs. God were depicted as a New England minister and his wife, seen in their parlor.Block (ed.), p. 129. At this time, according to the cast sheet distributed during the Boston run, Dr. Seldon was listed as the "Minister". The couple was still part of the show at the Boston opening. Rodgers said to Hammerstein, "We've got to get God out of that parlor". When Hammerstein inquired where he should put the deity, Rodgers replied, "I don't care where you put Him. Put Him on a ladder for all I care, only get Him out of that parlor!" Hammerstein duly put Mr. God (renamed the Starkeeper) atop a ladder, and Mrs. God was removed from the show. Rodgers biographer Meryle Secrest terms this change a mistake, leading to a more fantastic afterlife, which was later criticized by The New Republic as "a Rotarian atmosphere congenial to audiences who seek not reality but escape from reality, not truth but escape from truth".
Hammerstein wrote that Molnár's advice, to combine two scenes into one, was key to pulling together the second act and represented "a more radical departure from the original than any change we had made". A reprise of "If I Loved You" was added in the second act, which Rodgers felt needed more music. Three weeks of tryouts in Boston followed the brief New Haven run, and the audience there gave the musical a warm reception. An even shorter version of the ballet was presented the final two weeks in Boston, but on the final night there, de Mille expanded it back to forty minutes, and it brought the house down, causing both Rodgers and Hammerstein to embrace her.
Synopsis
Act 1
Two young female millworkers in 1873 Maine visit the town's carousel after work. One of them, Julie Jordan, attracts the attention of the barker, Billy Bigelow ("The Carousel Waltz"). When Julie lets Billy put his arm around her during the ride, Mrs. Mullin, the widowed owner of the carousel, tells Julie never to return. Julie and her friend, Carrie Pipperidge, argue with Mrs. Mullin. Billy arrives and, seeing that Mrs. Mullin is jealous, mocks her; he is fired from his job. Billy, unconcerned, invites Julie to join him for a drink. As he goes to get his belongings, Carrie presses Julie about her feelings toward him, but Julie is evasive ("You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan"). Carrie has a beau too, fisherman Enoch Snow ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow"), to whom she is newly engaged. Billy returns for Julie as the departing Carrie warns that staying out late means the loss of Julie's job. Mr. Bascombe, owner of the mill, happens by along with a policeman, and offers to escort Julie to her home, but she refuses and is fired. Left alone, she and Billy talk about what life might be like if they were in love, but neither quite confesses to the growing attraction they feel for each other ("If I Loved You").
Over a month passes, and preparations for the summer clambake are under way ("June Is Bustin' Out All Over"). Julie and Billy, now married, live at Julie's cousin Nettie's spa. Julie confides in Carrie that Billy, frustrated over being unemployed, hit her. Carrie has happier news—she is engaged to Enoch, who enters as she discusses him ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow (reprise))". Billy arrives with his ne'er-do-well whaler friend, Jigger. The former barker is openly rude to Enoch and Julie, then leaves with Jigger, followed by a distraught Julie. Enoch tells Carrie that he expects to become rich selling herring and to have a large family, larger perhaps than Carrie is comfortable having ("When the Children Are Asleep").
Jigger and his shipmates, joined by Billy, then sing about life on the sea ("Blow High, Blow Low"). The whaler tries to recruit Billy to help with a robbery, but Billy declines, as the victim—Julie's former boss, Mr. Bascombe—might have to be killed. Mrs. Mullin enters and tries to tempt Billy back to the carousel (and to her). He would have to abandon Julie; a married barker cannot evoke the same sexual tension as one who is single. Billy reluctantly mulls it over as Julie arrives and the others leave. She tells him that she is pregnant, and Billy is overwhelmed with happiness, ending all thoughts of returning to the carousel. Once alone, Billy imagines the fun he will have with Bill Jr.—until he realizes that his child might be a girl, and reflects soberly that "you've got to be a father to a girl" ("Soliloquy"). Determined to provide financially for his future child, whatever the means, Billy decides to be Jigger's accomplice.
The whole town leaves for the clambake. Billy, who had earlier refused to go, agrees to join in, to Julie's delight, as he realizes that being seen at the clambake is integral to his and Jigger's alibi ("Act I Finale").
Act 2
Everyone reminisces about the huge meal and much fun ("This Was a Real Nice Clambake"). Jigger tries to seduce Carrie; Enoch walks in at the wrong moment, and declares that he is finished with her ("Geraniums In the Winder"), as Jigger jeers ("There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman"). The girls try to comfort Carrie, but for Julie all that matters is that "he's your feller and you love him" ("What's the Use of Wond'rin'?"). Julie sees Billy trying to sneak away with Jigger and, trying to stop him, feels the knife hidden in his shirt. She begs him to give it to her, but he refuses and leaves to commit the robbery.
As they wait, Jigger and Billy gamble with cards. They stake their shares of the anticipated robbery spoils. Billy loses: his participation is now pointless. Unknown to Billy and Jigger, Mr. Bascombe, the intended victim, has already deposited the mill's money. The robbery fails: Bascombe pulls a gun on Billy while Jigger escapes. Billy stabs himself with his knife; Julie arrives just in time for him to say his last words to her and die. Julie strokes his hair, finally able to tell him that she loved him. Carrie and Enoch, reunited by the crisis, attempt to console Julie; Nettie arrives and gives Julie the resolve to keep going despite her despair ("You'll Never Walk Alone").
Billy's defiant spirit ("The Highest Judge of All") is taken Up There to see the Starkeeper, a heavenly official. The Starkeeper tells Billy that the good he did in life was not enough to get into heaven, but so long as there is a person alive who remembers him, he can return for a day to try to do good to redeem himself. He informs Billy that fifteen years have passed on Earth since his suicide, and suggests that Billy can get himself into heaven if he helps his daughter, Louise. He helps Billy look down from heaven to see her (instrumental ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey"). Louise has grown up to be lonely and bitter. The local children ostracize her because her father was a thief and a wife-beater. In the dance, a young ruffian, much like her father at that age, flirts with her and abandons her as too young. The dance concludes, and Billy is anxious to return to Earth and help his daughter. He steals a star to take with him, as the Starkeeper pretends not to notice.
Outside Julie's cottage, Carrie describes her visit to New York with the now-wealthy Enoch. Carrie's husband and their many children enter to fetch her—the family must get ready for the high school graduation later that day. Enoch Jr., the oldest son, remains behind to talk with Louise, as Billy and the Heavenly Friend escorting him enter, invisible to the other characters. Louise confides in Enoch Jr. that she plans to run away from home with an acting troupe. He says that he will stop her by marrying her, but that his father will think her an unsuitable match. Louise is outraged: each insults the other's father, and Louise orders Enoch Jr. to go away. Billy, able to make himself visible at will, reveals himself to the sobbing Louise, pretending to be a friend of her father. He offers her a gift—the star he stole from heaven. She refuses it and, frustrated, he slaps her hand. He makes himself invisible, and Louise tells Julie what happened, stating that the slap miraculously felt like a kiss, not a blow—and Julie understands her perfectly. Louise retreats to the house, as Julie notices the star that Billy dropped; she picks it up and seems to feel Billy's presence ("If I Loved You (Reprise)").
Billy invisibly attends Louise's graduation, hoping for one last chance to help his daughter and redeem himself. The beloved town physician, Dr. Seldon (who resembles the Starkeeper) advises the graduating class not to rely on their parents' success or be held back by their failure (words directed at Louise). Seldon prompts everyone to sing an old song, "You'll Never Walk Alone". Billy, still invisible, whispers to Louise, telling her to believe Seldon's words, and when she tentatively reaches out to another girl, she learns she does not have to be an outcast. Billy goes to Julie, telling her at last that he loved her. As his widow and daughter join in the singing, Billy is taken to his heavenly reward.
Principal roles and notable performers
° denotes original Broadway cast
Musical numbers Act I"List of Songs", Carousel at the IBDB Database. Retrieved July 18, 2012
"The Carousel Waltz" – Orchestra
"You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan" – Carrie Pipperidge and Julie Jordan
"(When I Marry) Mister Snow" – Carrie
"If I Loved You" – Billy Bigelow and Julie
"June Is Bustin' Out All Over" – Nettie Fowler and Chorus
"(When I Marry) Mister Snow" (reprise) – Carrie, Enoch Snow and Female Chorus
"When the Children Are Asleep" – Enoch and Carrie
"Blow High, Blow Low" – Jigger Craigin, Billy and Male Chorus
"Soliloquy" – BillyAct II "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" – Carrie, Nettie, Julie, Enoch and Chorus
"Geraniums in the Winder" – Enoch *
"There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman" – Jigger and Chorus
"What's the Use of Wond'rin'?" – Julie
"You'll Never Walk Alone" – Nettie
"The Highest Judge of All" – Billy
Ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey" – Orchestra
"If I Loved You" (reprise) – Billy
Finale: "You'll Never Walk Alone" (reprise) – Company
Productions
Early productions
The original Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945. The dress rehearsal the day before had gone badly, and the pair feared the new work would not be well received. One successful last-minute change was to have de Mille choreograph the pantomime. The movement of the carnival crowd in the pantomime had been entrusted to Mamoulian, and his version was not working. Rodgers had injured his back the previous week, and he watched the opening from a stretcher propped in a box behind the curtain. Sedated with morphine, he could see only part of the stage. As he could not hear the audience's applause and laughter, he assumed the show was a failure. It was not until friends congratulated him later that evening that he realized that the curtain had been met by wild applause. Bambi Linn, who played Louise, was so enthusiastically received by the audience during her ballet that she was forced to break character, when she next appeared, and bow. Rodgers' daughter Mary caught sight of her friend, Stephen Sondheim, both teenagers then, across several rows; both had eyes wet with tears.
The original production ran for 890 performances, closing on May 24, 1947. The original cast included John Raitt (Billy), Jan Clayton (Julie), Jean Darling (Carrie), Eric Mattson (Enoch Snow), Christine Johnson (Nettie Fowler), Murvyn Vye (Jigger), Bambi Linn (Louise) and Russell Collins (Starkeeper). In December 1945, Clayton left to star in the Broadway revival of Show Boat and was replaced by Iva Withers; Raitt was replaced by Henry Michel in January 1947; Darling was replaced by Margot Moser.Hischak, p. 62
After closing on Broadway, the show went on a national tour for two years. It played for five months in Chicago alone, visited twenty states and two Canadian cities, covered and played to nearly two million people. The touring company had a four-week run at New York City Center in January 1949. Following the City Center run, the show was moved back to the Majestic Theatre in the hopes of filling the theatre until South Pacific opened in early April. However, ticket sales were mediocre, and the show closed almost a month early.
The musical premiered in the West End, London, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on June 7, 1950. The production was restaged by Jerome Whyte, with a cast that included Stephen Douglass (Billy), Iva Withers (Julie) and Margot Moser (Carrie). Carousel ran in London for 566 performances, remaining there for over a year and a half.
Subsequent productions
Carousel was revived in 1954 and 1957 at City Center, presented by the New York City Center Light Opera Company. Both times, the production featured Barbara Cook, though she played Carrie in 1954 and Julie in 1957 (playing alongside Howard Keel as Billy). The production was then taken to Belgium to be performed at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, with David Atkinson as Billy, Ruth Kobart as Nettie, and Clayton reprising the role of Julie, which she had originated.
In August 1965, Rodgers and the Music Theater of Lincoln Center produced Carousel for 47 performances. John Raitt reprised the role of Billy, with Jerry Orbach as Jigger and Reid Shelton as Enoch Snow. The roles of the Starkeeper and Dr. Seldon were played by Edward Everett Horton in his final stage appearance. The following year, New York City Center Light Opera Company brought Carousel back to City Center for 22 performances, with Bruce Yarnell as Billy and Constance Towers as Julie.
Nicholas Hytner directed a new production of Carousel in 1992, at London's Royal National Theatre, with choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan and designs by Bob Crowley. In this staging, the story begins at the mill, where Julie and Carrie work, with the music slowed down to emphasize the drudgery. After work ends, they move to the shipyards and then to the carnival. As they proceed on a revolving stage, carnival characters appear, and at last the carousel is assembled onstage for the girls to ride.Block, p. 175 Louise is seduced by the ruffian boy during her Act 2 ballet, set around the ruins of a carousel. Michael Hayden played Billy not as a large, gruff man, but as a frustrated smaller one, a time bomb waiting to explode. Hayden, Joanna Riding (Julie) and Janie Dee (Carrie) all won Olivier Awards for their performances. Patricia Routledge played Nettie. Enoch and Carrie were cast as an interracial couple whose eight children, according to the review in The New York Times, looked like "a walking United Colors of Benetton ad". Clive Rowe, as Enoch, was nominated for an Olivier Award. The production's limited run from December 1992 through March 1993 was a sellout. It re-opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London in September 1993, presented by Cameron Mackintosh, where it continued until May 1994.
The Hytner production moved to New York's Vivian Beaumont Theater, where it opened on March 24, 1994, and ran for 322 performances. This won five Tony Awards, including best musical revival, as well as awards for Hytner, MacMillan, Crowley and Audra McDonald (as Carrie). The cast also included Sally Murphy as Julie, Shirley Verrett as Nettie, Fisher Stevens as Jigger and Eddie Korbich as Enoch. One change made from the London to the New York production was to have Billy strike Louise across the face, rather than on the hand. According to Hayden, "He does the one unpardonable thing, the thing we can't forgive. It's a challenge for the audience to like him after that." The Hytner Carousel was presented in Japan in May 1995. A U.S. national tour with a scaled-down production began in February 1996 in Houston and closed in May 1997 in Providence, Rhode Island. Producers sought to feature young talent on the tour, with Patrick Wilson as Billy and Sarah Uriarte Berry, and later Jennifer Laura Thompson, as Julie.
A revival opened at London's Savoy Theatre on December 2, 2008, after a week of previews, starring Jeremiah James (Billy), Alexandra Silber (Julie) and Lesley Garrett (Nettie). The production received warm to mixed reviews. It closed in June 2009, a month early. Michael Coveney, writing in The Independent, admired Rodgers' music but stated, "Lindsay Posner's efficient revival doesn't hold a candle to the National Theatre 1992 version". A production at Theater Basel, Switzerland, in 2016 to 2017, with German dialogue, was directed by Alexander Charim and choreographed by Teresa Rotemberg. Bryony Dwyer, Christian Miedl and Cheryl Studer starred, respectively, as Julie Jordan, Billy Bigelow and Nettie Fowler.<ref>[http://operabase.com/diary.cgi?lang=en&code=wsba&date=20161215 "Richard Rodgers: Carousel"] , Diary: Theater Basel, Operabase.com. Retrieved on March 8, 2018</ref> A semi-staged revival by the English National Opera opened at the London Coliseum in 2017. The production was directed by Lonny Price, conducted by David Charles Abell, and starred Alfie Boe as Billy, Katherine Jenkins as Julie and Nicholas Lyndhurst as the Starkeeper. The production received mixed to positive reviews.
The third Broadway revival began previews in February 2018 at the Imperial Theatre and officially opened on April 12. It closed on September 16, 2018. The production starred Jessie Mueller, Joshua Henry, Renée Fleming, Lindsay Mendez and Alexander Gemignani. The production was directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Justin Peck. The songs "Geraniums in the Winder" and "There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman" were cut from this revival. Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times, "The tragic inevitability of Carousel has seldom come across as warmly or as chillingly as it does in this vividly reimagined revival. ... [W]ith thoughtful and powerful performances by Mr. Henry and Ms. Mueller, the love story at the show's center has never seemed quite as ill-starred or, at the same time, as sexy. ... [T]he Starkeeper ... assumes new visibility throughout, taking on the role of Billy's angelic supervisor." Brantley strongly praised the choreography, all the performances and the designers. He was unconvinced, however, by the "mother-daughter dialogue that falls so abrasively on contemporary ears", where Julie tries to justify loving an abusive man, and other scenes in Act 2, particularly those set in heaven, and the optimism of the final scene. Most of the reviewers agreed that while the choreography and performances (especially the singing) were excellent, characterizing the production as sexy and sumptuous, O'Brien's direction did little to help the show deal with modern sensibilities about men's treatment of women, instead indulging in nostalgia.
From July to September 2021 the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London is presenting a staging by its artistic director Timothy Sheader, with choreography by Drew McOnie. The cast includes Carly Bawden as Julie, Declan Bennett as Billy and Joanna Riding as Nettie.
Film, television and concert versions
[[File:Boothbay Harbor in Summer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where the location shots for Carousels movie version were filmed]]
A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. It follows the musical's story fairly closely, although a prologue, set in the Starkeeper's heaven, was added. The film was released only a few months after the release of the film version of Oklahoma! It garnered some good reviews, and the soundtrack recording was a best seller. As the same stars appeared in both pictures, however, the two films were often compared, generally to the disadvantage of Carousel. Thomas Hischak, in The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, later wondered "if the smaller number of Carousel stage revivals is the product of this often-lumbering [film] musical".
There was also an abridged (100 minute) 1967 network television version that starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella.
The New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version of the musical from February 28 to March 2, 2013, at Avery Fisher Hall. Kelli O'Hara played Julie, with Nathan Gunn as Billy, Stephanie Blythe as Nettie, Jessie Mueller as Carrie, Jason Danieley as Enoch, Shuler Hensley as Jigger, John Cullum as the Starkeeper, and Kate Burton as Mrs. Mullin. Tiler Peck danced the role of Louise to choreography by Warren Carlyle. The production was directed by John Rando and conducted by Rob Fisher. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, "this is as gorgeously sung a production of this sublime 1945 Broadway musical as you are ever likely to hear." It was broadcast as part of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center series, premiering on April 26, 2013.
Music and recordings
Musical treatment
Rodgers designed Carousel to be an almost continuous stream of music, especially in Act 1. In later years, Rodgers was asked if he had considered writing an opera. He stated that he had been sorely tempted to, but saw Carousel in operatic terms. He remembered, "We came very close to opera in the Majestic Theatre. ... There's much that is operatic in the music."
Rodgers uses music in Carousel in subtle ways to differentiate characters and tell the audience of their emotional state. In "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan", the music for the placid Carrie is characterized by even eighth-note rhythms, whereas the emotionally restless Julie's music is marked by dotted eighths and sixteenths; this rhythm will characterize her throughout the show. When Billy whistles a snatch of the song, he selects Julie's dotted notes rather than Carrie's. Reflecting the close association in the music between Julie and the as-yet unborn Louise, when Billy sings in "Soliloquy" of his daughter, who "gets hungry every night", he uses Julie's dotted rhythms. Such rhythms also characterize Julie's Act 2 song, "What's the Use of Wond'rin'". The stable love between Enoch and Carrie is strengthened by her willingness to let Enoch not only plan his entire life, but hers as well. This is reflected in "When the Children Are Asleep", where the two sing in close harmony, but Enoch musically interrupts his intended's turn at the chorus with the words "Dreams that won't be interrupted". Rodgers biographer Geoffrey Block, in his book on the Broadway musical, points out that though Billy may strike his wife, he allows her musical themes to become a part of him and never interrupts her music. Block suggests that, as reprehensible as Billy may be for his actions, Enoch requiring Carrie to act as "the little woman", and his having nine children with her (more than she had found acceptable in "When the Children are Asleep") can be considered to be even more abusive.
The twelve-minute "bench scene", in which Billy and Julie get to know each other and which culminates with "If I Loved You", according to Hischak, "is considered the most completely integrated piece of music-drama in the American musical theatre". The scene is almost entirely drawn from Molnár and is one extended musical piece; Stephen Sondheim described it as "probably the single most important moment in the revolution of contemporary musicals". "If I Loved You" has been recorded many times, by such diverse artists as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis Jr., Mario Lanza and Chad and Jeremy. The D-flat major theme that dominates the music for the second act ballet seems like a new melody to many audience members. It is, however, a greatly expanded development of a theme heard during "Soliloquy" at the line "I guess he'll call me 'The old man' ".
When the pair discussed the song that would become "Soliloquy", Rodgers improvised at the piano to give Hammerstein an idea of how he envisioned the song. When Hammerstein presented his collaborator with the lyrics after two weeks of work (Hammerstein always wrote the words first, then Rodgers would write the melodies), Rodgers wrote the music for the eight-minute song in two hours. "What's the Use of Wond'rin' ", one of Julie's songs, worked well in the show but was never as popular on the radio or for recording, and Hammerstein believed that the lack of popularity was because he had concluded the final line, "And all the rest is talk" with a hard consonant, which does not allow the singer a vocal climax.
Irving Berlin later stated that "You'll Never Walk Alone" had the same sort of effect on him as the 23rd Psalm. When singer Mel Tormé told Rodgers that "You'll Never Walk Alone" had made him cry, Rodgers nodded impatiently. "You're supposed to." The frequently recorded song has become a widely accepted hymn.Rodgers, p. 240 The cast recording of Carousel proved popular in Liverpool, like many Broadway albums, and in 1963, the Brian Epstein-managed band, Gerry and the Pacemakers had a number-one hit with the song. At the time, the top ten hits were played before Liverpool F.C. home matches; even after "You'll Never Walk Alone" dropped out of the top ten, fans continued to sing it, and it has become closely associated with the soccer team and the city of Liverpool. A BBC program, Soul Music, ranked it alongside "Silent Night" and "Abide With Me" in terms of its emotional impact and iconic status.
Recordings
The cast album of the 1945 Broadway production was issued on 78s, and the score was significantly cut—as was the 1950 London cast recording. Theatre historian John Kenrick notes of the 1945 recording that a number of songs had to be abridged to fit the 78 format, but that there is a small part of "Soliloquy" found on no other recording, as Rodgers cut it from the score immediately after the studio recording was made.Fick, David. "The Best Carousel Recording", June 11, 2009. Retrieved on April 7, 2016
A number of songs were cut for the 1956 film, but two of the deleted numbers had been recorded and were ultimately retained on the soundtrack album. The expanded CD version of the soundtrack, issued in 2001, contains all of the singing recorded for the film, including the cut portions, and nearly all of the dance music. The recording of the 1965 Lincoln Center revival featured Raitt reprising the role of Billy. Studio recordings of Carousels songs were released in 1956 (with Robert Merrill as Billy, Patrice Munsel as Julie, and Florence Henderson as Carrie), 1962 and 1987. The 1987 version featured a mix of opera and musical stars, including Samuel Ramey, Barbara Cook and Sarah Brightman. Kenrick recommends the 1962 studio recording for its outstanding cast, including Alfred Drake, Roberta Peters, Claramae Turner, Lee Venora, and Norman Treigle.
Both the London (1993) and New York (1994) cast albums of the Hytner production contain portions of dialogue that, according to Hischak, speak to the power of Michael Hayden's portrayal of Billy. Kenrick judges the 1994 recording the best all-around performance of Carousel on disc, despite uneven singing by Hayden, due to Sally Murphy's Julie and the strong supporting cast (calling Audra McDonald the best Carrie he has heard). The Stratford Festival issued a recording in 2015.
Critical reception and legacy
The musical received almost unanimous rave reviews after its opening in 1945. According to Hischak, reviews were not as exuberant as for Oklahoma! as the critics were not taken by surprise this time. John Chapman of the Daily News termed it "one of the finest musical plays I have ever seen and I shall remember it always". The New York Times's reviewer, Lewis Nichols, stated that "Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein 2d, who can do no wrong, have continued doing no wrong in adapting Liliom into a musical play. Their Carousel is on the whole delightful." Wilella Waldorf of the New York Post, however, complained, "Carousel seemed to us a rather long evening. The Oklahoma! formula is becoming a bit monotonous and so are Miss de Mille's ballets. All right, go ahead and shoot!"Suskin, Steven. Opening Night on Broadway. Schirmer Trade Books, 1990, p. 147. . Dance Magazine gave Linn plaudits for her role as Louise, stating, "Bambi doesn't come on until twenty minutes before eleven, and for the next forty minutes, she practically holds the audience in her hand". Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune also applauded the dancing: "It has waited for Miss de Mille to come through with peculiarly American dance patterns for a musical show to become as much a dance as a song show."
When the musical returned to New York in 1949, The New York Times reviewer Brooks Atkinson described Carousel as "a conspicuously superior musical play ... Carousel, which was warmly appreciated when it opened, seems like nothing less than a masterpiece now." In 1954, when Carousel was revived at City Center, Atkinson discussed the musical in his review:
Carousel has no comment to make on anything of topical importance. The theme is timeless and universal: the devotion of two people who love each other through thick and thin, complicated in this case by the wayward personality of the man, who cannot fulfill the responsibilities he has assumed. ... Billy is a bum, but Carousel recognizes the decency of his motives and admires his independence. There are no slick solutions in Carousel.
Stephen Sondheim noted the duo's ability to take the innovations of Oklahoma! and apply them to a serious setting: "Oklahoma! is about a picnic, Carousel is about life and death." Critic Eric Bentley, on the other hand, wrote that "the last scene of Carousel is an impertinence: I refuse to be lectured to by a musical comedy scriptwriter on the education of children, the nature of the good life, and the contribution of the American small town to the salvation of souls."New York Times critic Frank Rich said of the 1992 London production: "What is remarkable about Mr. Hytner's direction, aside from its unorthodox faith in the virtues of simplicity and stillness, is its ability to make a 1992 audience believe in Hammerstein's vision of redemption, which has it that a dead sinner can return to Earth to do godly good." The Hytner production in New York was hailed by many critics as a grittier Carousel, which they deemed more appropriate for the 1990s. Clive Barnes of the New York Post called it a "defining Carousel—hard-nosed, imaginative, and exciting."
Critic Michael Billington has commented that "lyrically [Carousel] comes perilously close to acceptance of the inevitability of domestic violence." BroadwayWorld.com stated in 2013 that Carousel is now "considered somewhat controversial in terms of its attitudes on domestic violence" because Julie chooses to stay with Billy despite the abuse; actress Kelli O'Hara noted that the domestic violence that Julie "chooses to deal with – is a real, existing and very complicated thing. And exploring it is an important part of healing it."
Rodgers considered Carousel his favorite of all his musicals and wrote, "it affects me deeply every time I see it performed". In 1999, Time magazine, in its "Best of the Century" list, named Carousel the Best Musical of the 20th century, writing that Rodgers and Hammerstein "set the standards for the 20th century musical, and this show features their most beautiful score and the most skillful and affecting example of their musical storytelling". Hammerstein's grandson, Oscar Andrew Hammerstein, in his book about his family, suggested that the wartime situation made Carousel's ending especially poignant to its original viewers, "Every American grieved the loss of a brother, son, father, or friend ... the audience empathized with [Billy's] all-too-human efforts to offer advice, to seek forgiveness, to complete an unfinished life, and to bid a proper good-bye from beyond the grave." Author and composer Ethan Mordden agreed with that perspective:
If Oklahoma! developed the moral argument for sending American boys overseas, Carousel offered consolation to those wives and mothers whose boys would only return in spirit. The meaning lay not in the tragedy of the present, but in the hope for a future where no one walks alone.
Awards and nominations
Original 1945 Broadway productionNote: The Tony Awards were not established until 1947, and so Carousel was not eligible to win any Tonys at its premiere.
1957 revival
1992 London revival
1994 Broadway revival
2018 Broadway revival
References
Bibliography
Block, Geoffrey. Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical from Show Boat to Sondheim. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2004. .
Block, Geoffrey (ed.) The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2006. .
Bradley, Ian. You've Got to Have a Dream: The Message of the Broadway Musical. Louisville, Ky., Westminster John Knox Press, 2005. 978-0-664-22854-5.
Easton, Carol. No Intermission: The Life of Agnes DeMille. Jefferson, N.C.: Da Capo Press, 2000 (1st DaCapo Press edition). .
Fordin, Hugh. Getting to Know Him: A Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. Jefferson, N.C.: Da Capo Press, 1995 reprint of 1986 edition. .
Hammerstein, Oscar Andrew. The Hammersteins: A Musical Theatre Family. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2010. .
Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. .
Hyland, William G. Richard Rodgers. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1998. .
Molnár, Ferenc. Liliom: A Legend in Seven Scenes and a Prologue. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1921.
Mordden, Ethan. "Rodgers & Hammerstein". New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992. .
Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2002. .
Rodgers, Richard. Musical Stages: An Autobiography. Jefferson, N.C. Da Capo Press, 2002 reprint of 1975 edition. .
Secrest, Meryle. Somewhere for Me: A Biography of Richard Rodgers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2001. .
External links
Carousel at guidetomusicaltheatre.com
Carousel info page on StageAgent.com – Carousel plot summary and character descriptions
(1967 TV adaptation)
1945 musicals
Broadway musicals
Musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein
West End musicals
Musicals based on plays
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Maine in fiction
Fiction set in 1873
Fiction about the afterlife
Plays set in Maine
Plays set in the 19th century
Tony Award-winning musicals | false | [
"The Fe-Fi-Four Plus 2 was an American garage rock band formed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1966. Experimenting with inventive vocal arrangements and fuzz-toned guitar melodies, the group was a forerunner in the musical genre of psychedelic rock. The band released what is commonly agreed by music historians as the first psychedelic single by a native New Mexican group, with their first single \"I Wanna Come Back (From the World of LSD)\".\n\nHistory\nFormed in 1966, the band was originally known as the Playmates and included Victor Roybal (organ), Eddie Roybal (drums), Mike Layden (lead guitar), Joe Abeyta (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) and Ernie Gonzales (bass guitar). The group soon recruited Danny Houlihan (lead vocals) and replaced Abeyta with Eddie James, who already had experience performing with the Champs. With the addition of two members, the Playmates decided a name change was in order. It was initially suggested by Houlihan to rechristen the group the Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum, the phrase said by the giant in the fairy tale \"Jack and the Beanstalk\". However, feelings toward the proposal were split and, as a compromise, they agreed on the Fe-Fi-Four Plus 2 (the total number of band members).\n\nThe band performed around New Mexico, developing a sizable following and hiring Tommy Bee as their manager in the process. Bee arranged a recording contract with Lance Records, resulting in the Fe-Fi-Four Plus 2 being guided through the recording process with record producer Norman Petty, who had past successes with Buddy Holly and the Fireballs. The group entered Norman Petty Studios in late 1966 to record Houlihan's \"I Wanna Come Back (From the World of LSD)\", a song about an individual struggling to escape the horrors of a bad LSD trip. With bone-chilling wails and distorted guitar melodies, \"I Wanna Come Back\" has all the elements of early psychedelic rock. Speaking about the band's hallucinatory sound, Roybal explained why the group was eager to branch out from usual pop music: \"We were looking for a new and original sound. Much of what we had been doing [was] performing top 40 sounds which people requested to hear.\"\n\nIn 1967, Lance Records released \"I Wanna Come Back\" with \"Double-Crossin' Girl\" on the Fe-Fi-Four Plus 2's first single. It is generally agreed upon by music historians that \"I Wanna Come Back\" was the first psychedelic song released by a New Mexican band. Original pressings of the record printed the tag line \"(From the World of LSD)\", until requests by distributors resulted in its removal. This slight alteration did not affect the single's sales, as the release's regional success prompted Polydor Records to issue \"I Wanna Come Back\" in Europe. In mid-1967, the Fe-Fi-Four Plus 2 recorded a follow-up single, \"Mr. Sweet Stuff\", not for Lance Records, but rather the small Odex label after Bee had a falling out with supervisors. The Fe-Fi-Four Plus 2 did not receive much advertisement support from Odex, and, as a consequence of the draft decimating the line-up, the group disbanded in 1968.\n\nSince its initial distribution, \"I Wanna Come Back\" has appeared on numerous compilation albums, such as Pebbles, Volume 5, New Mexico Punk Groups from the Sixties, Pebbles Box, Sixties Archives, Volume 4 and Garage Beat '66 Volume 1: Like What, Me Worry?!.\n\nDiscography\n \"I Wanna Come Back (From the World of LSD)\" b/w \"Double Crossin' Girl\" - Lance Records (#80-101-8), 1967\n \"Pick Up Your Head\" b/w \"Mr. Sweet Stuff\" - Odex Records (#DR-1042), 1967\n\nReferences\n\nMusical groups disestablished in 1968\nMusical groups established in 1966\nAmerican garage rock groups\nMusical groups from New Mexico",
"A partially complete list of songs by Cole Porter.\n\nSongs written at Yale University:\n“Antoinette Birby”\n“Bingo Eli Yale”\n“Bull Dog”\n\nCora (1911 college musical)\n\nAnd the Villain Still Pursued Her (1912 college musical)\n\"We are the Chorus of the Show\"\n\"Strolling\"\n\"The Lovely Heroine\"\n\"I'm the Villain\"\n\"Twilight\"\n\"Llewellyn\"\n\"That Zip Cornwall Cooch\"\n\"Charity\"\n\"Queens of Terpsichore\"\n\"Leaders of Society\"\n\"Submarine\"\n\"Barcelona Maid\"\n\"Silver Moon\"\n\"Dear Doctor\"\n\"Anytime\"\n\"Come to Bohemia\"\n\"Dancing\"\n\"Fare Thee Well\"\n\nThe Pot of Gold (1912 college musical)\n\"At the Rainbow\"\n\"Bellboys\"\n\"Longing for Dear Old Broadway\"\n\"When I Used to Lead the Ballet\"\n\"My Houseboat on the Thames\"\n\"She Was a Fair Young Mermaid\"\n\"What's This Awful Hullabaloo\"\n\"What a Charming Afternoon\"\n\"Since We've Met\"\n\"Exercise\"\n\"We are So Aesthetic\"\n\"Scandal\"\n\"I Wonder Where My Girl Is Now\"\n\"My Salvation Army Queen\"\n\"It's Awfully Hard When Mother's Not Along\"\n\"I Want to Be Married (To a Delta Kappa Epsilon Man)\"\n\"Ha, Ha, They Must Sail for Siberia\"\n\"I Love You So\"\n\"Loie and Chlodo\"\n\"So Let Us Hail\"\n\"That Rainbow Rag\" (cut)\n\"If I Were a Football Man\" (cut)\n\nThe Kaleidoscope (1913 college musical)\n\"At the Dawn Tea\"\n\"We are Prom Girls\"\n\"Chaperons\"\n\"In the Land Where My Heart Was Born\"\n\"Meet Me Beside the River\"\n\"Beware of the Sophomore\"\n\"Rick-Chick-a-Chick\"\n\"Good-bye My True Love\"\n\"On My Yacht\"\n\"We're a Group of Nonentities\"\n\"Flower Maidens\"\n\"Absinthe\"\n\"The Absinthe Drip\"\n\"Maid of Santiago\"\n\"As I Love You\"\n\"Duodecimalogue\"\n\"Oh, What a Pretty Pair of Lovers\"\n\"A Member of the Yale Elizabethan Club\"\n\"Moon Man\"\n\"My Georgia Gal\"\n\nParanoia (1914 college musical)\n\nWe’re All Dressed Up and We Don’t Know Huerto Go (1914 college musical)\n\nSee America First (1916 stage musical)\n\nHitchy-Koo of 1919 (1919 stage musical)\n“I Introduced”\n\"Old-Fashioned Garden\" \n\nHitchy-Koo of 1922 (1922 stage musical)\n\nGreenwich Village Follies (1924 stage musical)\n\"I'm In Love Again\"\n\nLa Revue Des Ambassadeurs (1928 stage musical)\n\"Pilot Me\"\n\nParis (1928 stage musical)\n\"Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love\"\n\"Let's Misbehave\" (written for Paris, but cut and then recorded separately)\n\"Which?\"\n\nWake Up and Dream (1929 stage musical)\n”I Loved Him, But He Didn’t Love Me”\n”I’m a Gigolo”\n\"What Is This Thing Called Love?\"\n\nFifty Million Frenchmen (1929 stage musical)\n”Find Me a Primitive Man”\n”The Tale of the Oyster”\n\"Why Don't We Try Staying Home?\"\n\"You Do Something to Me\"\n\"You've Got That Thing\"\n\nThe New Yorkers (1930 stage musical)\n”I Happen to Like New York”\n\"Let's Fly Away\"\n\"Love for Sale\"\n\"Take Me Back to Manhattan\"\n\"Where Have You Been\"\n\nGay Divorce (1932 stage musical)\n”After You, Who?”\n\"How's Your Romance?\"\n\"I've Got You On My Mind\"\n\"Night and Day\"\n\nNymph Errant (1933 stage musical)\n\"How Could We Be Wrong?\"\n\"The Physician\"\n\nAnything Goes (1934 stage musical)\n\"All Through the Night\"\n\"Anything Goes\"\n\"Be Like the Bluebird\"\n\"Blow, Gabriel, Blow\"\n\"Buddie Beware\"\n\"I Get a Kick out of You\"\n\"You're the Top\"\n\nJubilee (1935 stage musical)\n\"Begin the Beguine\"\n\"Just One of Those Things\"\n”A Picture of Me Without You”\n\"Why Shouldn't I?\"\n\nBorn to Dance (1936 film)\n”Goodbye, Little Dream, Goodbye”\n\"I've Got You Under My Skin\"\n\"Rap, Tap On Wood\"\n”Swingin’ the Jinx Away”\n\"Easy to Love\"\n\nRed, Hot and Blue (1936 stage musical)\n\"Down In The Depths\"\n\"It's De-Lovely\"\n\"Ours\"\n\"Ridin' High\"\n\nRosalie (1937 film)\n\"In the Still of the Night\"\n\nYou Never Know (1938 stage musical)\n\"At Long Last Love\"\n\"By Candlelight\"\n\"From Alpha to Omega\"\n\nLeave It to Me! (1938 stage musical)\n\"From Now On\"\n\"Get Out of Town\"\n”Most Gentlemen Don’t Like Love”\n\"My Heart Belongs to Daddy\"\n“Tomorrow”\n\nBroadway Melody of 1940 (1939 film)\n\"Between You and Me\"\n\"I Concentrate on You\"\n\"I Happen to Be in Love\"\n\"I've Got My Eyes on You\"\n\nDu Barry Was a Lady (1939 stage musical)\n”But in the Morning, No”\n\"Do I Love You?\"\n\"Friendship\"\n”Give Him the Ooh-La-La”\n\"Katie Went To Haiti\"\n\"Well, Did You Evah!\"\n\nPanama Hattie (1940 stage musical)\n”Make It Another Old-Fashioned, Please”\n\nYou’ll Never Get Rich (1941 film)\n\"Dream Dancing\"\n\"So Near And Yet So Far\"\n\nLet’s Face It! (1941 stage musical)\n\"Ace in the Hole\"\n\"Ev'rything I Love\"\n”Farming”\n\"I Hate You, Darling\"\n”Let’s Not Talk About Love”\n”Rub Your Lamp”\n\nSomething to Shout About (1943 stage musical)\n\"You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To\"\n\nSomething for the Boys (1943 stage musical)\n\"Could It Be You\"\n”The Leader of a Big-Time Band”\n\nMexican Hayride (1944 stage musical)\n\"I Love You\"\n\nSeven Lively Arts (1944 stage musical)\n\"Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye\"\n\nAround the World (1946 stage musical)\n\nKiss Me, Kate (1948 stage musical)\n\"Always True to You in My Fashion\"\n\"Another Op'nin', Another Show\"\n\"Bianca\"\n\"Brush Up Your Shakespeare\"\n\"From This Moment On\"\n\"I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple\"\n\"I Hate Men\"\n\"I’ve Come to Wive It Wealthy in Padua\"\n\"So in Love\"\n\"Tom, Dick or Harry\"\n\"Too Darn Hot\"\n\"We Open In Venice\"\n\"Were Thine That Special Face\"\n\"Where is the Life That Late I Led?\"\n\"Why Can't You Behave?\"\n\"Wunderbar\"\n\nThe Pirate (1948 film)\n\"Be a Clown\"\n\"Love of My Life\"\n\"Mack the Black\"\n\"Niña\"\n\"You Can Do No Wrong\"\n\nOut of This World (1950 stage musical)\n\"Cherry Pies Ought To Be You\"\n\"From This Moment On\"\n\"I Am Loved\"\n\"Where, Oh Where?\"\n\"You Don't Remind Me\"\n\nCan-Can (1953 stage musical)\n\"Allez-Vous-En\"\n\"Can-Can\"\n\"C'est Magnifique\"\n\"Come Along With Me\"\n\"I Am in Love\"\n\"I Love Paris\"\n\"It's All Right with Me\"\n\"Live and Let Live\"\n\"Montmart\"\n\nSilk Stockings (1955 stage musical, 1957 film)\n\"All of You\"\n\"As On Through the Seasons We Sail\"\n\"Fated To Be Mated\"\n\"Paris Loves Lovers\"\n\"Satin and Silk\"\n\"Siberia\"\n\"Silk Stockings\"\n\"Stereophonic Sound\"\n\nHigh Society (1956 film)\n\"High Society Calypso\"\n\"I Love You, Samantha\"\n\"Little One\"\n\"Mind if I Make Love to You?\"\n\"Now You Has Jazz\"\n\"True Love\"\n\"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?\"\n\"You're Sensational\"\n\nLes Girls (1956 film)\n\"Ca, C'est L'amour\"\n\"You're Just Too, Too\"\n\nAladdin (1958 television musical)\n\nOther songs:\n\"Don't Fence Me In\"\n”Farewell, Amanda”\n\"Hot House Rose\"\n\"Miss Otis Regrets\"\n\"Once Upon A Time\"\n\"Weren't We Fools?\"\n\nReferences\n\nPorter, Cole"
]
|
[
"Carousel (musical)",
"Film, television and concert versions",
"which version came out first? (film tv or concert?)",
"musical",
"what year did the musical come out?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_d59717368f914b249db2290d234441fe_1 | which version came out after the musical? | 3 | Which version of Carousel (musical) came out after the musical? | Carousel (musical) | A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. It follows the musical's story fairly closely, although a prologue, set in the Starkeeper's heaven, was added. The film was released only a few months after the release of the film version of Oklahoma!. It garnered some good reviews, and the soundtrack recording was a best seller. As the same stars appeared in both pictures, however, the two films were often compared, generally to the disadvantage of Carousel. Thomas Hischak, in The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, later wondered "if the smaller number of Carousel stage revivals is the product of this often-lumbering [film] musical". There was also an abridged (100 minute) 1967 network television version that starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella. The New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version of the musical from February 28 to March 2, 2013, at Avery Fisher Hall. Kelli O'Hara played Julie, with Nathan Gunn as Billy, Stephanie Blythe as Nettie, Jessie Mueller as Carrie, Jason Danieley as Enoch, Shuler Hensley as Jigger, John Cullum as the Starkeeper, and Kate Burton as Mrs. Mullin. Tiler Peck danced the role of Louise to choreography by Warren Carlyle. The production was directed by John Rando. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, "this is as gorgeously sung a production of this sublime 1945 Broadway musical as you are ever likely to hear." It was broadcast as part of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center series, premiering on April 26, 2013. CANNOTANSWER | A film version of the musical was made in 1956, | Carousel is the second musical by the team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics). The 1945 work was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline. The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He participates in a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes tragically wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show includes the well-known songs "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone". Richard Rodgers later wrote that Carousel was his favorite of all his musicals.
Following the spectacular success of the first Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma! (1943), the pair sought to collaborate on another piece, knowing that any resulting work would be compared with Oklahoma!, most likely unfavorably. They were initially reluctant to seek the rights to Liliom; Molnár had refused permission for the work to be adapted in the past, and the original ending was considered too depressing for the musical theatre. After acquiring the rights, the team created a work with lengthy sequences of music and made the ending more hopeful.
The musical required considerable modification during out-of-town tryouts, but once it opened on Broadway on April 19, 1945, it was an immediate hit with both critics and audiences. Carousel initially ran for 890 performances and duplicated its success in the West End in 1950. Though it has never achieved as much commercial success as Oklahoma!, the piece has been repeatedly revived, recorded several times and was filmed in 1956. A production by Nicholas Hytner enjoyed success in 1992 in London, in 1994 in New York and on tour. Another Broadway revival opened in 2018. In 1999, Time magazine named Carousel the best musical of the 20th century.
Background
Liliom
Ferenc Molnár's Hungarian-language drama, Liliom, premiered in Budapest in 1909. The audience was puzzled by the work, and it lasted only thirty-odd performances before being withdrawn, the first shadow on Molnár's successful career as a playwright. Liliom was not presented again until after World War I. When it reappeared on the Budapest stage, it was a tremendous hit.
Except for the ending, the plots of Liliom and Carousel are very similar. Andreas Zavocky (nicknamed Liliom, the Hungarian word for "lily", a slang term for "tough guy"), a carnival barker, falls in love with Julie Zeller, a servant girl, and they begin living together. With both discharged from their jobs, Liliom is discontented and contemplates leaving Julie, but decides not to do so on learning that she is pregnant. A subplot involves Julie's friend Marie, who has fallen in love with Wolf Biefeld, a hotel porter—after the two marry, he becomes the owner of the hotel. Desperate to make money so that he, Julie and their child can escape to America and a better life, Liliom conspires with lowlife Ficsur to commit a robbery, but it goes badly, and Liliom stabs himself. He dies, and his spirit is taken to heaven's police court. As Ficsur suggested while the two waited to commit the crime, would-be robbers like them do not come before God Himself. Liliom is told by the magistrate that he may go back to Earth for one day to attempt to redeem the wrongs he has done to his family, but must first spend sixteen years in a fiery purgatory.
On his return to Earth, Liliom encounters his daughter, Louise, who like her mother is now a factory worker. Saying that he knew her father, he tries to give her a star he stole from the heavens. When Louise refuses to take it, he strikes her. Not realizing who he is, Julie confronts him, but finds herself unable to be angry with him. Liliom is ushered off to his fate, presumably Hell, and Louise asks her mother if it is possible to feel a hard slap as if it was a kiss. Julie reminiscently tells her daughter that it is very possible for that to happen.
An English translation of Liliom was credited to Benjamin "Barney" Glazer, though there is a story that the actual translator, uncredited, was Rodgers' first major partner Lorenz Hart. The Theatre Guild presented it in New York City in 1921, with Joseph Schildkraut as Liliom, and the play was a success, running 300 performances. A 1940 revival with Burgess Meredith and Ingrid Bergman was seen by both Hammerstein and Rodgers. Glazer, in introducing the English translation of Liliom, wrote of the play's appeal:
And where in modern dramatic literature can such pearls be matched—Julie incoherently confessing to her dead lover the love she had always been ashamed to tell; Liliom crying out to the distant carousel the glad news that he is to be a father; the two thieves gambling for the spoils of their prospective robbery; Marie and Wolf posing for their portrait while the broken-hearted Julie stands looking after the vanishing Liliom, the thieves' song ringing in her ears; the two policemen grousing about pay and pensions while Liliom lies bleeding to death; Liliom furtively proffering his daughter the star he has stolen for her in heaven. ... The temptation to count the whole scintillating string is difficult to resist.
Inception
In the 1920s and 1930s, Rodgers and Hammerstein both became well known for creating Broadway hits with other partners. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced a string of over two dozen musicals, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Some of Rodgers' work with Hart broke new ground in musical theatre: On Your Toes was the first use of ballet to sustain the plot (in the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" scene), while Pal Joey flouted Broadway tradition by presenting a knave as its hero. Hammerstein had written or co-written the words for such hits as Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote material for musicals and films, sharing an Oscar for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good.
By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, becoming unreliable and prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him. Hammerstein was eager to do so, and their first collaboration was Oklahoma! (1943). Thomas Hischak states, in his The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, that Oklahoma! is "the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. In fact, the history of the Broadway musical can accurately be divided into what came before Oklahoma! and what came after it." An innovation for its time in integrating song, character, plot and dance, Oklahoma! would serve, according to Hischak, as "the model for Broadway shows for decades", and proved a huge popular and financial success. Once it was well-launched, what to do as an encore was a daunting challenge for the pair. Film producer Samuel Goldwyn saw Oklahoma! and advised Rodgers to shoot himself, which according to Rodgers "was Sam's blunt but funny way of telling me that I'd never create another show as good as Oklahoma!" As they considered new projects, Hammerstein wrote, "We're such fools. No matter what we do, everyone is bound to say, 'This is not another Oklahoma! "
Oklahoma! had been a struggle to finance and produce. Hammerstein and Rodgers met weekly in 1943 with Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Theatre Guild, producers of the blockbuster musical, who together formed what they termed "the Gloat Club". At one such luncheon, Helburn and Langner proposed to Rodgers and Hammerstein that they turn Molnár's Liliom into a musical. Both men refused—they had no feeling for the Budapest setting and thought that the unhappy ending was unsuitable for musical theatre. In addition, given the unstable wartime political situation, they might need to change the setting from Hungary while in rehearsal. At the next luncheon, Helburn and Langner again proposed Liliom, suggesting that they move the setting to Louisiana and make Liliom a Creole. Rodgers and Hammerstein played with the idea over the next few weeks, but decided that Creole dialect, filled with "zis" and "zose", would sound corny and would make it difficult to write effective lyrics.
A breakthrough came when Rodgers, who owned a house in Connecticut, proposed a New England setting. Hammerstein wrote of this suggestion in 1945,
I began to see an attractive ensemble—sailors, whalers, girls who worked in the mills up the river, clambakes on near-by islands, an amusement park on the seaboard, things people could do in crowds, people who were strong and alive and lusty, people who had always been depicted on the stage as thin-lipped puritans—a libel I was anxious to refute ... as for the two leading characters, Julie with her courage and inner strength and outward simplicity seemed more indigenous to Maine than to Budapest. Liliom is, of course, an international character, indigenous to nowhere.
Rodgers and Hammerstein were also concerned about what they termed "the tunnel" of Molnár's second act—a series of gloomy scenes leading up to Liliom's suicide—followed by a dark ending. They also felt it would be difficult to set Liliom's motivation for the robbery to music. Molnár's opposition to having his works adapted was also an issue; he had famously turned down Giacomo Puccini when the great composer wished to transform Liliom into an opera, stating that he wanted the piece to be remembered as his, not Puccini's. In 1937, Molnár, who had recently emigrated to the United States, had declined another offer from Kurt Weill to adapt the play into a musical.
The pair continued to work on the preliminary ideas for a Liliom adaptation while pursuing other projects in late 1943 and early 1944—writing the film musical State Fair and producing I Remember Mama on Broadway. Meanwhile, the Theatre Guild took Molnár to see Oklahoma! Molnár stated that if Rodgers and Hammerstein could adapt Liliom as beautifully as they had modified Green Grow the Lilacs into Oklahoma!, he would be pleased to have them do it. The Guild obtained the rights from Molnár in October 1943. The playwright received one percent of the gross and $2,500 for "personal services". The duo insisted, as part of the contract, that Molnár permit them to make changes in the plot. At first, the playwright refused, but eventually yielded. Hammerstein later stated that if this point had not been won, "we could never have made Carousel."
In seeking to establish through song Liliom's motivation for the robbery, Rodgers remembered that he and Hart had a similar problem in Pal Joey. Rodgers and Hart had overcome the problem with a song that Joey sings to himself, "I'm Talking to My Pal". This inspired "Soliloquy". Both partners later told a story that "Soliloquy" was only intended to be a song about Liliom's dreams of a son, but that Rodgers, who had two daughters, insisted that Liliom consider that Julie might have a girl. However, the notes taken at their meeting of December 7, 1943 state: "Mr. Rodgers suggested a fine musical number for the end of the scene where Liliom discovers he is to be a father, in which he sings first with pride of the growth of a boy, and then suddenly realizes it might be a girl and changes completely."
Hammerstein and Rodgers returned to the Liliom project in mid-1944. Hammerstein was uneasy as he worked, fearing that no matter what they did, Molnár would disapprove of the results. Green Grow the Lilacs had been a little-known work; Liliom was a theatrical standard. Molnár's text also contained considerable commentary on the Hungarian politics of 1909 and the rigidity of that society. A dismissed carnival barker who hits his wife, attempts a robbery and commits suicide seemed an unlikely central character for a musical comedy. Hammerstein decided to use the words and story to make the audience sympathize with the lovers. He also built up the secondary couple, who are incidental to the plot in Liliom; they became Enoch Snow and Carrie Pipperidge. "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" was repurposed from a song, "A Real Nice Hayride", written for Oklahoma! but not used.
Molnár's ending was unsuitable, and after a couple of false starts, Hammerstein conceived the graduation scene that ends the musical. According to Frederick Nolan in his book on the team's works: "From that scene the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" sprang almost naturally." In spite of Hammerstein's simple lyrics for "You'll Never Walk Alone", Rodgers had great difficulty in setting it to music. Rodgers explained his rationale for the changed ending,
Liliom was a tragedy about a man who cannot learn to live with other people. The way Molnár wrote it, the man ends up hitting his daughter and then having to go back to purgatory, leaving his daughter helpless and hopeless. We couldn't accept that. The way we ended Carousel it may still be a tragedy but it's a hopeful one because in the final scene it is clear that the child has at last learned how to express herself and communicate with others.
When the pair decided to make "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" into an ensemble number, Hammerstein realized he had no idea what a clambake was like, and researched the matter. Based on his initial findings, he wrote the line, "First came codfish chowder". However, further research convinced him the proper term was "codhead chowder", a term unfamiliar to many playgoers. He decided to keep it as "codfish". When the song proceeded to discuss the lobsters consumed at the feast, Hammerstein wrote the line "We slit 'em down the back/And peppered 'em good". He was grieved to hear from a friend that lobsters are always slit down the front. The lyricist sent a researcher to a seafood restaurant and heard back that lobsters are always slit down the back. Hammerstein concluded that there is disagreement about which side of a lobster is the back. One error not caught involved the song "June Is Bustin' Out All Over", in which sheep are depicted as seeking to mate in late spring—they actually do so in the winter. Whenever this was brought to Hammerstein's attention, he told his informant that 1873 was a special year, in which sheep mated in the spring.
Rodgers early decided to dispense with an overture, feeling that the music was hard to hear over the banging of seats as latecomers settled themselves. In his autobiography, Rodgers complained that only the brass section can be heard during an overture because there are never enough strings in a musical's small orchestra. He determined to force the audience to concentrate from the beginning by opening with a pantomime scene accompanied by what became known as "The Carousel Waltz". The pantomime paralleled one in the Molnár play, which was also used to introduce the characters and situation to the audience. Author Ethan Mordden described the effectiveness of this opening:
Other characters catch our notice—Mr. Bascombe, the pompous mill owner, Mrs. Mullin, the widow who runs the carousel and, apparently, Billy; a dancing bear; an acrobat. But what draws us in is the intensity with which Julie regards Billy—the way she stands frozen, staring at him, while everyone else at the fair is swaying to the rhythm of Billy's spiel. And as Julie and Billy ride together on the swirling carousel, and the stage picture surges with the excitement of the crowd, and the orchestra storms to a climax, and the curtain falls, we realize that R & H have not only skipped the overture and the opening number but the exposition as well. They have plunged into the story, right into the middle of it, in the most intense first scene any musical ever had.
Casting and out-of-town tryouts
The casting for Carousel began when Oklahoma!s production team, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, was seeking a replacement for the part of Curly (the male lead in Oklahoma!). Lawrence Langner had heard, through a relative, of a California singer named John Raitt, who might be suitable for the part. Langner went to hear Raitt, then urged the others to bring Raitt to New York for an audition. Raitt asked to sing "Largo al factotum", Figaro's aria from The Barber of Seville, to warm up. The warmup was sufficient to convince the producers that not only had they found a Curly, they had found a Liliom (or Billy Bigelow, as the part was renamed). Theresa Helburn made another California discovery, Jan Clayton, a singer/actress who had made a few minor films for MGM. She was brought east and successfully auditioned for the part of Julie.
The producers sought to cast unknowns. Though many had played in previous Hammerstein or Rodgers works, only one, Jean Casto (cast as carousel owner Mrs. Mullin, and a veteran of Pal Joey), had ever played on Broadway before. It proved harder to cast the ensemble than the leads, due to the war—Rodgers told his casting director, John Fearnley, that the sole qualification for a dancing boy was that he be alive. Rodgers and Hammerstein reassembled much of the creative team that had made Oklahoma! a success, including director Rouben Mamoulian and choreographer Agnes de Mille. Miles White was the costume designer while Jo Mielziner (who had not worked on Oklahoma!) was the scenic and lighting designer. Even though Oklahoma! orchestrator Russell Bennett had informed Rodgers that he was unavailable to work on Carousel due to a radio contract, Rodgers insisted he do the work in his spare time. He orchestrated "The Carousel Waltz" and "(When I Marry) Mister Snow" before finally being replaced by Don Walker. A new member of the creative team was Trude Rittmann, who arranged the dance music. Rittmann initially felt that Rodgers mistrusted her because she was a woman, and found him difficult to work with, but the two worked together on Rodgers' shows until the 1970s.
Rehearsals began in January 1945; either Rodgers or Hammerstein was always present. Raitt was presented with the lyrics for "Soliloquy" on a five-foot long sheet of paper—the piece ran nearly eight minutes. Staging such a long solo number presented problems, and Raitt later stated that he felt that they were never fully addressed. At some point during rehearsals, Molnár came to see what they had done to his play. There are a number of variations on the story.Fordin, pp. 231–32 As Rodgers told it, while watching rehearsals with Hammerstein, the composer spotted Molnár in the rear of the theatre and whispered the news to his partner. Both sweated through an afternoon of rehearsal in which nothing seemed to go right. At the end, the two walked to the back of the theatre, expecting an angry reaction from Molnár. Instead, the playwright said enthusiastically, "What you have done is so beautiful. And you know what I like best? The ending!" Hammerstein wrote that Molnár became a regular attendee at rehearsals after that.
Like most of the pair's works, Carousel contains a lengthy ballet, "Billy Makes a Journey", in the second act, as Billy looks down to the Earth from "Up There" and observes his daughter. In the original production the ballet was choreographed by de Mille. It began with Billy looking down from heaven at his wife in labor, with the village women gathered for a "birthing". The ballet involved every character in the play, some of whom spoke lines of dialogue, and contained a number of subplots. The focus was on Louise, played by Bambi Linn, who at first almost soars in her dance, expressing the innocence of childhood. She is teased and mocked by her schoolmates, and Louise becomes attracted to the rough carnival people, who symbolize Billy's world. A youth from the carnival attempts to seduce Louise, as she discovers her own sexuality, but he decides she is more girl than woman, and he leaves her. After Julie comforts her, Louise goes to a children's party, where she is shunned. The carnival people reappear and form a ring around the children's party, with Louise lost between the two groups. At the end, the performers form a huge carousel with their bodies.
The play opened for tryouts in New Haven, Connecticut on March 22, 1945. The first act was well-received; the second act was not. Casto recalled that the second act finished about 1:30 a.m. The staff immediately sat down for a two-hour conference. Five scenes, half the ballet, and two songs were cut from the show as the result. John Fearnley commented, "Now I see why these people have hits. I never witnessed anything so brisk and brave in my life." De Mille said of this conference, "not three minutes had been wasted pleading for something cherished. Nor was there any idle joking. ... We cut and cut and cut and then we went to bed." By the time the company left New Haven, de Mille's ballet was down to forty minutes.
A major concern with the second act was the effectiveness of the characters He and She (later called by Rodgers "Mr. and Mrs. God"), before whom Billy appeared after his death. Mr. and Mrs. God were depicted as a New England minister and his wife, seen in their parlor.Block (ed.), p. 129. At this time, according to the cast sheet distributed during the Boston run, Dr. Seldon was listed as the "Minister". The couple was still part of the show at the Boston opening. Rodgers said to Hammerstein, "We've got to get God out of that parlor". When Hammerstein inquired where he should put the deity, Rodgers replied, "I don't care where you put Him. Put Him on a ladder for all I care, only get Him out of that parlor!" Hammerstein duly put Mr. God (renamed the Starkeeper) atop a ladder, and Mrs. God was removed from the show. Rodgers biographer Meryle Secrest terms this change a mistake, leading to a more fantastic afterlife, which was later criticized by The New Republic as "a Rotarian atmosphere congenial to audiences who seek not reality but escape from reality, not truth but escape from truth".
Hammerstein wrote that Molnár's advice, to combine two scenes into one, was key to pulling together the second act and represented "a more radical departure from the original than any change we had made". A reprise of "If I Loved You" was added in the second act, which Rodgers felt needed more music. Three weeks of tryouts in Boston followed the brief New Haven run, and the audience there gave the musical a warm reception. An even shorter version of the ballet was presented the final two weeks in Boston, but on the final night there, de Mille expanded it back to forty minutes, and it brought the house down, causing both Rodgers and Hammerstein to embrace her.
Synopsis
Act 1
Two young female millworkers in 1873 Maine visit the town's carousel after work. One of them, Julie Jordan, attracts the attention of the barker, Billy Bigelow ("The Carousel Waltz"). When Julie lets Billy put his arm around her during the ride, Mrs. Mullin, the widowed owner of the carousel, tells Julie never to return. Julie and her friend, Carrie Pipperidge, argue with Mrs. Mullin. Billy arrives and, seeing that Mrs. Mullin is jealous, mocks her; he is fired from his job. Billy, unconcerned, invites Julie to join him for a drink. As he goes to get his belongings, Carrie presses Julie about her feelings toward him, but Julie is evasive ("You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan"). Carrie has a beau too, fisherman Enoch Snow ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow"), to whom she is newly engaged. Billy returns for Julie as the departing Carrie warns that staying out late means the loss of Julie's job. Mr. Bascombe, owner of the mill, happens by along with a policeman, and offers to escort Julie to her home, but she refuses and is fired. Left alone, she and Billy talk about what life might be like if they were in love, but neither quite confesses to the growing attraction they feel for each other ("If I Loved You").
Over a month passes, and preparations for the summer clambake are under way ("June Is Bustin' Out All Over"). Julie and Billy, now married, live at Julie's cousin Nettie's spa. Julie confides in Carrie that Billy, frustrated over being unemployed, hit her. Carrie has happier news—she is engaged to Enoch, who enters as she discusses him ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow (reprise))". Billy arrives with his ne'er-do-well whaler friend, Jigger. The former barker is openly rude to Enoch and Julie, then leaves with Jigger, followed by a distraught Julie. Enoch tells Carrie that he expects to become rich selling herring and to have a large family, larger perhaps than Carrie is comfortable having ("When the Children Are Asleep").
Jigger and his shipmates, joined by Billy, then sing about life on the sea ("Blow High, Blow Low"). The whaler tries to recruit Billy to help with a robbery, but Billy declines, as the victim—Julie's former boss, Mr. Bascombe—might have to be killed. Mrs. Mullin enters and tries to tempt Billy back to the carousel (and to her). He would have to abandon Julie; a married barker cannot evoke the same sexual tension as one who is single. Billy reluctantly mulls it over as Julie arrives and the others leave. She tells him that she is pregnant, and Billy is overwhelmed with happiness, ending all thoughts of returning to the carousel. Once alone, Billy imagines the fun he will have with Bill Jr.—until he realizes that his child might be a girl, and reflects soberly that "you've got to be a father to a girl" ("Soliloquy"). Determined to provide financially for his future child, whatever the means, Billy decides to be Jigger's accomplice.
The whole town leaves for the clambake. Billy, who had earlier refused to go, agrees to join in, to Julie's delight, as he realizes that being seen at the clambake is integral to his and Jigger's alibi ("Act I Finale").
Act 2
Everyone reminisces about the huge meal and much fun ("This Was a Real Nice Clambake"). Jigger tries to seduce Carrie; Enoch walks in at the wrong moment, and declares that he is finished with her ("Geraniums In the Winder"), as Jigger jeers ("There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman"). The girls try to comfort Carrie, but for Julie all that matters is that "he's your feller and you love him" ("What's the Use of Wond'rin'?"). Julie sees Billy trying to sneak away with Jigger and, trying to stop him, feels the knife hidden in his shirt. She begs him to give it to her, but he refuses and leaves to commit the robbery.
As they wait, Jigger and Billy gamble with cards. They stake their shares of the anticipated robbery spoils. Billy loses: his participation is now pointless. Unknown to Billy and Jigger, Mr. Bascombe, the intended victim, has already deposited the mill's money. The robbery fails: Bascombe pulls a gun on Billy while Jigger escapes. Billy stabs himself with his knife; Julie arrives just in time for him to say his last words to her and die. Julie strokes his hair, finally able to tell him that she loved him. Carrie and Enoch, reunited by the crisis, attempt to console Julie; Nettie arrives and gives Julie the resolve to keep going despite her despair ("You'll Never Walk Alone").
Billy's defiant spirit ("The Highest Judge of All") is taken Up There to see the Starkeeper, a heavenly official. The Starkeeper tells Billy that the good he did in life was not enough to get into heaven, but so long as there is a person alive who remembers him, he can return for a day to try to do good to redeem himself. He informs Billy that fifteen years have passed on Earth since his suicide, and suggests that Billy can get himself into heaven if he helps his daughter, Louise. He helps Billy look down from heaven to see her (instrumental ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey"). Louise has grown up to be lonely and bitter. The local children ostracize her because her father was a thief and a wife-beater. In the dance, a young ruffian, much like her father at that age, flirts with her and abandons her as too young. The dance concludes, and Billy is anxious to return to Earth and help his daughter. He steals a star to take with him, as the Starkeeper pretends not to notice.
Outside Julie's cottage, Carrie describes her visit to New York with the now-wealthy Enoch. Carrie's husband and their many children enter to fetch her—the family must get ready for the high school graduation later that day. Enoch Jr., the oldest son, remains behind to talk with Louise, as Billy and the Heavenly Friend escorting him enter, invisible to the other characters. Louise confides in Enoch Jr. that she plans to run away from home with an acting troupe. He says that he will stop her by marrying her, but that his father will think her an unsuitable match. Louise is outraged: each insults the other's father, and Louise orders Enoch Jr. to go away. Billy, able to make himself visible at will, reveals himself to the sobbing Louise, pretending to be a friend of her father. He offers her a gift—the star he stole from heaven. She refuses it and, frustrated, he slaps her hand. He makes himself invisible, and Louise tells Julie what happened, stating that the slap miraculously felt like a kiss, not a blow—and Julie understands her perfectly. Louise retreats to the house, as Julie notices the star that Billy dropped; she picks it up and seems to feel Billy's presence ("If I Loved You (Reprise)").
Billy invisibly attends Louise's graduation, hoping for one last chance to help his daughter and redeem himself. The beloved town physician, Dr. Seldon (who resembles the Starkeeper) advises the graduating class not to rely on their parents' success or be held back by their failure (words directed at Louise). Seldon prompts everyone to sing an old song, "You'll Never Walk Alone". Billy, still invisible, whispers to Louise, telling her to believe Seldon's words, and when she tentatively reaches out to another girl, she learns she does not have to be an outcast. Billy goes to Julie, telling her at last that he loved her. As his widow and daughter join in the singing, Billy is taken to his heavenly reward.
Principal roles and notable performers
° denotes original Broadway cast
Musical numbers Act I"List of Songs", Carousel at the IBDB Database. Retrieved July 18, 2012
"The Carousel Waltz" – Orchestra
"You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan" – Carrie Pipperidge and Julie Jordan
"(When I Marry) Mister Snow" – Carrie
"If I Loved You" – Billy Bigelow and Julie
"June Is Bustin' Out All Over" – Nettie Fowler and Chorus
"(When I Marry) Mister Snow" (reprise) – Carrie, Enoch Snow and Female Chorus
"When the Children Are Asleep" – Enoch and Carrie
"Blow High, Blow Low" – Jigger Craigin, Billy and Male Chorus
"Soliloquy" – BillyAct II "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" – Carrie, Nettie, Julie, Enoch and Chorus
"Geraniums in the Winder" – Enoch *
"There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman" – Jigger and Chorus
"What's the Use of Wond'rin'?" – Julie
"You'll Never Walk Alone" – Nettie
"The Highest Judge of All" – Billy
Ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey" – Orchestra
"If I Loved You" (reprise) – Billy
Finale: "You'll Never Walk Alone" (reprise) – Company
Productions
Early productions
The original Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945. The dress rehearsal the day before had gone badly, and the pair feared the new work would not be well received. One successful last-minute change was to have de Mille choreograph the pantomime. The movement of the carnival crowd in the pantomime had been entrusted to Mamoulian, and his version was not working. Rodgers had injured his back the previous week, and he watched the opening from a stretcher propped in a box behind the curtain. Sedated with morphine, he could see only part of the stage. As he could not hear the audience's applause and laughter, he assumed the show was a failure. It was not until friends congratulated him later that evening that he realized that the curtain had been met by wild applause. Bambi Linn, who played Louise, was so enthusiastically received by the audience during her ballet that she was forced to break character, when she next appeared, and bow. Rodgers' daughter Mary caught sight of her friend, Stephen Sondheim, both teenagers then, across several rows; both had eyes wet with tears.
The original production ran for 890 performances, closing on May 24, 1947. The original cast included John Raitt (Billy), Jan Clayton (Julie), Jean Darling (Carrie), Eric Mattson (Enoch Snow), Christine Johnson (Nettie Fowler), Murvyn Vye (Jigger), Bambi Linn (Louise) and Russell Collins (Starkeeper). In December 1945, Clayton left to star in the Broadway revival of Show Boat and was replaced by Iva Withers; Raitt was replaced by Henry Michel in January 1947; Darling was replaced by Margot Moser.Hischak, p. 62
After closing on Broadway, the show went on a national tour for two years. It played for five months in Chicago alone, visited twenty states and two Canadian cities, covered and played to nearly two million people. The touring company had a four-week run at New York City Center in January 1949. Following the City Center run, the show was moved back to the Majestic Theatre in the hopes of filling the theatre until South Pacific opened in early April. However, ticket sales were mediocre, and the show closed almost a month early.
The musical premiered in the West End, London, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on June 7, 1950. The production was restaged by Jerome Whyte, with a cast that included Stephen Douglass (Billy), Iva Withers (Julie) and Margot Moser (Carrie). Carousel ran in London for 566 performances, remaining there for over a year and a half.
Subsequent productions
Carousel was revived in 1954 and 1957 at City Center, presented by the New York City Center Light Opera Company. Both times, the production featured Barbara Cook, though she played Carrie in 1954 and Julie in 1957 (playing alongside Howard Keel as Billy). The production was then taken to Belgium to be performed at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, with David Atkinson as Billy, Ruth Kobart as Nettie, and Clayton reprising the role of Julie, which she had originated.
In August 1965, Rodgers and the Music Theater of Lincoln Center produced Carousel for 47 performances. John Raitt reprised the role of Billy, with Jerry Orbach as Jigger and Reid Shelton as Enoch Snow. The roles of the Starkeeper and Dr. Seldon were played by Edward Everett Horton in his final stage appearance. The following year, New York City Center Light Opera Company brought Carousel back to City Center for 22 performances, with Bruce Yarnell as Billy and Constance Towers as Julie.
Nicholas Hytner directed a new production of Carousel in 1992, at London's Royal National Theatre, with choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan and designs by Bob Crowley. In this staging, the story begins at the mill, where Julie and Carrie work, with the music slowed down to emphasize the drudgery. After work ends, they move to the shipyards and then to the carnival. As they proceed on a revolving stage, carnival characters appear, and at last the carousel is assembled onstage for the girls to ride.Block, p. 175 Louise is seduced by the ruffian boy during her Act 2 ballet, set around the ruins of a carousel. Michael Hayden played Billy not as a large, gruff man, but as a frustrated smaller one, a time bomb waiting to explode. Hayden, Joanna Riding (Julie) and Janie Dee (Carrie) all won Olivier Awards for their performances. Patricia Routledge played Nettie. Enoch and Carrie were cast as an interracial couple whose eight children, according to the review in The New York Times, looked like "a walking United Colors of Benetton ad". Clive Rowe, as Enoch, was nominated for an Olivier Award. The production's limited run from December 1992 through March 1993 was a sellout. It re-opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London in September 1993, presented by Cameron Mackintosh, where it continued until May 1994.
The Hytner production moved to New York's Vivian Beaumont Theater, where it opened on March 24, 1994, and ran for 322 performances. This won five Tony Awards, including best musical revival, as well as awards for Hytner, MacMillan, Crowley and Audra McDonald (as Carrie). The cast also included Sally Murphy as Julie, Shirley Verrett as Nettie, Fisher Stevens as Jigger and Eddie Korbich as Enoch. One change made from the London to the New York production was to have Billy strike Louise across the face, rather than on the hand. According to Hayden, "He does the one unpardonable thing, the thing we can't forgive. It's a challenge for the audience to like him after that." The Hytner Carousel was presented in Japan in May 1995. A U.S. national tour with a scaled-down production began in February 1996 in Houston and closed in May 1997 in Providence, Rhode Island. Producers sought to feature young talent on the tour, with Patrick Wilson as Billy and Sarah Uriarte Berry, and later Jennifer Laura Thompson, as Julie.
A revival opened at London's Savoy Theatre on December 2, 2008, after a week of previews, starring Jeremiah James (Billy), Alexandra Silber (Julie) and Lesley Garrett (Nettie). The production received warm to mixed reviews. It closed in June 2009, a month early. Michael Coveney, writing in The Independent, admired Rodgers' music but stated, "Lindsay Posner's efficient revival doesn't hold a candle to the National Theatre 1992 version". A production at Theater Basel, Switzerland, in 2016 to 2017, with German dialogue, was directed by Alexander Charim and choreographed by Teresa Rotemberg. Bryony Dwyer, Christian Miedl and Cheryl Studer starred, respectively, as Julie Jordan, Billy Bigelow and Nettie Fowler.<ref>[http://operabase.com/diary.cgi?lang=en&code=wsba&date=20161215 "Richard Rodgers: Carousel"] , Diary: Theater Basel, Operabase.com. Retrieved on March 8, 2018</ref> A semi-staged revival by the English National Opera opened at the London Coliseum in 2017. The production was directed by Lonny Price, conducted by David Charles Abell, and starred Alfie Boe as Billy, Katherine Jenkins as Julie and Nicholas Lyndhurst as the Starkeeper. The production received mixed to positive reviews.
The third Broadway revival began previews in February 2018 at the Imperial Theatre and officially opened on April 12. It closed on September 16, 2018. The production starred Jessie Mueller, Joshua Henry, Renée Fleming, Lindsay Mendez and Alexander Gemignani. The production was directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Justin Peck. The songs "Geraniums in the Winder" and "There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman" were cut from this revival. Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times, "The tragic inevitability of Carousel has seldom come across as warmly or as chillingly as it does in this vividly reimagined revival. ... [W]ith thoughtful and powerful performances by Mr. Henry and Ms. Mueller, the love story at the show's center has never seemed quite as ill-starred or, at the same time, as sexy. ... [T]he Starkeeper ... assumes new visibility throughout, taking on the role of Billy's angelic supervisor." Brantley strongly praised the choreography, all the performances and the designers. He was unconvinced, however, by the "mother-daughter dialogue that falls so abrasively on contemporary ears", where Julie tries to justify loving an abusive man, and other scenes in Act 2, particularly those set in heaven, and the optimism of the final scene. Most of the reviewers agreed that while the choreography and performances (especially the singing) were excellent, characterizing the production as sexy and sumptuous, O'Brien's direction did little to help the show deal with modern sensibilities about men's treatment of women, instead indulging in nostalgia.
From July to September 2021 the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London is presenting a staging by its artistic director Timothy Sheader, with choreography by Drew McOnie. The cast includes Carly Bawden as Julie, Declan Bennett as Billy and Joanna Riding as Nettie.
Film, television and concert versions
[[File:Boothbay Harbor in Summer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where the location shots for Carousels movie version were filmed]]
A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. It follows the musical's story fairly closely, although a prologue, set in the Starkeeper's heaven, was added. The film was released only a few months after the release of the film version of Oklahoma! It garnered some good reviews, and the soundtrack recording was a best seller. As the same stars appeared in both pictures, however, the two films were often compared, generally to the disadvantage of Carousel. Thomas Hischak, in The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, later wondered "if the smaller number of Carousel stage revivals is the product of this often-lumbering [film] musical".
There was also an abridged (100 minute) 1967 network television version that starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella.
The New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version of the musical from February 28 to March 2, 2013, at Avery Fisher Hall. Kelli O'Hara played Julie, with Nathan Gunn as Billy, Stephanie Blythe as Nettie, Jessie Mueller as Carrie, Jason Danieley as Enoch, Shuler Hensley as Jigger, John Cullum as the Starkeeper, and Kate Burton as Mrs. Mullin. Tiler Peck danced the role of Louise to choreography by Warren Carlyle. The production was directed by John Rando and conducted by Rob Fisher. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, "this is as gorgeously sung a production of this sublime 1945 Broadway musical as you are ever likely to hear." It was broadcast as part of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center series, premiering on April 26, 2013.
Music and recordings
Musical treatment
Rodgers designed Carousel to be an almost continuous stream of music, especially in Act 1. In later years, Rodgers was asked if he had considered writing an opera. He stated that he had been sorely tempted to, but saw Carousel in operatic terms. He remembered, "We came very close to opera in the Majestic Theatre. ... There's much that is operatic in the music."
Rodgers uses music in Carousel in subtle ways to differentiate characters and tell the audience of their emotional state. In "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan", the music for the placid Carrie is characterized by even eighth-note rhythms, whereas the emotionally restless Julie's music is marked by dotted eighths and sixteenths; this rhythm will characterize her throughout the show. When Billy whistles a snatch of the song, he selects Julie's dotted notes rather than Carrie's. Reflecting the close association in the music between Julie and the as-yet unborn Louise, when Billy sings in "Soliloquy" of his daughter, who "gets hungry every night", he uses Julie's dotted rhythms. Such rhythms also characterize Julie's Act 2 song, "What's the Use of Wond'rin'". The stable love between Enoch and Carrie is strengthened by her willingness to let Enoch not only plan his entire life, but hers as well. This is reflected in "When the Children Are Asleep", where the two sing in close harmony, but Enoch musically interrupts his intended's turn at the chorus with the words "Dreams that won't be interrupted". Rodgers biographer Geoffrey Block, in his book on the Broadway musical, points out that though Billy may strike his wife, he allows her musical themes to become a part of him and never interrupts her music. Block suggests that, as reprehensible as Billy may be for his actions, Enoch requiring Carrie to act as "the little woman", and his having nine children with her (more than she had found acceptable in "When the Children are Asleep") can be considered to be even more abusive.
The twelve-minute "bench scene", in which Billy and Julie get to know each other and which culminates with "If I Loved You", according to Hischak, "is considered the most completely integrated piece of music-drama in the American musical theatre". The scene is almost entirely drawn from Molnár and is one extended musical piece; Stephen Sondheim described it as "probably the single most important moment in the revolution of contemporary musicals". "If I Loved You" has been recorded many times, by such diverse artists as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis Jr., Mario Lanza and Chad and Jeremy. The D-flat major theme that dominates the music for the second act ballet seems like a new melody to many audience members. It is, however, a greatly expanded development of a theme heard during "Soliloquy" at the line "I guess he'll call me 'The old man' ".
When the pair discussed the song that would become "Soliloquy", Rodgers improvised at the piano to give Hammerstein an idea of how he envisioned the song. When Hammerstein presented his collaborator with the lyrics after two weeks of work (Hammerstein always wrote the words first, then Rodgers would write the melodies), Rodgers wrote the music for the eight-minute song in two hours. "What's the Use of Wond'rin' ", one of Julie's songs, worked well in the show but was never as popular on the radio or for recording, and Hammerstein believed that the lack of popularity was because he had concluded the final line, "And all the rest is talk" with a hard consonant, which does not allow the singer a vocal climax.
Irving Berlin later stated that "You'll Never Walk Alone" had the same sort of effect on him as the 23rd Psalm. When singer Mel Tormé told Rodgers that "You'll Never Walk Alone" had made him cry, Rodgers nodded impatiently. "You're supposed to." The frequently recorded song has become a widely accepted hymn.Rodgers, p. 240 The cast recording of Carousel proved popular in Liverpool, like many Broadway albums, and in 1963, the Brian Epstein-managed band, Gerry and the Pacemakers had a number-one hit with the song. At the time, the top ten hits were played before Liverpool F.C. home matches; even after "You'll Never Walk Alone" dropped out of the top ten, fans continued to sing it, and it has become closely associated with the soccer team and the city of Liverpool. A BBC program, Soul Music, ranked it alongside "Silent Night" and "Abide With Me" in terms of its emotional impact and iconic status.
Recordings
The cast album of the 1945 Broadway production was issued on 78s, and the score was significantly cut—as was the 1950 London cast recording. Theatre historian John Kenrick notes of the 1945 recording that a number of songs had to be abridged to fit the 78 format, but that there is a small part of "Soliloquy" found on no other recording, as Rodgers cut it from the score immediately after the studio recording was made.Fick, David. "The Best Carousel Recording", June 11, 2009. Retrieved on April 7, 2016
A number of songs were cut for the 1956 film, but two of the deleted numbers had been recorded and were ultimately retained on the soundtrack album. The expanded CD version of the soundtrack, issued in 2001, contains all of the singing recorded for the film, including the cut portions, and nearly all of the dance music. The recording of the 1965 Lincoln Center revival featured Raitt reprising the role of Billy. Studio recordings of Carousels songs were released in 1956 (with Robert Merrill as Billy, Patrice Munsel as Julie, and Florence Henderson as Carrie), 1962 and 1987. The 1987 version featured a mix of opera and musical stars, including Samuel Ramey, Barbara Cook and Sarah Brightman. Kenrick recommends the 1962 studio recording for its outstanding cast, including Alfred Drake, Roberta Peters, Claramae Turner, Lee Venora, and Norman Treigle.
Both the London (1993) and New York (1994) cast albums of the Hytner production contain portions of dialogue that, according to Hischak, speak to the power of Michael Hayden's portrayal of Billy. Kenrick judges the 1994 recording the best all-around performance of Carousel on disc, despite uneven singing by Hayden, due to Sally Murphy's Julie and the strong supporting cast (calling Audra McDonald the best Carrie he has heard). The Stratford Festival issued a recording in 2015.
Critical reception and legacy
The musical received almost unanimous rave reviews after its opening in 1945. According to Hischak, reviews were not as exuberant as for Oklahoma! as the critics were not taken by surprise this time. John Chapman of the Daily News termed it "one of the finest musical plays I have ever seen and I shall remember it always". The New York Times's reviewer, Lewis Nichols, stated that "Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein 2d, who can do no wrong, have continued doing no wrong in adapting Liliom into a musical play. Their Carousel is on the whole delightful." Wilella Waldorf of the New York Post, however, complained, "Carousel seemed to us a rather long evening. The Oklahoma! formula is becoming a bit monotonous and so are Miss de Mille's ballets. All right, go ahead and shoot!"Suskin, Steven. Opening Night on Broadway. Schirmer Trade Books, 1990, p. 147. . Dance Magazine gave Linn plaudits for her role as Louise, stating, "Bambi doesn't come on until twenty minutes before eleven, and for the next forty minutes, she practically holds the audience in her hand". Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune also applauded the dancing: "It has waited for Miss de Mille to come through with peculiarly American dance patterns for a musical show to become as much a dance as a song show."
When the musical returned to New York in 1949, The New York Times reviewer Brooks Atkinson described Carousel as "a conspicuously superior musical play ... Carousel, which was warmly appreciated when it opened, seems like nothing less than a masterpiece now." In 1954, when Carousel was revived at City Center, Atkinson discussed the musical in his review:
Carousel has no comment to make on anything of topical importance. The theme is timeless and universal: the devotion of two people who love each other through thick and thin, complicated in this case by the wayward personality of the man, who cannot fulfill the responsibilities he has assumed. ... Billy is a bum, but Carousel recognizes the decency of his motives and admires his independence. There are no slick solutions in Carousel.
Stephen Sondheim noted the duo's ability to take the innovations of Oklahoma! and apply them to a serious setting: "Oklahoma! is about a picnic, Carousel is about life and death." Critic Eric Bentley, on the other hand, wrote that "the last scene of Carousel is an impertinence: I refuse to be lectured to by a musical comedy scriptwriter on the education of children, the nature of the good life, and the contribution of the American small town to the salvation of souls."New York Times critic Frank Rich said of the 1992 London production: "What is remarkable about Mr. Hytner's direction, aside from its unorthodox faith in the virtues of simplicity and stillness, is its ability to make a 1992 audience believe in Hammerstein's vision of redemption, which has it that a dead sinner can return to Earth to do godly good." The Hytner production in New York was hailed by many critics as a grittier Carousel, which they deemed more appropriate for the 1990s. Clive Barnes of the New York Post called it a "defining Carousel—hard-nosed, imaginative, and exciting."
Critic Michael Billington has commented that "lyrically [Carousel] comes perilously close to acceptance of the inevitability of domestic violence." BroadwayWorld.com stated in 2013 that Carousel is now "considered somewhat controversial in terms of its attitudes on domestic violence" because Julie chooses to stay with Billy despite the abuse; actress Kelli O'Hara noted that the domestic violence that Julie "chooses to deal with – is a real, existing and very complicated thing. And exploring it is an important part of healing it."
Rodgers considered Carousel his favorite of all his musicals and wrote, "it affects me deeply every time I see it performed". In 1999, Time magazine, in its "Best of the Century" list, named Carousel the Best Musical of the 20th century, writing that Rodgers and Hammerstein "set the standards for the 20th century musical, and this show features their most beautiful score and the most skillful and affecting example of their musical storytelling". Hammerstein's grandson, Oscar Andrew Hammerstein, in his book about his family, suggested that the wartime situation made Carousel's ending especially poignant to its original viewers, "Every American grieved the loss of a brother, son, father, or friend ... the audience empathized with [Billy's] all-too-human efforts to offer advice, to seek forgiveness, to complete an unfinished life, and to bid a proper good-bye from beyond the grave." Author and composer Ethan Mordden agreed with that perspective:
If Oklahoma! developed the moral argument for sending American boys overseas, Carousel offered consolation to those wives and mothers whose boys would only return in spirit. The meaning lay not in the tragedy of the present, but in the hope for a future where no one walks alone.
Awards and nominations
Original 1945 Broadway productionNote: The Tony Awards were not established until 1947, and so Carousel was not eligible to win any Tonys at its premiere.
1957 revival
1992 London revival
1994 Broadway revival
2018 Broadway revival
References
Bibliography
Block, Geoffrey. Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical from Show Boat to Sondheim. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2004. .
Block, Geoffrey (ed.) The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2006. .
Bradley, Ian. You've Got to Have a Dream: The Message of the Broadway Musical. Louisville, Ky., Westminster John Knox Press, 2005. 978-0-664-22854-5.
Easton, Carol. No Intermission: The Life of Agnes DeMille. Jefferson, N.C.: Da Capo Press, 2000 (1st DaCapo Press edition). .
Fordin, Hugh. Getting to Know Him: A Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. Jefferson, N.C.: Da Capo Press, 1995 reprint of 1986 edition. .
Hammerstein, Oscar Andrew. The Hammersteins: A Musical Theatre Family. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2010. .
Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. .
Hyland, William G. Richard Rodgers. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1998. .
Molnár, Ferenc. Liliom: A Legend in Seven Scenes and a Prologue. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1921.
Mordden, Ethan. "Rodgers & Hammerstein". New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992. .
Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2002. .
Rodgers, Richard. Musical Stages: An Autobiography. Jefferson, N.C. Da Capo Press, 2002 reprint of 1975 edition. .
Secrest, Meryle. Somewhere for Me: A Biography of Richard Rodgers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2001. .
External links
Carousel at guidetomusicaltheatre.com
Carousel info page on StageAgent.com – Carousel plot summary and character descriptions
(1967 TV adaptation)
1945 musicals
Broadway musicals
Musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein
West End musicals
Musicals based on plays
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
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Fiction set in 1873
Fiction about the afterlife
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Plays set in the 19th century
Tony Award-winning musicals | true | [
"Disney Sing It! – High School Musical 3: Senior Year is a karaoke video game released on November 28, 2008 across multiple platforms, within Europe and on February 17, 2009 in North America.\n\nIt's the third game in the Disney Sing It series and the second game of the series focused on the High School Musical franchise. Despite being titled after the third movie, the game features songs from the three movies of the main series. It also features a \"Singing lessons\" mode with Olesya Rulin as a vocal coach.\n\nIt was followed by a fourth game, Disney Sing It: Pop Hits.\n\nGameplay\nUnlike High School Musical: Sing It! which contained animations for the musical numbers, this game is set out exactly like a SingStar game however instead of music videos, they used the actual musical sequence from the film.\n\nIt was released in North America on February 17, 2009, coinciding with the DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases of the film. The North American version included an additional 2 songs from High School Musical 2, and 3 songs from High School Musical 3, giving the entire High School Musical 3 songlist.\n\nDisney Sing It: High School Musical 3: Senior Year for the Xbox 360 allows use of the wireless Microsoft Lips microphones. Similarly the PlayStation 3 version allows the use of the SingStar wireless microphones.\n\nSongs\n\nNA: North America Version.\n\nHigh School Musical\nWe're All In This Together\nBreaking Free\nWhen There Was Me And You\nStick to the Status Quo\nBop to the Top\nGet'cha Head In The Game\nStart Of Something New\n\nHigh School Musical 2\nAll For One\nEveryday\nGotta Go My Own Way\nI Don't Dance (NA version only)\nYou Are The Music In Me\nWork This Out (NA version only)\nFabulous\nWhat Time Is It\n\nHigh School Musical 3: Senior Year\nHigh School Musical\nWalk Away\nScream (NA version only)\nThe Boys Are Back\nA Night To Remember\nJust Wanna Be With You\nCan I Have This Dance?\nI Want It All\nRight Here, Right Now (NA version only, edited second verse out)\nNow Or Never (NA version only)''''Missing Songs (available on other games)\nHigh School Musical 2Bet On It (available on Disney Sing It)High School Musical What I've Been Looking ForWhat I've Been Looking For (Reprise)See alsoHigh School Musical: Sing It!Disney Sing ItDisney Sing It: Pop HitsDisney Sing It: Party HitsDisney Sing It: Family Hits''\n\nReferences\n\n2008 video games\nHigh School Musical video games\nKaraoke video games\nPlayStation 2 games\nPlayStation 3 games\nVideo games developed in the United Kingdom\nWii games\nXbox 360 games",
"Project .44 is an industrial Rock band from Chicago, Illinois with members included in the group from both Ministry and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. The band has released two albums to date and are currently working on a third. Their first album, Look Me in the Eye, came out in 1999 and their second album, The System Doesn't Work, came out in 2005. Two music videos have been filmed for the tracks \"Warpath\" and \"I\", both of which are from their second album. The band is currently signed to Invisible Records, which is also based in Chicago and is the current home of fellow Industrial icons Pigface.\n\nIn May 2020, the label GIVE/TAKE released a 15th Anniversary remastered edition of project .44's Invisible Records debut \"The System Doesn't Work\" on red vinyl (a deluxe edition featured the remix album 'The System Reworked\"). Later, in December 2020, GIVE/TAKE followed up with a remastered version of project .44's debut \"Look Me In The Eye\" on CD.\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican industrial rock musical groups\nMusical groups established in 1998\nMusical groups from Chicago\nRock music groups from Illinois"
]
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[
"Carousel (musical)",
"Film, television and concert versions",
"which version came out first? (film tv or concert?)",
"musical",
"what year did the musical come out?",
"I don't know.",
"which version came out after the musical?",
"A film version of the musical was made in 1956,"
]
| C_d59717368f914b249db2290d234441fe_1 | who starred in the film version? | 4 | Who starred in the film version of the Carousel (musical)? | Carousel (musical) | A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. It follows the musical's story fairly closely, although a prologue, set in the Starkeeper's heaven, was added. The film was released only a few months after the release of the film version of Oklahoma!. It garnered some good reviews, and the soundtrack recording was a best seller. As the same stars appeared in both pictures, however, the two films were often compared, generally to the disadvantage of Carousel. Thomas Hischak, in The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, later wondered "if the smaller number of Carousel stage revivals is the product of this often-lumbering [film] musical". There was also an abridged (100 minute) 1967 network television version that starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella. The New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version of the musical from February 28 to March 2, 2013, at Avery Fisher Hall. Kelli O'Hara played Julie, with Nathan Gunn as Billy, Stephanie Blythe as Nettie, Jessie Mueller as Carrie, Jason Danieley as Enoch, Shuler Hensley as Jigger, John Cullum as the Starkeeper, and Kate Burton as Mrs. Mullin. Tiler Peck danced the role of Louise to choreography by Warren Carlyle. The production was directed by John Rando. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, "this is as gorgeously sung a production of this sublime 1945 Broadway musical as you are ever likely to hear." It was broadcast as part of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center series, premiering on April 26, 2013. CANNOTANSWER | starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. | Carousel is the second musical by the team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics). The 1945 work was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline. The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He participates in a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes tragically wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show includes the well-known songs "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone". Richard Rodgers later wrote that Carousel was his favorite of all his musicals.
Following the spectacular success of the first Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma! (1943), the pair sought to collaborate on another piece, knowing that any resulting work would be compared with Oklahoma!, most likely unfavorably. They were initially reluctant to seek the rights to Liliom; Molnár had refused permission for the work to be adapted in the past, and the original ending was considered too depressing for the musical theatre. After acquiring the rights, the team created a work with lengthy sequences of music and made the ending more hopeful.
The musical required considerable modification during out-of-town tryouts, but once it opened on Broadway on April 19, 1945, it was an immediate hit with both critics and audiences. Carousel initially ran for 890 performances and duplicated its success in the West End in 1950. Though it has never achieved as much commercial success as Oklahoma!, the piece has been repeatedly revived, recorded several times and was filmed in 1956. A production by Nicholas Hytner enjoyed success in 1992 in London, in 1994 in New York and on tour. Another Broadway revival opened in 2018. In 1999, Time magazine named Carousel the best musical of the 20th century.
Background
Liliom
Ferenc Molnár's Hungarian-language drama, Liliom, premiered in Budapest in 1909. The audience was puzzled by the work, and it lasted only thirty-odd performances before being withdrawn, the first shadow on Molnár's successful career as a playwright. Liliom was not presented again until after World War I. When it reappeared on the Budapest stage, it was a tremendous hit.
Except for the ending, the plots of Liliom and Carousel are very similar. Andreas Zavocky (nicknamed Liliom, the Hungarian word for "lily", a slang term for "tough guy"), a carnival barker, falls in love with Julie Zeller, a servant girl, and they begin living together. With both discharged from their jobs, Liliom is discontented and contemplates leaving Julie, but decides not to do so on learning that she is pregnant. A subplot involves Julie's friend Marie, who has fallen in love with Wolf Biefeld, a hotel porter—after the two marry, he becomes the owner of the hotel. Desperate to make money so that he, Julie and their child can escape to America and a better life, Liliom conspires with lowlife Ficsur to commit a robbery, but it goes badly, and Liliom stabs himself. He dies, and his spirit is taken to heaven's police court. As Ficsur suggested while the two waited to commit the crime, would-be robbers like them do not come before God Himself. Liliom is told by the magistrate that he may go back to Earth for one day to attempt to redeem the wrongs he has done to his family, but must first spend sixteen years in a fiery purgatory.
On his return to Earth, Liliom encounters his daughter, Louise, who like her mother is now a factory worker. Saying that he knew her father, he tries to give her a star he stole from the heavens. When Louise refuses to take it, he strikes her. Not realizing who he is, Julie confronts him, but finds herself unable to be angry with him. Liliom is ushered off to his fate, presumably Hell, and Louise asks her mother if it is possible to feel a hard slap as if it was a kiss. Julie reminiscently tells her daughter that it is very possible for that to happen.
An English translation of Liliom was credited to Benjamin "Barney" Glazer, though there is a story that the actual translator, uncredited, was Rodgers' first major partner Lorenz Hart. The Theatre Guild presented it in New York City in 1921, with Joseph Schildkraut as Liliom, and the play was a success, running 300 performances. A 1940 revival with Burgess Meredith and Ingrid Bergman was seen by both Hammerstein and Rodgers. Glazer, in introducing the English translation of Liliom, wrote of the play's appeal:
And where in modern dramatic literature can such pearls be matched—Julie incoherently confessing to her dead lover the love she had always been ashamed to tell; Liliom crying out to the distant carousel the glad news that he is to be a father; the two thieves gambling for the spoils of their prospective robbery; Marie and Wolf posing for their portrait while the broken-hearted Julie stands looking after the vanishing Liliom, the thieves' song ringing in her ears; the two policemen grousing about pay and pensions while Liliom lies bleeding to death; Liliom furtively proffering his daughter the star he has stolen for her in heaven. ... The temptation to count the whole scintillating string is difficult to resist.
Inception
In the 1920s and 1930s, Rodgers and Hammerstein both became well known for creating Broadway hits with other partners. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced a string of over two dozen musicals, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Some of Rodgers' work with Hart broke new ground in musical theatre: On Your Toes was the first use of ballet to sustain the plot (in the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" scene), while Pal Joey flouted Broadway tradition by presenting a knave as its hero. Hammerstein had written or co-written the words for such hits as Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote material for musicals and films, sharing an Oscar for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good.
By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, becoming unreliable and prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him. Hammerstein was eager to do so, and their first collaboration was Oklahoma! (1943). Thomas Hischak states, in his The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, that Oklahoma! is "the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. In fact, the history of the Broadway musical can accurately be divided into what came before Oklahoma! and what came after it." An innovation for its time in integrating song, character, plot and dance, Oklahoma! would serve, according to Hischak, as "the model for Broadway shows for decades", and proved a huge popular and financial success. Once it was well-launched, what to do as an encore was a daunting challenge for the pair. Film producer Samuel Goldwyn saw Oklahoma! and advised Rodgers to shoot himself, which according to Rodgers "was Sam's blunt but funny way of telling me that I'd never create another show as good as Oklahoma!" As they considered new projects, Hammerstein wrote, "We're such fools. No matter what we do, everyone is bound to say, 'This is not another Oklahoma! "
Oklahoma! had been a struggle to finance and produce. Hammerstein and Rodgers met weekly in 1943 with Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Theatre Guild, producers of the blockbuster musical, who together formed what they termed "the Gloat Club". At one such luncheon, Helburn and Langner proposed to Rodgers and Hammerstein that they turn Molnár's Liliom into a musical. Both men refused—they had no feeling for the Budapest setting and thought that the unhappy ending was unsuitable for musical theatre. In addition, given the unstable wartime political situation, they might need to change the setting from Hungary while in rehearsal. At the next luncheon, Helburn and Langner again proposed Liliom, suggesting that they move the setting to Louisiana and make Liliom a Creole. Rodgers and Hammerstein played with the idea over the next few weeks, but decided that Creole dialect, filled with "zis" and "zose", would sound corny and would make it difficult to write effective lyrics.
A breakthrough came when Rodgers, who owned a house in Connecticut, proposed a New England setting. Hammerstein wrote of this suggestion in 1945,
I began to see an attractive ensemble—sailors, whalers, girls who worked in the mills up the river, clambakes on near-by islands, an amusement park on the seaboard, things people could do in crowds, people who were strong and alive and lusty, people who had always been depicted on the stage as thin-lipped puritans—a libel I was anxious to refute ... as for the two leading characters, Julie with her courage and inner strength and outward simplicity seemed more indigenous to Maine than to Budapest. Liliom is, of course, an international character, indigenous to nowhere.
Rodgers and Hammerstein were also concerned about what they termed "the tunnel" of Molnár's second act—a series of gloomy scenes leading up to Liliom's suicide—followed by a dark ending. They also felt it would be difficult to set Liliom's motivation for the robbery to music. Molnár's opposition to having his works adapted was also an issue; he had famously turned down Giacomo Puccini when the great composer wished to transform Liliom into an opera, stating that he wanted the piece to be remembered as his, not Puccini's. In 1937, Molnár, who had recently emigrated to the United States, had declined another offer from Kurt Weill to adapt the play into a musical.
The pair continued to work on the preliminary ideas for a Liliom adaptation while pursuing other projects in late 1943 and early 1944—writing the film musical State Fair and producing I Remember Mama on Broadway. Meanwhile, the Theatre Guild took Molnár to see Oklahoma! Molnár stated that if Rodgers and Hammerstein could adapt Liliom as beautifully as they had modified Green Grow the Lilacs into Oklahoma!, he would be pleased to have them do it. The Guild obtained the rights from Molnár in October 1943. The playwright received one percent of the gross and $2,500 for "personal services". The duo insisted, as part of the contract, that Molnár permit them to make changes in the plot. At first, the playwright refused, but eventually yielded. Hammerstein later stated that if this point had not been won, "we could never have made Carousel."
In seeking to establish through song Liliom's motivation for the robbery, Rodgers remembered that he and Hart had a similar problem in Pal Joey. Rodgers and Hart had overcome the problem with a song that Joey sings to himself, "I'm Talking to My Pal". This inspired "Soliloquy". Both partners later told a story that "Soliloquy" was only intended to be a song about Liliom's dreams of a son, but that Rodgers, who had two daughters, insisted that Liliom consider that Julie might have a girl. However, the notes taken at their meeting of December 7, 1943 state: "Mr. Rodgers suggested a fine musical number for the end of the scene where Liliom discovers he is to be a father, in which he sings first with pride of the growth of a boy, and then suddenly realizes it might be a girl and changes completely."
Hammerstein and Rodgers returned to the Liliom project in mid-1944. Hammerstein was uneasy as he worked, fearing that no matter what they did, Molnár would disapprove of the results. Green Grow the Lilacs had been a little-known work; Liliom was a theatrical standard. Molnár's text also contained considerable commentary on the Hungarian politics of 1909 and the rigidity of that society. A dismissed carnival barker who hits his wife, attempts a robbery and commits suicide seemed an unlikely central character for a musical comedy. Hammerstein decided to use the words and story to make the audience sympathize with the lovers. He also built up the secondary couple, who are incidental to the plot in Liliom; they became Enoch Snow and Carrie Pipperidge. "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" was repurposed from a song, "A Real Nice Hayride", written for Oklahoma! but not used.
Molnár's ending was unsuitable, and after a couple of false starts, Hammerstein conceived the graduation scene that ends the musical. According to Frederick Nolan in his book on the team's works: "From that scene the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" sprang almost naturally." In spite of Hammerstein's simple lyrics for "You'll Never Walk Alone", Rodgers had great difficulty in setting it to music. Rodgers explained his rationale for the changed ending,
Liliom was a tragedy about a man who cannot learn to live with other people. The way Molnár wrote it, the man ends up hitting his daughter and then having to go back to purgatory, leaving his daughter helpless and hopeless. We couldn't accept that. The way we ended Carousel it may still be a tragedy but it's a hopeful one because in the final scene it is clear that the child has at last learned how to express herself and communicate with others.
When the pair decided to make "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" into an ensemble number, Hammerstein realized he had no idea what a clambake was like, and researched the matter. Based on his initial findings, he wrote the line, "First came codfish chowder". However, further research convinced him the proper term was "codhead chowder", a term unfamiliar to many playgoers. He decided to keep it as "codfish". When the song proceeded to discuss the lobsters consumed at the feast, Hammerstein wrote the line "We slit 'em down the back/And peppered 'em good". He was grieved to hear from a friend that lobsters are always slit down the front. The lyricist sent a researcher to a seafood restaurant and heard back that lobsters are always slit down the back. Hammerstein concluded that there is disagreement about which side of a lobster is the back. One error not caught involved the song "June Is Bustin' Out All Over", in which sheep are depicted as seeking to mate in late spring—they actually do so in the winter. Whenever this was brought to Hammerstein's attention, he told his informant that 1873 was a special year, in which sheep mated in the spring.
Rodgers early decided to dispense with an overture, feeling that the music was hard to hear over the banging of seats as latecomers settled themselves. In his autobiography, Rodgers complained that only the brass section can be heard during an overture because there are never enough strings in a musical's small orchestra. He determined to force the audience to concentrate from the beginning by opening with a pantomime scene accompanied by what became known as "The Carousel Waltz". The pantomime paralleled one in the Molnár play, which was also used to introduce the characters and situation to the audience. Author Ethan Mordden described the effectiveness of this opening:
Other characters catch our notice—Mr. Bascombe, the pompous mill owner, Mrs. Mullin, the widow who runs the carousel and, apparently, Billy; a dancing bear; an acrobat. But what draws us in is the intensity with which Julie regards Billy—the way she stands frozen, staring at him, while everyone else at the fair is swaying to the rhythm of Billy's spiel. And as Julie and Billy ride together on the swirling carousel, and the stage picture surges with the excitement of the crowd, and the orchestra storms to a climax, and the curtain falls, we realize that R & H have not only skipped the overture and the opening number but the exposition as well. They have plunged into the story, right into the middle of it, in the most intense first scene any musical ever had.
Casting and out-of-town tryouts
The casting for Carousel began when Oklahoma!s production team, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, was seeking a replacement for the part of Curly (the male lead in Oklahoma!). Lawrence Langner had heard, through a relative, of a California singer named John Raitt, who might be suitable for the part. Langner went to hear Raitt, then urged the others to bring Raitt to New York for an audition. Raitt asked to sing "Largo al factotum", Figaro's aria from The Barber of Seville, to warm up. The warmup was sufficient to convince the producers that not only had they found a Curly, they had found a Liliom (or Billy Bigelow, as the part was renamed). Theresa Helburn made another California discovery, Jan Clayton, a singer/actress who had made a few minor films for MGM. She was brought east and successfully auditioned for the part of Julie.
The producers sought to cast unknowns. Though many had played in previous Hammerstein or Rodgers works, only one, Jean Casto (cast as carousel owner Mrs. Mullin, and a veteran of Pal Joey), had ever played on Broadway before. It proved harder to cast the ensemble than the leads, due to the war—Rodgers told his casting director, John Fearnley, that the sole qualification for a dancing boy was that he be alive. Rodgers and Hammerstein reassembled much of the creative team that had made Oklahoma! a success, including director Rouben Mamoulian and choreographer Agnes de Mille. Miles White was the costume designer while Jo Mielziner (who had not worked on Oklahoma!) was the scenic and lighting designer. Even though Oklahoma! orchestrator Russell Bennett had informed Rodgers that he was unavailable to work on Carousel due to a radio contract, Rodgers insisted he do the work in his spare time. He orchestrated "The Carousel Waltz" and "(When I Marry) Mister Snow" before finally being replaced by Don Walker. A new member of the creative team was Trude Rittmann, who arranged the dance music. Rittmann initially felt that Rodgers mistrusted her because she was a woman, and found him difficult to work with, but the two worked together on Rodgers' shows until the 1970s.
Rehearsals began in January 1945; either Rodgers or Hammerstein was always present. Raitt was presented with the lyrics for "Soliloquy" on a five-foot long sheet of paper—the piece ran nearly eight minutes. Staging such a long solo number presented problems, and Raitt later stated that he felt that they were never fully addressed. At some point during rehearsals, Molnár came to see what they had done to his play. There are a number of variations on the story.Fordin, pp. 231–32 As Rodgers told it, while watching rehearsals with Hammerstein, the composer spotted Molnár in the rear of the theatre and whispered the news to his partner. Both sweated through an afternoon of rehearsal in which nothing seemed to go right. At the end, the two walked to the back of the theatre, expecting an angry reaction from Molnár. Instead, the playwright said enthusiastically, "What you have done is so beautiful. And you know what I like best? The ending!" Hammerstein wrote that Molnár became a regular attendee at rehearsals after that.
Like most of the pair's works, Carousel contains a lengthy ballet, "Billy Makes a Journey", in the second act, as Billy looks down to the Earth from "Up There" and observes his daughter. In the original production the ballet was choreographed by de Mille. It began with Billy looking down from heaven at his wife in labor, with the village women gathered for a "birthing". The ballet involved every character in the play, some of whom spoke lines of dialogue, and contained a number of subplots. The focus was on Louise, played by Bambi Linn, who at first almost soars in her dance, expressing the innocence of childhood. She is teased and mocked by her schoolmates, and Louise becomes attracted to the rough carnival people, who symbolize Billy's world. A youth from the carnival attempts to seduce Louise, as she discovers her own sexuality, but he decides she is more girl than woman, and he leaves her. After Julie comforts her, Louise goes to a children's party, where she is shunned. The carnival people reappear and form a ring around the children's party, with Louise lost between the two groups. At the end, the performers form a huge carousel with their bodies.
The play opened for tryouts in New Haven, Connecticut on March 22, 1945. The first act was well-received; the second act was not. Casto recalled that the second act finished about 1:30 a.m. The staff immediately sat down for a two-hour conference. Five scenes, half the ballet, and two songs were cut from the show as the result. John Fearnley commented, "Now I see why these people have hits. I never witnessed anything so brisk and brave in my life." De Mille said of this conference, "not three minutes had been wasted pleading for something cherished. Nor was there any idle joking. ... We cut and cut and cut and then we went to bed." By the time the company left New Haven, de Mille's ballet was down to forty minutes.
A major concern with the second act was the effectiveness of the characters He and She (later called by Rodgers "Mr. and Mrs. God"), before whom Billy appeared after his death. Mr. and Mrs. God were depicted as a New England minister and his wife, seen in their parlor.Block (ed.), p. 129. At this time, according to the cast sheet distributed during the Boston run, Dr. Seldon was listed as the "Minister". The couple was still part of the show at the Boston opening. Rodgers said to Hammerstein, "We've got to get God out of that parlor". When Hammerstein inquired where he should put the deity, Rodgers replied, "I don't care where you put Him. Put Him on a ladder for all I care, only get Him out of that parlor!" Hammerstein duly put Mr. God (renamed the Starkeeper) atop a ladder, and Mrs. God was removed from the show. Rodgers biographer Meryle Secrest terms this change a mistake, leading to a more fantastic afterlife, which was later criticized by The New Republic as "a Rotarian atmosphere congenial to audiences who seek not reality but escape from reality, not truth but escape from truth".
Hammerstein wrote that Molnár's advice, to combine two scenes into one, was key to pulling together the second act and represented "a more radical departure from the original than any change we had made". A reprise of "If I Loved You" was added in the second act, which Rodgers felt needed more music. Three weeks of tryouts in Boston followed the brief New Haven run, and the audience there gave the musical a warm reception. An even shorter version of the ballet was presented the final two weeks in Boston, but on the final night there, de Mille expanded it back to forty minutes, and it brought the house down, causing both Rodgers and Hammerstein to embrace her.
Synopsis
Act 1
Two young female millworkers in 1873 Maine visit the town's carousel after work. One of them, Julie Jordan, attracts the attention of the barker, Billy Bigelow ("The Carousel Waltz"). When Julie lets Billy put his arm around her during the ride, Mrs. Mullin, the widowed owner of the carousel, tells Julie never to return. Julie and her friend, Carrie Pipperidge, argue with Mrs. Mullin. Billy arrives and, seeing that Mrs. Mullin is jealous, mocks her; he is fired from his job. Billy, unconcerned, invites Julie to join him for a drink. As he goes to get his belongings, Carrie presses Julie about her feelings toward him, but Julie is evasive ("You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan"). Carrie has a beau too, fisherman Enoch Snow ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow"), to whom she is newly engaged. Billy returns for Julie as the departing Carrie warns that staying out late means the loss of Julie's job. Mr. Bascombe, owner of the mill, happens by along with a policeman, and offers to escort Julie to her home, but she refuses and is fired. Left alone, she and Billy talk about what life might be like if they were in love, but neither quite confesses to the growing attraction they feel for each other ("If I Loved You").
Over a month passes, and preparations for the summer clambake are under way ("June Is Bustin' Out All Over"). Julie and Billy, now married, live at Julie's cousin Nettie's spa. Julie confides in Carrie that Billy, frustrated over being unemployed, hit her. Carrie has happier news—she is engaged to Enoch, who enters as she discusses him ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow (reprise))". Billy arrives with his ne'er-do-well whaler friend, Jigger. The former barker is openly rude to Enoch and Julie, then leaves with Jigger, followed by a distraught Julie. Enoch tells Carrie that he expects to become rich selling herring and to have a large family, larger perhaps than Carrie is comfortable having ("When the Children Are Asleep").
Jigger and his shipmates, joined by Billy, then sing about life on the sea ("Blow High, Blow Low"). The whaler tries to recruit Billy to help with a robbery, but Billy declines, as the victim—Julie's former boss, Mr. Bascombe—might have to be killed. Mrs. Mullin enters and tries to tempt Billy back to the carousel (and to her). He would have to abandon Julie; a married barker cannot evoke the same sexual tension as one who is single. Billy reluctantly mulls it over as Julie arrives and the others leave. She tells him that she is pregnant, and Billy is overwhelmed with happiness, ending all thoughts of returning to the carousel. Once alone, Billy imagines the fun he will have with Bill Jr.—until he realizes that his child might be a girl, and reflects soberly that "you've got to be a father to a girl" ("Soliloquy"). Determined to provide financially for his future child, whatever the means, Billy decides to be Jigger's accomplice.
The whole town leaves for the clambake. Billy, who had earlier refused to go, agrees to join in, to Julie's delight, as he realizes that being seen at the clambake is integral to his and Jigger's alibi ("Act I Finale").
Act 2
Everyone reminisces about the huge meal and much fun ("This Was a Real Nice Clambake"). Jigger tries to seduce Carrie; Enoch walks in at the wrong moment, and declares that he is finished with her ("Geraniums In the Winder"), as Jigger jeers ("There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman"). The girls try to comfort Carrie, but for Julie all that matters is that "he's your feller and you love him" ("What's the Use of Wond'rin'?"). Julie sees Billy trying to sneak away with Jigger and, trying to stop him, feels the knife hidden in his shirt. She begs him to give it to her, but he refuses and leaves to commit the robbery.
As they wait, Jigger and Billy gamble with cards. They stake their shares of the anticipated robbery spoils. Billy loses: his participation is now pointless. Unknown to Billy and Jigger, Mr. Bascombe, the intended victim, has already deposited the mill's money. The robbery fails: Bascombe pulls a gun on Billy while Jigger escapes. Billy stabs himself with his knife; Julie arrives just in time for him to say his last words to her and die. Julie strokes his hair, finally able to tell him that she loved him. Carrie and Enoch, reunited by the crisis, attempt to console Julie; Nettie arrives and gives Julie the resolve to keep going despite her despair ("You'll Never Walk Alone").
Billy's defiant spirit ("The Highest Judge of All") is taken Up There to see the Starkeeper, a heavenly official. The Starkeeper tells Billy that the good he did in life was not enough to get into heaven, but so long as there is a person alive who remembers him, he can return for a day to try to do good to redeem himself. He informs Billy that fifteen years have passed on Earth since his suicide, and suggests that Billy can get himself into heaven if he helps his daughter, Louise. He helps Billy look down from heaven to see her (instrumental ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey"). Louise has grown up to be lonely and bitter. The local children ostracize her because her father was a thief and a wife-beater. In the dance, a young ruffian, much like her father at that age, flirts with her and abandons her as too young. The dance concludes, and Billy is anxious to return to Earth and help his daughter. He steals a star to take with him, as the Starkeeper pretends not to notice.
Outside Julie's cottage, Carrie describes her visit to New York with the now-wealthy Enoch. Carrie's husband and their many children enter to fetch her—the family must get ready for the high school graduation later that day. Enoch Jr., the oldest son, remains behind to talk with Louise, as Billy and the Heavenly Friend escorting him enter, invisible to the other characters. Louise confides in Enoch Jr. that she plans to run away from home with an acting troupe. He says that he will stop her by marrying her, but that his father will think her an unsuitable match. Louise is outraged: each insults the other's father, and Louise orders Enoch Jr. to go away. Billy, able to make himself visible at will, reveals himself to the sobbing Louise, pretending to be a friend of her father. He offers her a gift—the star he stole from heaven. She refuses it and, frustrated, he slaps her hand. He makes himself invisible, and Louise tells Julie what happened, stating that the slap miraculously felt like a kiss, not a blow—and Julie understands her perfectly. Louise retreats to the house, as Julie notices the star that Billy dropped; she picks it up and seems to feel Billy's presence ("If I Loved You (Reprise)").
Billy invisibly attends Louise's graduation, hoping for one last chance to help his daughter and redeem himself. The beloved town physician, Dr. Seldon (who resembles the Starkeeper) advises the graduating class not to rely on their parents' success or be held back by their failure (words directed at Louise). Seldon prompts everyone to sing an old song, "You'll Never Walk Alone". Billy, still invisible, whispers to Louise, telling her to believe Seldon's words, and when she tentatively reaches out to another girl, she learns she does not have to be an outcast. Billy goes to Julie, telling her at last that he loved her. As his widow and daughter join in the singing, Billy is taken to his heavenly reward.
Principal roles and notable performers
° denotes original Broadway cast
Musical numbers Act I"List of Songs", Carousel at the IBDB Database. Retrieved July 18, 2012
"The Carousel Waltz" – Orchestra
"You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan" – Carrie Pipperidge and Julie Jordan
"(When I Marry) Mister Snow" – Carrie
"If I Loved You" – Billy Bigelow and Julie
"June Is Bustin' Out All Over" – Nettie Fowler and Chorus
"(When I Marry) Mister Snow" (reprise) – Carrie, Enoch Snow and Female Chorus
"When the Children Are Asleep" – Enoch and Carrie
"Blow High, Blow Low" – Jigger Craigin, Billy and Male Chorus
"Soliloquy" – BillyAct II "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" – Carrie, Nettie, Julie, Enoch and Chorus
"Geraniums in the Winder" – Enoch *
"There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman" – Jigger and Chorus
"What's the Use of Wond'rin'?" – Julie
"You'll Never Walk Alone" – Nettie
"The Highest Judge of All" – Billy
Ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey" – Orchestra
"If I Loved You" (reprise) – Billy
Finale: "You'll Never Walk Alone" (reprise) – Company
Productions
Early productions
The original Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945. The dress rehearsal the day before had gone badly, and the pair feared the new work would not be well received. One successful last-minute change was to have de Mille choreograph the pantomime. The movement of the carnival crowd in the pantomime had been entrusted to Mamoulian, and his version was not working. Rodgers had injured his back the previous week, and he watched the opening from a stretcher propped in a box behind the curtain. Sedated with morphine, he could see only part of the stage. As he could not hear the audience's applause and laughter, he assumed the show was a failure. It was not until friends congratulated him later that evening that he realized that the curtain had been met by wild applause. Bambi Linn, who played Louise, was so enthusiastically received by the audience during her ballet that she was forced to break character, when she next appeared, and bow. Rodgers' daughter Mary caught sight of her friend, Stephen Sondheim, both teenagers then, across several rows; both had eyes wet with tears.
The original production ran for 890 performances, closing on May 24, 1947. The original cast included John Raitt (Billy), Jan Clayton (Julie), Jean Darling (Carrie), Eric Mattson (Enoch Snow), Christine Johnson (Nettie Fowler), Murvyn Vye (Jigger), Bambi Linn (Louise) and Russell Collins (Starkeeper). In December 1945, Clayton left to star in the Broadway revival of Show Boat and was replaced by Iva Withers; Raitt was replaced by Henry Michel in January 1947; Darling was replaced by Margot Moser.Hischak, p. 62
After closing on Broadway, the show went on a national tour for two years. It played for five months in Chicago alone, visited twenty states and two Canadian cities, covered and played to nearly two million people. The touring company had a four-week run at New York City Center in January 1949. Following the City Center run, the show was moved back to the Majestic Theatre in the hopes of filling the theatre until South Pacific opened in early April. However, ticket sales were mediocre, and the show closed almost a month early.
The musical premiered in the West End, London, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on June 7, 1950. The production was restaged by Jerome Whyte, with a cast that included Stephen Douglass (Billy), Iva Withers (Julie) and Margot Moser (Carrie). Carousel ran in London for 566 performances, remaining there for over a year and a half.
Subsequent productions
Carousel was revived in 1954 and 1957 at City Center, presented by the New York City Center Light Opera Company. Both times, the production featured Barbara Cook, though she played Carrie in 1954 and Julie in 1957 (playing alongside Howard Keel as Billy). The production was then taken to Belgium to be performed at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, with David Atkinson as Billy, Ruth Kobart as Nettie, and Clayton reprising the role of Julie, which she had originated.
In August 1965, Rodgers and the Music Theater of Lincoln Center produced Carousel for 47 performances. John Raitt reprised the role of Billy, with Jerry Orbach as Jigger and Reid Shelton as Enoch Snow. The roles of the Starkeeper and Dr. Seldon were played by Edward Everett Horton in his final stage appearance. The following year, New York City Center Light Opera Company brought Carousel back to City Center for 22 performances, with Bruce Yarnell as Billy and Constance Towers as Julie.
Nicholas Hytner directed a new production of Carousel in 1992, at London's Royal National Theatre, with choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan and designs by Bob Crowley. In this staging, the story begins at the mill, where Julie and Carrie work, with the music slowed down to emphasize the drudgery. After work ends, they move to the shipyards and then to the carnival. As they proceed on a revolving stage, carnival characters appear, and at last the carousel is assembled onstage for the girls to ride.Block, p. 175 Louise is seduced by the ruffian boy during her Act 2 ballet, set around the ruins of a carousel. Michael Hayden played Billy not as a large, gruff man, but as a frustrated smaller one, a time bomb waiting to explode. Hayden, Joanna Riding (Julie) and Janie Dee (Carrie) all won Olivier Awards for their performances. Patricia Routledge played Nettie. Enoch and Carrie were cast as an interracial couple whose eight children, according to the review in The New York Times, looked like "a walking United Colors of Benetton ad". Clive Rowe, as Enoch, was nominated for an Olivier Award. The production's limited run from December 1992 through March 1993 was a sellout. It re-opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London in September 1993, presented by Cameron Mackintosh, where it continued until May 1994.
The Hytner production moved to New York's Vivian Beaumont Theater, where it opened on March 24, 1994, and ran for 322 performances. This won five Tony Awards, including best musical revival, as well as awards for Hytner, MacMillan, Crowley and Audra McDonald (as Carrie). The cast also included Sally Murphy as Julie, Shirley Verrett as Nettie, Fisher Stevens as Jigger and Eddie Korbich as Enoch. One change made from the London to the New York production was to have Billy strike Louise across the face, rather than on the hand. According to Hayden, "He does the one unpardonable thing, the thing we can't forgive. It's a challenge for the audience to like him after that." The Hytner Carousel was presented in Japan in May 1995. A U.S. national tour with a scaled-down production began in February 1996 in Houston and closed in May 1997 in Providence, Rhode Island. Producers sought to feature young talent on the tour, with Patrick Wilson as Billy and Sarah Uriarte Berry, and later Jennifer Laura Thompson, as Julie.
A revival opened at London's Savoy Theatre on December 2, 2008, after a week of previews, starring Jeremiah James (Billy), Alexandra Silber (Julie) and Lesley Garrett (Nettie). The production received warm to mixed reviews. It closed in June 2009, a month early. Michael Coveney, writing in The Independent, admired Rodgers' music but stated, "Lindsay Posner's efficient revival doesn't hold a candle to the National Theatre 1992 version". A production at Theater Basel, Switzerland, in 2016 to 2017, with German dialogue, was directed by Alexander Charim and choreographed by Teresa Rotemberg. Bryony Dwyer, Christian Miedl and Cheryl Studer starred, respectively, as Julie Jordan, Billy Bigelow and Nettie Fowler.<ref>[http://operabase.com/diary.cgi?lang=en&code=wsba&date=20161215 "Richard Rodgers: Carousel"] , Diary: Theater Basel, Operabase.com. Retrieved on March 8, 2018</ref> A semi-staged revival by the English National Opera opened at the London Coliseum in 2017. The production was directed by Lonny Price, conducted by David Charles Abell, and starred Alfie Boe as Billy, Katherine Jenkins as Julie and Nicholas Lyndhurst as the Starkeeper. The production received mixed to positive reviews.
The third Broadway revival began previews in February 2018 at the Imperial Theatre and officially opened on April 12. It closed on September 16, 2018. The production starred Jessie Mueller, Joshua Henry, Renée Fleming, Lindsay Mendez and Alexander Gemignani. The production was directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Justin Peck. The songs "Geraniums in the Winder" and "There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman" were cut from this revival. Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times, "The tragic inevitability of Carousel has seldom come across as warmly or as chillingly as it does in this vividly reimagined revival. ... [W]ith thoughtful and powerful performances by Mr. Henry and Ms. Mueller, the love story at the show's center has never seemed quite as ill-starred or, at the same time, as sexy. ... [T]he Starkeeper ... assumes new visibility throughout, taking on the role of Billy's angelic supervisor." Brantley strongly praised the choreography, all the performances and the designers. He was unconvinced, however, by the "mother-daughter dialogue that falls so abrasively on contemporary ears", where Julie tries to justify loving an abusive man, and other scenes in Act 2, particularly those set in heaven, and the optimism of the final scene. Most of the reviewers agreed that while the choreography and performances (especially the singing) were excellent, characterizing the production as sexy and sumptuous, O'Brien's direction did little to help the show deal with modern sensibilities about men's treatment of women, instead indulging in nostalgia.
From July to September 2021 the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London is presenting a staging by its artistic director Timothy Sheader, with choreography by Drew McOnie. The cast includes Carly Bawden as Julie, Declan Bennett as Billy and Joanna Riding as Nettie.
Film, television and concert versions
[[File:Boothbay Harbor in Summer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where the location shots for Carousels movie version were filmed]]
A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. It follows the musical's story fairly closely, although a prologue, set in the Starkeeper's heaven, was added. The film was released only a few months after the release of the film version of Oklahoma! It garnered some good reviews, and the soundtrack recording was a best seller. As the same stars appeared in both pictures, however, the two films were often compared, generally to the disadvantage of Carousel. Thomas Hischak, in The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, later wondered "if the smaller number of Carousel stage revivals is the product of this often-lumbering [film] musical".
There was also an abridged (100 minute) 1967 network television version that starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella.
The New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version of the musical from February 28 to March 2, 2013, at Avery Fisher Hall. Kelli O'Hara played Julie, with Nathan Gunn as Billy, Stephanie Blythe as Nettie, Jessie Mueller as Carrie, Jason Danieley as Enoch, Shuler Hensley as Jigger, John Cullum as the Starkeeper, and Kate Burton as Mrs. Mullin. Tiler Peck danced the role of Louise to choreography by Warren Carlyle. The production was directed by John Rando and conducted by Rob Fisher. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, "this is as gorgeously sung a production of this sublime 1945 Broadway musical as you are ever likely to hear." It was broadcast as part of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center series, premiering on April 26, 2013.
Music and recordings
Musical treatment
Rodgers designed Carousel to be an almost continuous stream of music, especially in Act 1. In later years, Rodgers was asked if he had considered writing an opera. He stated that he had been sorely tempted to, but saw Carousel in operatic terms. He remembered, "We came very close to opera in the Majestic Theatre. ... There's much that is operatic in the music."
Rodgers uses music in Carousel in subtle ways to differentiate characters and tell the audience of their emotional state. In "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan", the music for the placid Carrie is characterized by even eighth-note rhythms, whereas the emotionally restless Julie's music is marked by dotted eighths and sixteenths; this rhythm will characterize her throughout the show. When Billy whistles a snatch of the song, he selects Julie's dotted notes rather than Carrie's. Reflecting the close association in the music between Julie and the as-yet unborn Louise, when Billy sings in "Soliloquy" of his daughter, who "gets hungry every night", he uses Julie's dotted rhythms. Such rhythms also characterize Julie's Act 2 song, "What's the Use of Wond'rin'". The stable love between Enoch and Carrie is strengthened by her willingness to let Enoch not only plan his entire life, but hers as well. This is reflected in "When the Children Are Asleep", where the two sing in close harmony, but Enoch musically interrupts his intended's turn at the chorus with the words "Dreams that won't be interrupted". Rodgers biographer Geoffrey Block, in his book on the Broadway musical, points out that though Billy may strike his wife, he allows her musical themes to become a part of him and never interrupts her music. Block suggests that, as reprehensible as Billy may be for his actions, Enoch requiring Carrie to act as "the little woman", and his having nine children with her (more than she had found acceptable in "When the Children are Asleep") can be considered to be even more abusive.
The twelve-minute "bench scene", in which Billy and Julie get to know each other and which culminates with "If I Loved You", according to Hischak, "is considered the most completely integrated piece of music-drama in the American musical theatre". The scene is almost entirely drawn from Molnár and is one extended musical piece; Stephen Sondheim described it as "probably the single most important moment in the revolution of contemporary musicals". "If I Loved You" has been recorded many times, by such diverse artists as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis Jr., Mario Lanza and Chad and Jeremy. The D-flat major theme that dominates the music for the second act ballet seems like a new melody to many audience members. It is, however, a greatly expanded development of a theme heard during "Soliloquy" at the line "I guess he'll call me 'The old man' ".
When the pair discussed the song that would become "Soliloquy", Rodgers improvised at the piano to give Hammerstein an idea of how he envisioned the song. When Hammerstein presented his collaborator with the lyrics after two weeks of work (Hammerstein always wrote the words first, then Rodgers would write the melodies), Rodgers wrote the music for the eight-minute song in two hours. "What's the Use of Wond'rin' ", one of Julie's songs, worked well in the show but was never as popular on the radio or for recording, and Hammerstein believed that the lack of popularity was because he had concluded the final line, "And all the rest is talk" with a hard consonant, which does not allow the singer a vocal climax.
Irving Berlin later stated that "You'll Never Walk Alone" had the same sort of effect on him as the 23rd Psalm. When singer Mel Tormé told Rodgers that "You'll Never Walk Alone" had made him cry, Rodgers nodded impatiently. "You're supposed to." The frequently recorded song has become a widely accepted hymn.Rodgers, p. 240 The cast recording of Carousel proved popular in Liverpool, like many Broadway albums, and in 1963, the Brian Epstein-managed band, Gerry and the Pacemakers had a number-one hit with the song. At the time, the top ten hits were played before Liverpool F.C. home matches; even after "You'll Never Walk Alone" dropped out of the top ten, fans continued to sing it, and it has become closely associated with the soccer team and the city of Liverpool. A BBC program, Soul Music, ranked it alongside "Silent Night" and "Abide With Me" in terms of its emotional impact and iconic status.
Recordings
The cast album of the 1945 Broadway production was issued on 78s, and the score was significantly cut—as was the 1950 London cast recording. Theatre historian John Kenrick notes of the 1945 recording that a number of songs had to be abridged to fit the 78 format, but that there is a small part of "Soliloquy" found on no other recording, as Rodgers cut it from the score immediately after the studio recording was made.Fick, David. "The Best Carousel Recording", June 11, 2009. Retrieved on April 7, 2016
A number of songs were cut for the 1956 film, but two of the deleted numbers had been recorded and were ultimately retained on the soundtrack album. The expanded CD version of the soundtrack, issued in 2001, contains all of the singing recorded for the film, including the cut portions, and nearly all of the dance music. The recording of the 1965 Lincoln Center revival featured Raitt reprising the role of Billy. Studio recordings of Carousels songs were released in 1956 (with Robert Merrill as Billy, Patrice Munsel as Julie, and Florence Henderson as Carrie), 1962 and 1987. The 1987 version featured a mix of opera and musical stars, including Samuel Ramey, Barbara Cook and Sarah Brightman. Kenrick recommends the 1962 studio recording for its outstanding cast, including Alfred Drake, Roberta Peters, Claramae Turner, Lee Venora, and Norman Treigle.
Both the London (1993) and New York (1994) cast albums of the Hytner production contain portions of dialogue that, according to Hischak, speak to the power of Michael Hayden's portrayal of Billy. Kenrick judges the 1994 recording the best all-around performance of Carousel on disc, despite uneven singing by Hayden, due to Sally Murphy's Julie and the strong supporting cast (calling Audra McDonald the best Carrie he has heard). The Stratford Festival issued a recording in 2015.
Critical reception and legacy
The musical received almost unanimous rave reviews after its opening in 1945. According to Hischak, reviews were not as exuberant as for Oklahoma! as the critics were not taken by surprise this time. John Chapman of the Daily News termed it "one of the finest musical plays I have ever seen and I shall remember it always". The New York Times's reviewer, Lewis Nichols, stated that "Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein 2d, who can do no wrong, have continued doing no wrong in adapting Liliom into a musical play. Their Carousel is on the whole delightful." Wilella Waldorf of the New York Post, however, complained, "Carousel seemed to us a rather long evening. The Oklahoma! formula is becoming a bit monotonous and so are Miss de Mille's ballets. All right, go ahead and shoot!"Suskin, Steven. Opening Night on Broadway. Schirmer Trade Books, 1990, p. 147. . Dance Magazine gave Linn plaudits for her role as Louise, stating, "Bambi doesn't come on until twenty minutes before eleven, and for the next forty minutes, she practically holds the audience in her hand". Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune also applauded the dancing: "It has waited for Miss de Mille to come through with peculiarly American dance patterns for a musical show to become as much a dance as a song show."
When the musical returned to New York in 1949, The New York Times reviewer Brooks Atkinson described Carousel as "a conspicuously superior musical play ... Carousel, which was warmly appreciated when it opened, seems like nothing less than a masterpiece now." In 1954, when Carousel was revived at City Center, Atkinson discussed the musical in his review:
Carousel has no comment to make on anything of topical importance. The theme is timeless and universal: the devotion of two people who love each other through thick and thin, complicated in this case by the wayward personality of the man, who cannot fulfill the responsibilities he has assumed. ... Billy is a bum, but Carousel recognizes the decency of his motives and admires his independence. There are no slick solutions in Carousel.
Stephen Sondheim noted the duo's ability to take the innovations of Oklahoma! and apply them to a serious setting: "Oklahoma! is about a picnic, Carousel is about life and death." Critic Eric Bentley, on the other hand, wrote that "the last scene of Carousel is an impertinence: I refuse to be lectured to by a musical comedy scriptwriter on the education of children, the nature of the good life, and the contribution of the American small town to the salvation of souls."New York Times critic Frank Rich said of the 1992 London production: "What is remarkable about Mr. Hytner's direction, aside from its unorthodox faith in the virtues of simplicity and stillness, is its ability to make a 1992 audience believe in Hammerstein's vision of redemption, which has it that a dead sinner can return to Earth to do godly good." The Hytner production in New York was hailed by many critics as a grittier Carousel, which they deemed more appropriate for the 1990s. Clive Barnes of the New York Post called it a "defining Carousel—hard-nosed, imaginative, and exciting."
Critic Michael Billington has commented that "lyrically [Carousel] comes perilously close to acceptance of the inevitability of domestic violence." BroadwayWorld.com stated in 2013 that Carousel is now "considered somewhat controversial in terms of its attitudes on domestic violence" because Julie chooses to stay with Billy despite the abuse; actress Kelli O'Hara noted that the domestic violence that Julie "chooses to deal with – is a real, existing and very complicated thing. And exploring it is an important part of healing it."
Rodgers considered Carousel his favorite of all his musicals and wrote, "it affects me deeply every time I see it performed". In 1999, Time magazine, in its "Best of the Century" list, named Carousel the Best Musical of the 20th century, writing that Rodgers and Hammerstein "set the standards for the 20th century musical, and this show features their most beautiful score and the most skillful and affecting example of their musical storytelling". Hammerstein's grandson, Oscar Andrew Hammerstein, in his book about his family, suggested that the wartime situation made Carousel's ending especially poignant to its original viewers, "Every American grieved the loss of a brother, son, father, or friend ... the audience empathized with [Billy's] all-too-human efforts to offer advice, to seek forgiveness, to complete an unfinished life, and to bid a proper good-bye from beyond the grave." Author and composer Ethan Mordden agreed with that perspective:
If Oklahoma! developed the moral argument for sending American boys overseas, Carousel offered consolation to those wives and mothers whose boys would only return in spirit. The meaning lay not in the tragedy of the present, but in the hope for a future where no one walks alone.
Awards and nominations
Original 1945 Broadway productionNote: The Tony Awards were not established until 1947, and so Carousel was not eligible to win any Tonys at its premiere.
1957 revival
1992 London revival
1994 Broadway revival
2018 Broadway revival
References
Bibliography
Block, Geoffrey. Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical from Show Boat to Sondheim. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2004. .
Block, Geoffrey (ed.) The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2006. .
Bradley, Ian. You've Got to Have a Dream: The Message of the Broadway Musical. Louisville, Ky., Westminster John Knox Press, 2005. 978-0-664-22854-5.
Easton, Carol. No Intermission: The Life of Agnes DeMille. Jefferson, N.C.: Da Capo Press, 2000 (1st DaCapo Press edition). .
Fordin, Hugh. Getting to Know Him: A Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. Jefferson, N.C.: Da Capo Press, 1995 reprint of 1986 edition. .
Hammerstein, Oscar Andrew. The Hammersteins: A Musical Theatre Family. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2010. .
Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. .
Hyland, William G. Richard Rodgers. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1998. .
Molnár, Ferenc. Liliom: A Legend in Seven Scenes and a Prologue. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1921.
Mordden, Ethan. "Rodgers & Hammerstein". New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992. .
Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2002. .
Rodgers, Richard. Musical Stages: An Autobiography. Jefferson, N.C. Da Capo Press, 2002 reprint of 1975 edition. .
Secrest, Meryle. Somewhere for Me: A Biography of Richard Rodgers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2001. .
External links
Carousel at guidetomusicaltheatre.com
Carousel info page on StageAgent.com – Carousel plot summary and character descriptions
(1967 TV adaptation)
1945 musicals
Broadway musicals
Musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein
West End musicals
Musicals based on plays
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Maine in fiction
Fiction set in 1873
Fiction about the afterlife
Plays set in Maine
Plays set in the 19th century
Tony Award-winning musicals | true | [
"Jean-Paul Rappeneau (born 8 April 1932) is a French film director and screenwriter.\n\nCareer\nHe started out in film as an assistant and screenwriter collaborating with Louis Malle on Zazie dans le métro in 1960 and Vie privée in 1961. In 1964, he was co-screenwriter for L'Homme de Rio, which starred Jean-Paul Belmondo.\n\nThe first film that he both wrote and directed was A Matter of Resistance in 1965. Although it was a great critical and popular success, he did not make another film until 1971, when he directed Les Mariés de l'an II, again starring Belmondo and Marlène Jobert.\n\nSince 1975, Rappeneau has written only for his own films, including Le Sauvage, starring Yves Montand and (1981), again with Montand, who co-starred with Isabelle Adjani.\n\nIn 1990, Rappeneau directed a deluxe Technicolor film version of Cyrano de Bergerac, his adaptation of the classic French play by Edmond Rostand, starring Gérard Depardieu. Rappeneau's film version is the most elaborate film version of the play ever made, and one of the most expensive French films ever produced. It is the only rendition of the play in the original French to be released widely. At the 1991 César Awards, Rappeneau won the César Award for Best Director and César Award for Best Film.\n\nThe 2003 comedy Bon voyage, co-written with Patrick Modiano, again starred Depardieu, this time with Isabelle Adjani. The film was nominated 11 times at the 2004 César Awards.\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1932 births\nLiving people\nPeople from Auxerre\nFrench film directors\nFrench male screenwriters\nFrench screenwriters\nBest Director César Award winners",
"Michael Mak (born 16 August 1958) is a Hong Kong film director who is known for directing Dragon Force, Everlasting Love and Island of Greed . Michael born In Hong Kong and his ancestral hometown is Mowming city( 茂名市），Guangdong province.\n\nBackground\nHe is the brother of film producer Johnny Mak. He was born in 1958 in Hong Kong.\n\nCareer\n\n1980s\nMak had an acting role in the 1984 film, Behind the Yellow Line.\n\nHe directed the 1984 film Everlasting Love which starred Irene Wan and Lau Tak Wah.\n\n1990s to 2000s\nThe period action film Butterfly and Sword was released in 2003. It starred Michelle Yeoh as Sister Ko and Tony Leung as Sen who were trying to stop a revolutionary plot to overthrow the government.\nHe directed the 1997 gangster epic, Island of Greed which was produced by his brother Johnny. Under his direction, he portrayed Tawain as a Chinese version of Sicily where the politicians and triads were colluding together in an arrangement beneficial to both.\n\nHe directed the made-for-television film, Asian Charlie's Angels which was released in 2001. The film starred Christy Chung, Annie Wu and Kelly Lin.\n\nMak got to act again in the film in Kant Leung's Roaring Dragon, Bluffing Tiger which was released in 2003.\n\nFilmography (selective)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Imdb: Michael Mak\n\nLiving people\n1985 births\nHong Kong film directors"
]
|
[
"Carousel (musical)",
"Film, television and concert versions",
"which version came out first? (film tv or concert?)",
"musical",
"what year did the musical come out?",
"I don't know.",
"which version came out after the musical?",
"A film version of the musical was made in 1956,",
"who starred in the film version?",
"starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones."
]
| C_d59717368f914b249db2290d234441fe_1 | did they also star in the TV version? | 5 | did Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones also star in the TV version of the Carousel (musical)? | Carousel (musical) | A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. It follows the musical's story fairly closely, although a prologue, set in the Starkeeper's heaven, was added. The film was released only a few months after the release of the film version of Oklahoma!. It garnered some good reviews, and the soundtrack recording was a best seller. As the same stars appeared in both pictures, however, the two films were often compared, generally to the disadvantage of Carousel. Thomas Hischak, in The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, later wondered "if the smaller number of Carousel stage revivals is the product of this often-lumbering [film] musical". There was also an abridged (100 minute) 1967 network television version that starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella. The New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version of the musical from February 28 to March 2, 2013, at Avery Fisher Hall. Kelli O'Hara played Julie, with Nathan Gunn as Billy, Stephanie Blythe as Nettie, Jessie Mueller as Carrie, Jason Danieley as Enoch, Shuler Hensley as Jigger, John Cullum as the Starkeeper, and Kate Burton as Mrs. Mullin. Tiler Peck danced the role of Louise to choreography by Warren Carlyle. The production was directed by John Rando. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, "this is as gorgeously sung a production of this sublime 1945 Broadway musical as you are ever likely to hear." It was broadcast as part of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center series, premiering on April 26, 2013. CANNOTANSWER | starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella. | Carousel is the second musical by the team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics). The 1945 work was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline. The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He participates in a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes tragically wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show includes the well-known songs "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone". Richard Rodgers later wrote that Carousel was his favorite of all his musicals.
Following the spectacular success of the first Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma! (1943), the pair sought to collaborate on another piece, knowing that any resulting work would be compared with Oklahoma!, most likely unfavorably. They were initially reluctant to seek the rights to Liliom; Molnár had refused permission for the work to be adapted in the past, and the original ending was considered too depressing for the musical theatre. After acquiring the rights, the team created a work with lengthy sequences of music and made the ending more hopeful.
The musical required considerable modification during out-of-town tryouts, but once it opened on Broadway on April 19, 1945, it was an immediate hit with both critics and audiences. Carousel initially ran for 890 performances and duplicated its success in the West End in 1950. Though it has never achieved as much commercial success as Oklahoma!, the piece has been repeatedly revived, recorded several times and was filmed in 1956. A production by Nicholas Hytner enjoyed success in 1992 in London, in 1994 in New York and on tour. Another Broadway revival opened in 2018. In 1999, Time magazine named Carousel the best musical of the 20th century.
Background
Liliom
Ferenc Molnár's Hungarian-language drama, Liliom, premiered in Budapest in 1909. The audience was puzzled by the work, and it lasted only thirty-odd performances before being withdrawn, the first shadow on Molnár's successful career as a playwright. Liliom was not presented again until after World War I. When it reappeared on the Budapest stage, it was a tremendous hit.
Except for the ending, the plots of Liliom and Carousel are very similar. Andreas Zavocky (nicknamed Liliom, the Hungarian word for "lily", a slang term for "tough guy"), a carnival barker, falls in love with Julie Zeller, a servant girl, and they begin living together. With both discharged from their jobs, Liliom is discontented and contemplates leaving Julie, but decides not to do so on learning that she is pregnant. A subplot involves Julie's friend Marie, who has fallen in love with Wolf Biefeld, a hotel porter—after the two marry, he becomes the owner of the hotel. Desperate to make money so that he, Julie and their child can escape to America and a better life, Liliom conspires with lowlife Ficsur to commit a robbery, but it goes badly, and Liliom stabs himself. He dies, and his spirit is taken to heaven's police court. As Ficsur suggested while the two waited to commit the crime, would-be robbers like them do not come before God Himself. Liliom is told by the magistrate that he may go back to Earth for one day to attempt to redeem the wrongs he has done to his family, but must first spend sixteen years in a fiery purgatory.
On his return to Earth, Liliom encounters his daughter, Louise, who like her mother is now a factory worker. Saying that he knew her father, he tries to give her a star he stole from the heavens. When Louise refuses to take it, he strikes her. Not realizing who he is, Julie confronts him, but finds herself unable to be angry with him. Liliom is ushered off to his fate, presumably Hell, and Louise asks her mother if it is possible to feel a hard slap as if it was a kiss. Julie reminiscently tells her daughter that it is very possible for that to happen.
An English translation of Liliom was credited to Benjamin "Barney" Glazer, though there is a story that the actual translator, uncredited, was Rodgers' first major partner Lorenz Hart. The Theatre Guild presented it in New York City in 1921, with Joseph Schildkraut as Liliom, and the play was a success, running 300 performances. A 1940 revival with Burgess Meredith and Ingrid Bergman was seen by both Hammerstein and Rodgers. Glazer, in introducing the English translation of Liliom, wrote of the play's appeal:
And where in modern dramatic literature can such pearls be matched—Julie incoherently confessing to her dead lover the love she had always been ashamed to tell; Liliom crying out to the distant carousel the glad news that he is to be a father; the two thieves gambling for the spoils of their prospective robbery; Marie and Wolf posing for their portrait while the broken-hearted Julie stands looking after the vanishing Liliom, the thieves' song ringing in her ears; the two policemen grousing about pay and pensions while Liliom lies bleeding to death; Liliom furtively proffering his daughter the star he has stolen for her in heaven. ... The temptation to count the whole scintillating string is difficult to resist.
Inception
In the 1920s and 1930s, Rodgers and Hammerstein both became well known for creating Broadway hits with other partners. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced a string of over two dozen musicals, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Some of Rodgers' work with Hart broke new ground in musical theatre: On Your Toes was the first use of ballet to sustain the plot (in the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" scene), while Pal Joey flouted Broadway tradition by presenting a knave as its hero. Hammerstein had written or co-written the words for such hits as Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote material for musicals and films, sharing an Oscar for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good.
By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, becoming unreliable and prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him. Hammerstein was eager to do so, and their first collaboration was Oklahoma! (1943). Thomas Hischak states, in his The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, that Oklahoma! is "the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. In fact, the history of the Broadway musical can accurately be divided into what came before Oklahoma! and what came after it." An innovation for its time in integrating song, character, plot and dance, Oklahoma! would serve, according to Hischak, as "the model for Broadway shows for decades", and proved a huge popular and financial success. Once it was well-launched, what to do as an encore was a daunting challenge for the pair. Film producer Samuel Goldwyn saw Oklahoma! and advised Rodgers to shoot himself, which according to Rodgers "was Sam's blunt but funny way of telling me that I'd never create another show as good as Oklahoma!" As they considered new projects, Hammerstein wrote, "We're such fools. No matter what we do, everyone is bound to say, 'This is not another Oklahoma! "
Oklahoma! had been a struggle to finance and produce. Hammerstein and Rodgers met weekly in 1943 with Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Theatre Guild, producers of the blockbuster musical, who together formed what they termed "the Gloat Club". At one such luncheon, Helburn and Langner proposed to Rodgers and Hammerstein that they turn Molnár's Liliom into a musical. Both men refused—they had no feeling for the Budapest setting and thought that the unhappy ending was unsuitable for musical theatre. In addition, given the unstable wartime political situation, they might need to change the setting from Hungary while in rehearsal. At the next luncheon, Helburn and Langner again proposed Liliom, suggesting that they move the setting to Louisiana and make Liliom a Creole. Rodgers and Hammerstein played with the idea over the next few weeks, but decided that Creole dialect, filled with "zis" and "zose", would sound corny and would make it difficult to write effective lyrics.
A breakthrough came when Rodgers, who owned a house in Connecticut, proposed a New England setting. Hammerstein wrote of this suggestion in 1945,
I began to see an attractive ensemble—sailors, whalers, girls who worked in the mills up the river, clambakes on near-by islands, an amusement park on the seaboard, things people could do in crowds, people who were strong and alive and lusty, people who had always been depicted on the stage as thin-lipped puritans—a libel I was anxious to refute ... as for the two leading characters, Julie with her courage and inner strength and outward simplicity seemed more indigenous to Maine than to Budapest. Liliom is, of course, an international character, indigenous to nowhere.
Rodgers and Hammerstein were also concerned about what they termed "the tunnel" of Molnár's second act—a series of gloomy scenes leading up to Liliom's suicide—followed by a dark ending. They also felt it would be difficult to set Liliom's motivation for the robbery to music. Molnár's opposition to having his works adapted was also an issue; he had famously turned down Giacomo Puccini when the great composer wished to transform Liliom into an opera, stating that he wanted the piece to be remembered as his, not Puccini's. In 1937, Molnár, who had recently emigrated to the United States, had declined another offer from Kurt Weill to adapt the play into a musical.
The pair continued to work on the preliminary ideas for a Liliom adaptation while pursuing other projects in late 1943 and early 1944—writing the film musical State Fair and producing I Remember Mama on Broadway. Meanwhile, the Theatre Guild took Molnár to see Oklahoma! Molnár stated that if Rodgers and Hammerstein could adapt Liliom as beautifully as they had modified Green Grow the Lilacs into Oklahoma!, he would be pleased to have them do it. The Guild obtained the rights from Molnár in October 1943. The playwright received one percent of the gross and $2,500 for "personal services". The duo insisted, as part of the contract, that Molnár permit them to make changes in the plot. At first, the playwright refused, but eventually yielded. Hammerstein later stated that if this point had not been won, "we could never have made Carousel."
In seeking to establish through song Liliom's motivation for the robbery, Rodgers remembered that he and Hart had a similar problem in Pal Joey. Rodgers and Hart had overcome the problem with a song that Joey sings to himself, "I'm Talking to My Pal". This inspired "Soliloquy". Both partners later told a story that "Soliloquy" was only intended to be a song about Liliom's dreams of a son, but that Rodgers, who had two daughters, insisted that Liliom consider that Julie might have a girl. However, the notes taken at their meeting of December 7, 1943 state: "Mr. Rodgers suggested a fine musical number for the end of the scene where Liliom discovers he is to be a father, in which he sings first with pride of the growth of a boy, and then suddenly realizes it might be a girl and changes completely."
Hammerstein and Rodgers returned to the Liliom project in mid-1944. Hammerstein was uneasy as he worked, fearing that no matter what they did, Molnár would disapprove of the results. Green Grow the Lilacs had been a little-known work; Liliom was a theatrical standard. Molnár's text also contained considerable commentary on the Hungarian politics of 1909 and the rigidity of that society. A dismissed carnival barker who hits his wife, attempts a robbery and commits suicide seemed an unlikely central character for a musical comedy. Hammerstein decided to use the words and story to make the audience sympathize with the lovers. He also built up the secondary couple, who are incidental to the plot in Liliom; they became Enoch Snow and Carrie Pipperidge. "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" was repurposed from a song, "A Real Nice Hayride", written for Oklahoma! but not used.
Molnár's ending was unsuitable, and after a couple of false starts, Hammerstein conceived the graduation scene that ends the musical. According to Frederick Nolan in his book on the team's works: "From that scene the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" sprang almost naturally." In spite of Hammerstein's simple lyrics for "You'll Never Walk Alone", Rodgers had great difficulty in setting it to music. Rodgers explained his rationale for the changed ending,
Liliom was a tragedy about a man who cannot learn to live with other people. The way Molnár wrote it, the man ends up hitting his daughter and then having to go back to purgatory, leaving his daughter helpless and hopeless. We couldn't accept that. The way we ended Carousel it may still be a tragedy but it's a hopeful one because in the final scene it is clear that the child has at last learned how to express herself and communicate with others.
When the pair decided to make "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" into an ensemble number, Hammerstein realized he had no idea what a clambake was like, and researched the matter. Based on his initial findings, he wrote the line, "First came codfish chowder". However, further research convinced him the proper term was "codhead chowder", a term unfamiliar to many playgoers. He decided to keep it as "codfish". When the song proceeded to discuss the lobsters consumed at the feast, Hammerstein wrote the line "We slit 'em down the back/And peppered 'em good". He was grieved to hear from a friend that lobsters are always slit down the front. The lyricist sent a researcher to a seafood restaurant and heard back that lobsters are always slit down the back. Hammerstein concluded that there is disagreement about which side of a lobster is the back. One error not caught involved the song "June Is Bustin' Out All Over", in which sheep are depicted as seeking to mate in late spring—they actually do so in the winter. Whenever this was brought to Hammerstein's attention, he told his informant that 1873 was a special year, in which sheep mated in the spring.
Rodgers early decided to dispense with an overture, feeling that the music was hard to hear over the banging of seats as latecomers settled themselves. In his autobiography, Rodgers complained that only the brass section can be heard during an overture because there are never enough strings in a musical's small orchestra. He determined to force the audience to concentrate from the beginning by opening with a pantomime scene accompanied by what became known as "The Carousel Waltz". The pantomime paralleled one in the Molnár play, which was also used to introduce the characters and situation to the audience. Author Ethan Mordden described the effectiveness of this opening:
Other characters catch our notice—Mr. Bascombe, the pompous mill owner, Mrs. Mullin, the widow who runs the carousel and, apparently, Billy; a dancing bear; an acrobat. But what draws us in is the intensity with which Julie regards Billy—the way she stands frozen, staring at him, while everyone else at the fair is swaying to the rhythm of Billy's spiel. And as Julie and Billy ride together on the swirling carousel, and the stage picture surges with the excitement of the crowd, and the orchestra storms to a climax, and the curtain falls, we realize that R & H have not only skipped the overture and the opening number but the exposition as well. They have plunged into the story, right into the middle of it, in the most intense first scene any musical ever had.
Casting and out-of-town tryouts
The casting for Carousel began when Oklahoma!s production team, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, was seeking a replacement for the part of Curly (the male lead in Oklahoma!). Lawrence Langner had heard, through a relative, of a California singer named John Raitt, who might be suitable for the part. Langner went to hear Raitt, then urged the others to bring Raitt to New York for an audition. Raitt asked to sing "Largo al factotum", Figaro's aria from The Barber of Seville, to warm up. The warmup was sufficient to convince the producers that not only had they found a Curly, they had found a Liliom (or Billy Bigelow, as the part was renamed). Theresa Helburn made another California discovery, Jan Clayton, a singer/actress who had made a few minor films for MGM. She was brought east and successfully auditioned for the part of Julie.
The producers sought to cast unknowns. Though many had played in previous Hammerstein or Rodgers works, only one, Jean Casto (cast as carousel owner Mrs. Mullin, and a veteran of Pal Joey), had ever played on Broadway before. It proved harder to cast the ensemble than the leads, due to the war—Rodgers told his casting director, John Fearnley, that the sole qualification for a dancing boy was that he be alive. Rodgers and Hammerstein reassembled much of the creative team that had made Oklahoma! a success, including director Rouben Mamoulian and choreographer Agnes de Mille. Miles White was the costume designer while Jo Mielziner (who had not worked on Oklahoma!) was the scenic and lighting designer. Even though Oklahoma! orchestrator Russell Bennett had informed Rodgers that he was unavailable to work on Carousel due to a radio contract, Rodgers insisted he do the work in his spare time. He orchestrated "The Carousel Waltz" and "(When I Marry) Mister Snow" before finally being replaced by Don Walker. A new member of the creative team was Trude Rittmann, who arranged the dance music. Rittmann initially felt that Rodgers mistrusted her because she was a woman, and found him difficult to work with, but the two worked together on Rodgers' shows until the 1970s.
Rehearsals began in January 1945; either Rodgers or Hammerstein was always present. Raitt was presented with the lyrics for "Soliloquy" on a five-foot long sheet of paper—the piece ran nearly eight minutes. Staging such a long solo number presented problems, and Raitt later stated that he felt that they were never fully addressed. At some point during rehearsals, Molnár came to see what they had done to his play. There are a number of variations on the story.Fordin, pp. 231–32 As Rodgers told it, while watching rehearsals with Hammerstein, the composer spotted Molnár in the rear of the theatre and whispered the news to his partner. Both sweated through an afternoon of rehearsal in which nothing seemed to go right. At the end, the two walked to the back of the theatre, expecting an angry reaction from Molnár. Instead, the playwright said enthusiastically, "What you have done is so beautiful. And you know what I like best? The ending!" Hammerstein wrote that Molnár became a regular attendee at rehearsals after that.
Like most of the pair's works, Carousel contains a lengthy ballet, "Billy Makes a Journey", in the second act, as Billy looks down to the Earth from "Up There" and observes his daughter. In the original production the ballet was choreographed by de Mille. It began with Billy looking down from heaven at his wife in labor, with the village women gathered for a "birthing". The ballet involved every character in the play, some of whom spoke lines of dialogue, and contained a number of subplots. The focus was on Louise, played by Bambi Linn, who at first almost soars in her dance, expressing the innocence of childhood. She is teased and mocked by her schoolmates, and Louise becomes attracted to the rough carnival people, who symbolize Billy's world. A youth from the carnival attempts to seduce Louise, as she discovers her own sexuality, but he decides she is more girl than woman, and he leaves her. After Julie comforts her, Louise goes to a children's party, where she is shunned. The carnival people reappear and form a ring around the children's party, with Louise lost between the two groups. At the end, the performers form a huge carousel with their bodies.
The play opened for tryouts in New Haven, Connecticut on March 22, 1945. The first act was well-received; the second act was not. Casto recalled that the second act finished about 1:30 a.m. The staff immediately sat down for a two-hour conference. Five scenes, half the ballet, and two songs were cut from the show as the result. John Fearnley commented, "Now I see why these people have hits. I never witnessed anything so brisk and brave in my life." De Mille said of this conference, "not three minutes had been wasted pleading for something cherished. Nor was there any idle joking. ... We cut and cut and cut and then we went to bed." By the time the company left New Haven, de Mille's ballet was down to forty minutes.
A major concern with the second act was the effectiveness of the characters He and She (later called by Rodgers "Mr. and Mrs. God"), before whom Billy appeared after his death. Mr. and Mrs. God were depicted as a New England minister and his wife, seen in their parlor.Block (ed.), p. 129. At this time, according to the cast sheet distributed during the Boston run, Dr. Seldon was listed as the "Minister". The couple was still part of the show at the Boston opening. Rodgers said to Hammerstein, "We've got to get God out of that parlor". When Hammerstein inquired where he should put the deity, Rodgers replied, "I don't care where you put Him. Put Him on a ladder for all I care, only get Him out of that parlor!" Hammerstein duly put Mr. God (renamed the Starkeeper) atop a ladder, and Mrs. God was removed from the show. Rodgers biographer Meryle Secrest terms this change a mistake, leading to a more fantastic afterlife, which was later criticized by The New Republic as "a Rotarian atmosphere congenial to audiences who seek not reality but escape from reality, not truth but escape from truth".
Hammerstein wrote that Molnár's advice, to combine two scenes into one, was key to pulling together the second act and represented "a more radical departure from the original than any change we had made". A reprise of "If I Loved You" was added in the second act, which Rodgers felt needed more music. Three weeks of tryouts in Boston followed the brief New Haven run, and the audience there gave the musical a warm reception. An even shorter version of the ballet was presented the final two weeks in Boston, but on the final night there, de Mille expanded it back to forty minutes, and it brought the house down, causing both Rodgers and Hammerstein to embrace her.
Synopsis
Act 1
Two young female millworkers in 1873 Maine visit the town's carousel after work. One of them, Julie Jordan, attracts the attention of the barker, Billy Bigelow ("The Carousel Waltz"). When Julie lets Billy put his arm around her during the ride, Mrs. Mullin, the widowed owner of the carousel, tells Julie never to return. Julie and her friend, Carrie Pipperidge, argue with Mrs. Mullin. Billy arrives and, seeing that Mrs. Mullin is jealous, mocks her; he is fired from his job. Billy, unconcerned, invites Julie to join him for a drink. As he goes to get his belongings, Carrie presses Julie about her feelings toward him, but Julie is evasive ("You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan"). Carrie has a beau too, fisherman Enoch Snow ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow"), to whom she is newly engaged. Billy returns for Julie as the departing Carrie warns that staying out late means the loss of Julie's job. Mr. Bascombe, owner of the mill, happens by along with a policeman, and offers to escort Julie to her home, but she refuses and is fired. Left alone, she and Billy talk about what life might be like if they were in love, but neither quite confesses to the growing attraction they feel for each other ("If I Loved You").
Over a month passes, and preparations for the summer clambake are under way ("June Is Bustin' Out All Over"). Julie and Billy, now married, live at Julie's cousin Nettie's spa. Julie confides in Carrie that Billy, frustrated over being unemployed, hit her. Carrie has happier news—she is engaged to Enoch, who enters as she discusses him ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow (reprise))". Billy arrives with his ne'er-do-well whaler friend, Jigger. The former barker is openly rude to Enoch and Julie, then leaves with Jigger, followed by a distraught Julie. Enoch tells Carrie that he expects to become rich selling herring and to have a large family, larger perhaps than Carrie is comfortable having ("When the Children Are Asleep").
Jigger and his shipmates, joined by Billy, then sing about life on the sea ("Blow High, Blow Low"). The whaler tries to recruit Billy to help with a robbery, but Billy declines, as the victim—Julie's former boss, Mr. Bascombe—might have to be killed. Mrs. Mullin enters and tries to tempt Billy back to the carousel (and to her). He would have to abandon Julie; a married barker cannot evoke the same sexual tension as one who is single. Billy reluctantly mulls it over as Julie arrives and the others leave. She tells him that she is pregnant, and Billy is overwhelmed with happiness, ending all thoughts of returning to the carousel. Once alone, Billy imagines the fun he will have with Bill Jr.—until he realizes that his child might be a girl, and reflects soberly that "you've got to be a father to a girl" ("Soliloquy"). Determined to provide financially for his future child, whatever the means, Billy decides to be Jigger's accomplice.
The whole town leaves for the clambake. Billy, who had earlier refused to go, agrees to join in, to Julie's delight, as he realizes that being seen at the clambake is integral to his and Jigger's alibi ("Act I Finale").
Act 2
Everyone reminisces about the huge meal and much fun ("This Was a Real Nice Clambake"). Jigger tries to seduce Carrie; Enoch walks in at the wrong moment, and declares that he is finished with her ("Geraniums In the Winder"), as Jigger jeers ("There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman"). The girls try to comfort Carrie, but for Julie all that matters is that "he's your feller and you love him" ("What's the Use of Wond'rin'?"). Julie sees Billy trying to sneak away with Jigger and, trying to stop him, feels the knife hidden in his shirt. She begs him to give it to her, but he refuses and leaves to commit the robbery.
As they wait, Jigger and Billy gamble with cards. They stake their shares of the anticipated robbery spoils. Billy loses: his participation is now pointless. Unknown to Billy and Jigger, Mr. Bascombe, the intended victim, has already deposited the mill's money. The robbery fails: Bascombe pulls a gun on Billy while Jigger escapes. Billy stabs himself with his knife; Julie arrives just in time for him to say his last words to her and die. Julie strokes his hair, finally able to tell him that she loved him. Carrie and Enoch, reunited by the crisis, attempt to console Julie; Nettie arrives and gives Julie the resolve to keep going despite her despair ("You'll Never Walk Alone").
Billy's defiant spirit ("The Highest Judge of All") is taken Up There to see the Starkeeper, a heavenly official. The Starkeeper tells Billy that the good he did in life was not enough to get into heaven, but so long as there is a person alive who remembers him, he can return for a day to try to do good to redeem himself. He informs Billy that fifteen years have passed on Earth since his suicide, and suggests that Billy can get himself into heaven if he helps his daughter, Louise. He helps Billy look down from heaven to see her (instrumental ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey"). Louise has grown up to be lonely and bitter. The local children ostracize her because her father was a thief and a wife-beater. In the dance, a young ruffian, much like her father at that age, flirts with her and abandons her as too young. The dance concludes, and Billy is anxious to return to Earth and help his daughter. He steals a star to take with him, as the Starkeeper pretends not to notice.
Outside Julie's cottage, Carrie describes her visit to New York with the now-wealthy Enoch. Carrie's husband and their many children enter to fetch her—the family must get ready for the high school graduation later that day. Enoch Jr., the oldest son, remains behind to talk with Louise, as Billy and the Heavenly Friend escorting him enter, invisible to the other characters. Louise confides in Enoch Jr. that she plans to run away from home with an acting troupe. He says that he will stop her by marrying her, but that his father will think her an unsuitable match. Louise is outraged: each insults the other's father, and Louise orders Enoch Jr. to go away. Billy, able to make himself visible at will, reveals himself to the sobbing Louise, pretending to be a friend of her father. He offers her a gift—the star he stole from heaven. She refuses it and, frustrated, he slaps her hand. He makes himself invisible, and Louise tells Julie what happened, stating that the slap miraculously felt like a kiss, not a blow—and Julie understands her perfectly. Louise retreats to the house, as Julie notices the star that Billy dropped; she picks it up and seems to feel Billy's presence ("If I Loved You (Reprise)").
Billy invisibly attends Louise's graduation, hoping for one last chance to help his daughter and redeem himself. The beloved town physician, Dr. Seldon (who resembles the Starkeeper) advises the graduating class not to rely on their parents' success or be held back by their failure (words directed at Louise). Seldon prompts everyone to sing an old song, "You'll Never Walk Alone". Billy, still invisible, whispers to Louise, telling her to believe Seldon's words, and when she tentatively reaches out to another girl, she learns she does not have to be an outcast. Billy goes to Julie, telling her at last that he loved her. As his widow and daughter join in the singing, Billy is taken to his heavenly reward.
Principal roles and notable performers
° denotes original Broadway cast
Musical numbers Act I"List of Songs", Carousel at the IBDB Database. Retrieved July 18, 2012
"The Carousel Waltz" – Orchestra
"You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan" – Carrie Pipperidge and Julie Jordan
"(When I Marry) Mister Snow" – Carrie
"If I Loved You" – Billy Bigelow and Julie
"June Is Bustin' Out All Over" – Nettie Fowler and Chorus
"(When I Marry) Mister Snow" (reprise) – Carrie, Enoch Snow and Female Chorus
"When the Children Are Asleep" – Enoch and Carrie
"Blow High, Blow Low" – Jigger Craigin, Billy and Male Chorus
"Soliloquy" – BillyAct II "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" – Carrie, Nettie, Julie, Enoch and Chorus
"Geraniums in the Winder" – Enoch *
"There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman" – Jigger and Chorus
"What's the Use of Wond'rin'?" – Julie
"You'll Never Walk Alone" – Nettie
"The Highest Judge of All" – Billy
Ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey" – Orchestra
"If I Loved You" (reprise) – Billy
Finale: "You'll Never Walk Alone" (reprise) – Company
Productions
Early productions
The original Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945. The dress rehearsal the day before had gone badly, and the pair feared the new work would not be well received. One successful last-minute change was to have de Mille choreograph the pantomime. The movement of the carnival crowd in the pantomime had been entrusted to Mamoulian, and his version was not working. Rodgers had injured his back the previous week, and he watched the opening from a stretcher propped in a box behind the curtain. Sedated with morphine, he could see only part of the stage. As he could not hear the audience's applause and laughter, he assumed the show was a failure. It was not until friends congratulated him later that evening that he realized that the curtain had been met by wild applause. Bambi Linn, who played Louise, was so enthusiastically received by the audience during her ballet that she was forced to break character, when she next appeared, and bow. Rodgers' daughter Mary caught sight of her friend, Stephen Sondheim, both teenagers then, across several rows; both had eyes wet with tears.
The original production ran for 890 performances, closing on May 24, 1947. The original cast included John Raitt (Billy), Jan Clayton (Julie), Jean Darling (Carrie), Eric Mattson (Enoch Snow), Christine Johnson (Nettie Fowler), Murvyn Vye (Jigger), Bambi Linn (Louise) and Russell Collins (Starkeeper). In December 1945, Clayton left to star in the Broadway revival of Show Boat and was replaced by Iva Withers; Raitt was replaced by Henry Michel in January 1947; Darling was replaced by Margot Moser.Hischak, p. 62
After closing on Broadway, the show went on a national tour for two years. It played for five months in Chicago alone, visited twenty states and two Canadian cities, covered and played to nearly two million people. The touring company had a four-week run at New York City Center in January 1949. Following the City Center run, the show was moved back to the Majestic Theatre in the hopes of filling the theatre until South Pacific opened in early April. However, ticket sales were mediocre, and the show closed almost a month early.
The musical premiered in the West End, London, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on June 7, 1950. The production was restaged by Jerome Whyte, with a cast that included Stephen Douglass (Billy), Iva Withers (Julie) and Margot Moser (Carrie). Carousel ran in London for 566 performances, remaining there for over a year and a half.
Subsequent productions
Carousel was revived in 1954 and 1957 at City Center, presented by the New York City Center Light Opera Company. Both times, the production featured Barbara Cook, though she played Carrie in 1954 and Julie in 1957 (playing alongside Howard Keel as Billy). The production was then taken to Belgium to be performed at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, with David Atkinson as Billy, Ruth Kobart as Nettie, and Clayton reprising the role of Julie, which she had originated.
In August 1965, Rodgers and the Music Theater of Lincoln Center produced Carousel for 47 performances. John Raitt reprised the role of Billy, with Jerry Orbach as Jigger and Reid Shelton as Enoch Snow. The roles of the Starkeeper and Dr. Seldon were played by Edward Everett Horton in his final stage appearance. The following year, New York City Center Light Opera Company brought Carousel back to City Center for 22 performances, with Bruce Yarnell as Billy and Constance Towers as Julie.
Nicholas Hytner directed a new production of Carousel in 1992, at London's Royal National Theatre, with choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan and designs by Bob Crowley. In this staging, the story begins at the mill, where Julie and Carrie work, with the music slowed down to emphasize the drudgery. After work ends, they move to the shipyards and then to the carnival. As they proceed on a revolving stage, carnival characters appear, and at last the carousel is assembled onstage for the girls to ride.Block, p. 175 Louise is seduced by the ruffian boy during her Act 2 ballet, set around the ruins of a carousel. Michael Hayden played Billy not as a large, gruff man, but as a frustrated smaller one, a time bomb waiting to explode. Hayden, Joanna Riding (Julie) and Janie Dee (Carrie) all won Olivier Awards for their performances. Patricia Routledge played Nettie. Enoch and Carrie were cast as an interracial couple whose eight children, according to the review in The New York Times, looked like "a walking United Colors of Benetton ad". Clive Rowe, as Enoch, was nominated for an Olivier Award. The production's limited run from December 1992 through March 1993 was a sellout. It re-opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London in September 1993, presented by Cameron Mackintosh, where it continued until May 1994.
The Hytner production moved to New York's Vivian Beaumont Theater, where it opened on March 24, 1994, and ran for 322 performances. This won five Tony Awards, including best musical revival, as well as awards for Hytner, MacMillan, Crowley and Audra McDonald (as Carrie). The cast also included Sally Murphy as Julie, Shirley Verrett as Nettie, Fisher Stevens as Jigger and Eddie Korbich as Enoch. One change made from the London to the New York production was to have Billy strike Louise across the face, rather than on the hand. According to Hayden, "He does the one unpardonable thing, the thing we can't forgive. It's a challenge for the audience to like him after that." The Hytner Carousel was presented in Japan in May 1995. A U.S. national tour with a scaled-down production began in February 1996 in Houston and closed in May 1997 in Providence, Rhode Island. Producers sought to feature young talent on the tour, with Patrick Wilson as Billy and Sarah Uriarte Berry, and later Jennifer Laura Thompson, as Julie.
A revival opened at London's Savoy Theatre on December 2, 2008, after a week of previews, starring Jeremiah James (Billy), Alexandra Silber (Julie) and Lesley Garrett (Nettie). The production received warm to mixed reviews. It closed in June 2009, a month early. Michael Coveney, writing in The Independent, admired Rodgers' music but stated, "Lindsay Posner's efficient revival doesn't hold a candle to the National Theatre 1992 version". A production at Theater Basel, Switzerland, in 2016 to 2017, with German dialogue, was directed by Alexander Charim and choreographed by Teresa Rotemberg. Bryony Dwyer, Christian Miedl and Cheryl Studer starred, respectively, as Julie Jordan, Billy Bigelow and Nettie Fowler.<ref>[http://operabase.com/diary.cgi?lang=en&code=wsba&date=20161215 "Richard Rodgers: Carousel"] , Diary: Theater Basel, Operabase.com. Retrieved on March 8, 2018</ref> A semi-staged revival by the English National Opera opened at the London Coliseum in 2017. The production was directed by Lonny Price, conducted by David Charles Abell, and starred Alfie Boe as Billy, Katherine Jenkins as Julie and Nicholas Lyndhurst as the Starkeeper. The production received mixed to positive reviews.
The third Broadway revival began previews in February 2018 at the Imperial Theatre and officially opened on April 12. It closed on September 16, 2018. The production starred Jessie Mueller, Joshua Henry, Renée Fleming, Lindsay Mendez and Alexander Gemignani. The production was directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Justin Peck. The songs "Geraniums in the Winder" and "There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman" were cut from this revival. Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times, "The tragic inevitability of Carousel has seldom come across as warmly or as chillingly as it does in this vividly reimagined revival. ... [W]ith thoughtful and powerful performances by Mr. Henry and Ms. Mueller, the love story at the show's center has never seemed quite as ill-starred or, at the same time, as sexy. ... [T]he Starkeeper ... assumes new visibility throughout, taking on the role of Billy's angelic supervisor." Brantley strongly praised the choreography, all the performances and the designers. He was unconvinced, however, by the "mother-daughter dialogue that falls so abrasively on contemporary ears", where Julie tries to justify loving an abusive man, and other scenes in Act 2, particularly those set in heaven, and the optimism of the final scene. Most of the reviewers agreed that while the choreography and performances (especially the singing) were excellent, characterizing the production as sexy and sumptuous, O'Brien's direction did little to help the show deal with modern sensibilities about men's treatment of women, instead indulging in nostalgia.
From July to September 2021 the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London is presenting a staging by its artistic director Timothy Sheader, with choreography by Drew McOnie. The cast includes Carly Bawden as Julie, Declan Bennett as Billy and Joanna Riding as Nettie.
Film, television and concert versions
[[File:Boothbay Harbor in Summer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where the location shots for Carousels movie version were filmed]]
A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. It follows the musical's story fairly closely, although a prologue, set in the Starkeeper's heaven, was added. The film was released only a few months after the release of the film version of Oklahoma! It garnered some good reviews, and the soundtrack recording was a best seller. As the same stars appeared in both pictures, however, the two films were often compared, generally to the disadvantage of Carousel. Thomas Hischak, in The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, later wondered "if the smaller number of Carousel stage revivals is the product of this often-lumbering [film] musical".
There was also an abridged (100 minute) 1967 network television version that starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella.
The New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version of the musical from February 28 to March 2, 2013, at Avery Fisher Hall. Kelli O'Hara played Julie, with Nathan Gunn as Billy, Stephanie Blythe as Nettie, Jessie Mueller as Carrie, Jason Danieley as Enoch, Shuler Hensley as Jigger, John Cullum as the Starkeeper, and Kate Burton as Mrs. Mullin. Tiler Peck danced the role of Louise to choreography by Warren Carlyle. The production was directed by John Rando and conducted by Rob Fisher. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, "this is as gorgeously sung a production of this sublime 1945 Broadway musical as you are ever likely to hear." It was broadcast as part of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center series, premiering on April 26, 2013.
Music and recordings
Musical treatment
Rodgers designed Carousel to be an almost continuous stream of music, especially in Act 1. In later years, Rodgers was asked if he had considered writing an opera. He stated that he had been sorely tempted to, but saw Carousel in operatic terms. He remembered, "We came very close to opera in the Majestic Theatre. ... There's much that is operatic in the music."
Rodgers uses music in Carousel in subtle ways to differentiate characters and tell the audience of their emotional state. In "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan", the music for the placid Carrie is characterized by even eighth-note rhythms, whereas the emotionally restless Julie's music is marked by dotted eighths and sixteenths; this rhythm will characterize her throughout the show. When Billy whistles a snatch of the song, he selects Julie's dotted notes rather than Carrie's. Reflecting the close association in the music between Julie and the as-yet unborn Louise, when Billy sings in "Soliloquy" of his daughter, who "gets hungry every night", he uses Julie's dotted rhythms. Such rhythms also characterize Julie's Act 2 song, "What's the Use of Wond'rin'". The stable love between Enoch and Carrie is strengthened by her willingness to let Enoch not only plan his entire life, but hers as well. This is reflected in "When the Children Are Asleep", where the two sing in close harmony, but Enoch musically interrupts his intended's turn at the chorus with the words "Dreams that won't be interrupted". Rodgers biographer Geoffrey Block, in his book on the Broadway musical, points out that though Billy may strike his wife, he allows her musical themes to become a part of him and never interrupts her music. Block suggests that, as reprehensible as Billy may be for his actions, Enoch requiring Carrie to act as "the little woman", and his having nine children with her (more than she had found acceptable in "When the Children are Asleep") can be considered to be even more abusive.
The twelve-minute "bench scene", in which Billy and Julie get to know each other and which culminates with "If I Loved You", according to Hischak, "is considered the most completely integrated piece of music-drama in the American musical theatre". The scene is almost entirely drawn from Molnár and is one extended musical piece; Stephen Sondheim described it as "probably the single most important moment in the revolution of contemporary musicals". "If I Loved You" has been recorded many times, by such diverse artists as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis Jr., Mario Lanza and Chad and Jeremy. The D-flat major theme that dominates the music for the second act ballet seems like a new melody to many audience members. It is, however, a greatly expanded development of a theme heard during "Soliloquy" at the line "I guess he'll call me 'The old man' ".
When the pair discussed the song that would become "Soliloquy", Rodgers improvised at the piano to give Hammerstein an idea of how he envisioned the song. When Hammerstein presented his collaborator with the lyrics after two weeks of work (Hammerstein always wrote the words first, then Rodgers would write the melodies), Rodgers wrote the music for the eight-minute song in two hours. "What's the Use of Wond'rin' ", one of Julie's songs, worked well in the show but was never as popular on the radio or for recording, and Hammerstein believed that the lack of popularity was because he had concluded the final line, "And all the rest is talk" with a hard consonant, which does not allow the singer a vocal climax.
Irving Berlin later stated that "You'll Never Walk Alone" had the same sort of effect on him as the 23rd Psalm. When singer Mel Tormé told Rodgers that "You'll Never Walk Alone" had made him cry, Rodgers nodded impatiently. "You're supposed to." The frequently recorded song has become a widely accepted hymn.Rodgers, p. 240 The cast recording of Carousel proved popular in Liverpool, like many Broadway albums, and in 1963, the Brian Epstein-managed band, Gerry and the Pacemakers had a number-one hit with the song. At the time, the top ten hits were played before Liverpool F.C. home matches; even after "You'll Never Walk Alone" dropped out of the top ten, fans continued to sing it, and it has become closely associated with the soccer team and the city of Liverpool. A BBC program, Soul Music, ranked it alongside "Silent Night" and "Abide With Me" in terms of its emotional impact and iconic status.
Recordings
The cast album of the 1945 Broadway production was issued on 78s, and the score was significantly cut—as was the 1950 London cast recording. Theatre historian John Kenrick notes of the 1945 recording that a number of songs had to be abridged to fit the 78 format, but that there is a small part of "Soliloquy" found on no other recording, as Rodgers cut it from the score immediately after the studio recording was made.Fick, David. "The Best Carousel Recording", June 11, 2009. Retrieved on April 7, 2016
A number of songs were cut for the 1956 film, but two of the deleted numbers had been recorded and were ultimately retained on the soundtrack album. The expanded CD version of the soundtrack, issued in 2001, contains all of the singing recorded for the film, including the cut portions, and nearly all of the dance music. The recording of the 1965 Lincoln Center revival featured Raitt reprising the role of Billy. Studio recordings of Carousels songs were released in 1956 (with Robert Merrill as Billy, Patrice Munsel as Julie, and Florence Henderson as Carrie), 1962 and 1987. The 1987 version featured a mix of opera and musical stars, including Samuel Ramey, Barbara Cook and Sarah Brightman. Kenrick recommends the 1962 studio recording for its outstanding cast, including Alfred Drake, Roberta Peters, Claramae Turner, Lee Venora, and Norman Treigle.
Both the London (1993) and New York (1994) cast albums of the Hytner production contain portions of dialogue that, according to Hischak, speak to the power of Michael Hayden's portrayal of Billy. Kenrick judges the 1994 recording the best all-around performance of Carousel on disc, despite uneven singing by Hayden, due to Sally Murphy's Julie and the strong supporting cast (calling Audra McDonald the best Carrie he has heard). The Stratford Festival issued a recording in 2015.
Critical reception and legacy
The musical received almost unanimous rave reviews after its opening in 1945. According to Hischak, reviews were not as exuberant as for Oklahoma! as the critics were not taken by surprise this time. John Chapman of the Daily News termed it "one of the finest musical plays I have ever seen and I shall remember it always". The New York Times's reviewer, Lewis Nichols, stated that "Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein 2d, who can do no wrong, have continued doing no wrong in adapting Liliom into a musical play. Their Carousel is on the whole delightful." Wilella Waldorf of the New York Post, however, complained, "Carousel seemed to us a rather long evening. The Oklahoma! formula is becoming a bit monotonous and so are Miss de Mille's ballets. All right, go ahead and shoot!"Suskin, Steven. Opening Night on Broadway. Schirmer Trade Books, 1990, p. 147. . Dance Magazine gave Linn plaudits for her role as Louise, stating, "Bambi doesn't come on until twenty minutes before eleven, and for the next forty minutes, she practically holds the audience in her hand". Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune also applauded the dancing: "It has waited for Miss de Mille to come through with peculiarly American dance patterns for a musical show to become as much a dance as a song show."
When the musical returned to New York in 1949, The New York Times reviewer Brooks Atkinson described Carousel as "a conspicuously superior musical play ... Carousel, which was warmly appreciated when it opened, seems like nothing less than a masterpiece now." In 1954, when Carousel was revived at City Center, Atkinson discussed the musical in his review:
Carousel has no comment to make on anything of topical importance. The theme is timeless and universal: the devotion of two people who love each other through thick and thin, complicated in this case by the wayward personality of the man, who cannot fulfill the responsibilities he has assumed. ... Billy is a bum, but Carousel recognizes the decency of his motives and admires his independence. There are no slick solutions in Carousel.
Stephen Sondheim noted the duo's ability to take the innovations of Oklahoma! and apply them to a serious setting: "Oklahoma! is about a picnic, Carousel is about life and death." Critic Eric Bentley, on the other hand, wrote that "the last scene of Carousel is an impertinence: I refuse to be lectured to by a musical comedy scriptwriter on the education of children, the nature of the good life, and the contribution of the American small town to the salvation of souls."New York Times critic Frank Rich said of the 1992 London production: "What is remarkable about Mr. Hytner's direction, aside from its unorthodox faith in the virtues of simplicity and stillness, is its ability to make a 1992 audience believe in Hammerstein's vision of redemption, which has it that a dead sinner can return to Earth to do godly good." The Hytner production in New York was hailed by many critics as a grittier Carousel, which they deemed more appropriate for the 1990s. Clive Barnes of the New York Post called it a "defining Carousel—hard-nosed, imaginative, and exciting."
Critic Michael Billington has commented that "lyrically [Carousel] comes perilously close to acceptance of the inevitability of domestic violence." BroadwayWorld.com stated in 2013 that Carousel is now "considered somewhat controversial in terms of its attitudes on domestic violence" because Julie chooses to stay with Billy despite the abuse; actress Kelli O'Hara noted that the domestic violence that Julie "chooses to deal with – is a real, existing and very complicated thing. And exploring it is an important part of healing it."
Rodgers considered Carousel his favorite of all his musicals and wrote, "it affects me deeply every time I see it performed". In 1999, Time magazine, in its "Best of the Century" list, named Carousel the Best Musical of the 20th century, writing that Rodgers and Hammerstein "set the standards for the 20th century musical, and this show features their most beautiful score and the most skillful and affecting example of their musical storytelling". Hammerstein's grandson, Oscar Andrew Hammerstein, in his book about his family, suggested that the wartime situation made Carousel's ending especially poignant to its original viewers, "Every American grieved the loss of a brother, son, father, or friend ... the audience empathized with [Billy's] all-too-human efforts to offer advice, to seek forgiveness, to complete an unfinished life, and to bid a proper good-bye from beyond the grave." Author and composer Ethan Mordden agreed with that perspective:
If Oklahoma! developed the moral argument for sending American boys overseas, Carousel offered consolation to those wives and mothers whose boys would only return in spirit. The meaning lay not in the tragedy of the present, but in the hope for a future where no one walks alone.
Awards and nominations
Original 1945 Broadway productionNote: The Tony Awards were not established until 1947, and so Carousel was not eligible to win any Tonys at its premiere.
1957 revival
1992 London revival
1994 Broadway revival
2018 Broadway revival
References
Bibliography
Block, Geoffrey. Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical from Show Boat to Sondheim. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2004. .
Block, Geoffrey (ed.) The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2006. .
Bradley, Ian. You've Got to Have a Dream: The Message of the Broadway Musical. Louisville, Ky., Westminster John Knox Press, 2005. 978-0-664-22854-5.
Easton, Carol. No Intermission: The Life of Agnes DeMille. Jefferson, N.C.: Da Capo Press, 2000 (1st DaCapo Press edition). .
Fordin, Hugh. Getting to Know Him: A Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. Jefferson, N.C.: Da Capo Press, 1995 reprint of 1986 edition. .
Hammerstein, Oscar Andrew. The Hammersteins: A Musical Theatre Family. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2010. .
Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. .
Hyland, William G. Richard Rodgers. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1998. .
Molnár, Ferenc. Liliom: A Legend in Seven Scenes and a Prologue. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1921.
Mordden, Ethan. "Rodgers & Hammerstein". New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992. .
Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2002. .
Rodgers, Richard. Musical Stages: An Autobiography. Jefferson, N.C. Da Capo Press, 2002 reprint of 1975 edition. .
Secrest, Meryle. Somewhere for Me: A Biography of Richard Rodgers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2001. .
External links
Carousel at guidetomusicaltheatre.com
Carousel info page on StageAgent.com – Carousel plot summary and character descriptions
(1967 TV adaptation)
1945 musicals
Broadway musicals
Musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein
West End musicals
Musicals based on plays
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Maine in fiction
Fiction set in 1873
Fiction about the afterlife
Plays set in Maine
Plays set in the 19th century
Tony Award-winning musicals | true | [
"is a Japanese television personality directory of Tokyo News Service, which launches in the autumn every year.\n\nIn this article, it will also describe and its sister magazine .\n\nOverview\nTV Star Meikan was first published in 1992. As commemorating the 30th anniversary of the launch of television information magazine TV Guide as an extra special issue (15 October Issue) it was issued (the front cover is TV Star Meikan, on the back cover is TV Guide Rinji Zōkan: Heisei 4-nen 10 tsuki 15-nichi-gō '92 Tv Star Meikan notated with adifferent title).\n\nInitially it was combined with the publication year and title year, but the year of the title is set to the next fiscal year from TV Star Meikan '96 (temporary extra publication 25 October issue) issued in 1995. Until the 1999 edition, the publication dates are October, 2000, 2006 to 2006, November 2007. Regarding the form of issue, the extra publication of TV Star Meikan '98 TV Guide extra edition, TV Star Meikan 2000 'in 1999, TV Guide extra publication, 2000 TV Star Directory 2001 are books from the Tokyo News Mook Mook series.\n\nIts book size format is A5 size, the basic colour in the cover is blue (2000 edition only, 2001 edition only dark blue) or purple land (after 2002 edition), the body magazine is monochrome. A celebrity directory booklet will be posted as an appendix to the usual TV Guide from about July every year, but those summarized are released in late October or early November. In addition to celebrities (individuals, groups, children), cultural people, news presenters, and announcers are posted. Athletes were also posted at the beginning of its first publication (Thereafter, there were also times when K-1 players were posted as male stars).\n\nWeb-ban TV Star Meikan\nIn 2008, Web-ban TV Star Meikan has started as the website version of this directory. In addition, even the entertainer posted in the book version may not be posted on the web version due to circumstances of the rights. Also, some may not be published in the book version, some of the entertainers were posted only on the web version.\n\nFresh Star Meikan\nIn its sister magazine there was the Fresh Star Meikan, a star map book of only young stars. It was launched in 1994 and it was released every March. Here the format is also A5 size. Female celebrities between 12 and 25 years old and male celebrities between 12 and 30 years old were eligible to be included (provided, however, that for groups the members were eligible for publication if they were even members).\n\nIt has not been issued since the 2008 edition, according to the news planning company, which is in charge of editing, it is undecided in the future and it is in fact a state of being suspended.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n (Wayback Machine) \n\nJapanese entertainers\nBiographical dictionaries\nPublications established in 1992\n1992 establishments in Japan",
"Marina Tsintikidou (; born 1971) is a Greek fashion model and presenter who has appeared on the covers of numerous Greek fashion magazines such as MAX. She won the title of \"Star Hellas\" (Σταρ Ελλάς) in the Miss Star Hellas pageant in 1992. She also carries the honor of being the third Greek contestant to win the title of Miss Europe (1992). She also represented Greece at the Miss Universe 1992 pageant in Bangkok, Thailand.\n\nAside from a modeling career, Tsindikidou also tried her skills in acting, appearing in various TV shows and movies as well as in the Greek version of the theatrical play \"Look Who's Here\" by British playwright Ray Cooney. She has also been a TV host and presenter on numerous programs featured on Mega Channel, ANT1 and Macedonia TV.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nKostetsos Modeling\nGallery of TV Screenshots\nMarina Tsidikidou at Greek Women On-Line\n\n1971 births\nGreek beauty pageant winners\nGreek female models\nGreek television actresses\nGreek television presenters\nLiving people\nMiss Europe winners\nMiss Universe 1992 contestants\nGreek women television presenters"
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|
[
"Carousel (musical)",
"Film, television and concert versions",
"which version came out first? (film tv or concert?)",
"musical",
"what year did the musical come out?",
"I don't know.",
"which version came out after the musical?",
"A film version of the musical was made in 1956,",
"who starred in the film version?",
"starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones.",
"did they also star in the TV version?",
"starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella."
]
| C_d59717368f914b249db2290d234441fe_1 | what year was the TV version released? | 6 | What year was the TV version or the Carousel (musical) released? | Carousel (musical) | A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. It follows the musical's story fairly closely, although a prologue, set in the Starkeeper's heaven, was added. The film was released only a few months after the release of the film version of Oklahoma!. It garnered some good reviews, and the soundtrack recording was a best seller. As the same stars appeared in both pictures, however, the two films were often compared, generally to the disadvantage of Carousel. Thomas Hischak, in The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, later wondered "if the smaller number of Carousel stage revivals is the product of this often-lumbering [film] musical". There was also an abridged (100 minute) 1967 network television version that starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella. The New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version of the musical from February 28 to March 2, 2013, at Avery Fisher Hall. Kelli O'Hara played Julie, with Nathan Gunn as Billy, Stephanie Blythe as Nettie, Jessie Mueller as Carrie, Jason Danieley as Enoch, Shuler Hensley as Jigger, John Cullum as the Starkeeper, and Kate Burton as Mrs. Mullin. Tiler Peck danced the role of Louise to choreography by Warren Carlyle. The production was directed by John Rando. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, "this is as gorgeously sung a production of this sublime 1945 Broadway musical as you are ever likely to hear." It was broadcast as part of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center series, premiering on April 26, 2013. CANNOTANSWER | 1967 network television version | Carousel is the second musical by the team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics). The 1945 work was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline. The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He participates in a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes tragically wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show includes the well-known songs "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone". Richard Rodgers later wrote that Carousel was his favorite of all his musicals.
Following the spectacular success of the first Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma! (1943), the pair sought to collaborate on another piece, knowing that any resulting work would be compared with Oklahoma!, most likely unfavorably. They were initially reluctant to seek the rights to Liliom; Molnár had refused permission for the work to be adapted in the past, and the original ending was considered too depressing for the musical theatre. After acquiring the rights, the team created a work with lengthy sequences of music and made the ending more hopeful.
The musical required considerable modification during out-of-town tryouts, but once it opened on Broadway on April 19, 1945, it was an immediate hit with both critics and audiences. Carousel initially ran for 890 performances and duplicated its success in the West End in 1950. Though it has never achieved as much commercial success as Oklahoma!, the piece has been repeatedly revived, recorded several times and was filmed in 1956. A production by Nicholas Hytner enjoyed success in 1992 in London, in 1994 in New York and on tour. Another Broadway revival opened in 2018. In 1999, Time magazine named Carousel the best musical of the 20th century.
Background
Liliom
Ferenc Molnár's Hungarian-language drama, Liliom, premiered in Budapest in 1909. The audience was puzzled by the work, and it lasted only thirty-odd performances before being withdrawn, the first shadow on Molnár's successful career as a playwright. Liliom was not presented again until after World War I. When it reappeared on the Budapest stage, it was a tremendous hit.
Except for the ending, the plots of Liliom and Carousel are very similar. Andreas Zavocky (nicknamed Liliom, the Hungarian word for "lily", a slang term for "tough guy"), a carnival barker, falls in love with Julie Zeller, a servant girl, and they begin living together. With both discharged from their jobs, Liliom is discontented and contemplates leaving Julie, but decides not to do so on learning that she is pregnant. A subplot involves Julie's friend Marie, who has fallen in love with Wolf Biefeld, a hotel porter—after the two marry, he becomes the owner of the hotel. Desperate to make money so that he, Julie and their child can escape to America and a better life, Liliom conspires with lowlife Ficsur to commit a robbery, but it goes badly, and Liliom stabs himself. He dies, and his spirit is taken to heaven's police court. As Ficsur suggested while the two waited to commit the crime, would-be robbers like them do not come before God Himself. Liliom is told by the magistrate that he may go back to Earth for one day to attempt to redeem the wrongs he has done to his family, but must first spend sixteen years in a fiery purgatory.
On his return to Earth, Liliom encounters his daughter, Louise, who like her mother is now a factory worker. Saying that he knew her father, he tries to give her a star he stole from the heavens. When Louise refuses to take it, he strikes her. Not realizing who he is, Julie confronts him, but finds herself unable to be angry with him. Liliom is ushered off to his fate, presumably Hell, and Louise asks her mother if it is possible to feel a hard slap as if it was a kiss. Julie reminiscently tells her daughter that it is very possible for that to happen.
An English translation of Liliom was credited to Benjamin "Barney" Glazer, though there is a story that the actual translator, uncredited, was Rodgers' first major partner Lorenz Hart. The Theatre Guild presented it in New York City in 1921, with Joseph Schildkraut as Liliom, and the play was a success, running 300 performances. A 1940 revival with Burgess Meredith and Ingrid Bergman was seen by both Hammerstein and Rodgers. Glazer, in introducing the English translation of Liliom, wrote of the play's appeal:
And where in modern dramatic literature can such pearls be matched—Julie incoherently confessing to her dead lover the love she had always been ashamed to tell; Liliom crying out to the distant carousel the glad news that he is to be a father; the two thieves gambling for the spoils of their prospective robbery; Marie and Wolf posing for their portrait while the broken-hearted Julie stands looking after the vanishing Liliom, the thieves' song ringing in her ears; the two policemen grousing about pay and pensions while Liliom lies bleeding to death; Liliom furtively proffering his daughter the star he has stolen for her in heaven. ... The temptation to count the whole scintillating string is difficult to resist.
Inception
In the 1920s and 1930s, Rodgers and Hammerstein both became well known for creating Broadway hits with other partners. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced a string of over two dozen musicals, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Some of Rodgers' work with Hart broke new ground in musical theatre: On Your Toes was the first use of ballet to sustain the plot (in the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" scene), while Pal Joey flouted Broadway tradition by presenting a knave as its hero. Hammerstein had written or co-written the words for such hits as Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote material for musicals and films, sharing an Oscar for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good.
By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, becoming unreliable and prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider working with him. Hammerstein was eager to do so, and their first collaboration was Oklahoma! (1943). Thomas Hischak states, in his The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, that Oklahoma! is "the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. In fact, the history of the Broadway musical can accurately be divided into what came before Oklahoma! and what came after it." An innovation for its time in integrating song, character, plot and dance, Oklahoma! would serve, according to Hischak, as "the model for Broadway shows for decades", and proved a huge popular and financial success. Once it was well-launched, what to do as an encore was a daunting challenge for the pair. Film producer Samuel Goldwyn saw Oklahoma! and advised Rodgers to shoot himself, which according to Rodgers "was Sam's blunt but funny way of telling me that I'd never create another show as good as Oklahoma!" As they considered new projects, Hammerstein wrote, "We're such fools. No matter what we do, everyone is bound to say, 'This is not another Oklahoma! "
Oklahoma! had been a struggle to finance and produce. Hammerstein and Rodgers met weekly in 1943 with Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Theatre Guild, producers of the blockbuster musical, who together formed what they termed "the Gloat Club". At one such luncheon, Helburn and Langner proposed to Rodgers and Hammerstein that they turn Molnár's Liliom into a musical. Both men refused—they had no feeling for the Budapest setting and thought that the unhappy ending was unsuitable for musical theatre. In addition, given the unstable wartime political situation, they might need to change the setting from Hungary while in rehearsal. At the next luncheon, Helburn and Langner again proposed Liliom, suggesting that they move the setting to Louisiana and make Liliom a Creole. Rodgers and Hammerstein played with the idea over the next few weeks, but decided that Creole dialect, filled with "zis" and "zose", would sound corny and would make it difficult to write effective lyrics.
A breakthrough came when Rodgers, who owned a house in Connecticut, proposed a New England setting. Hammerstein wrote of this suggestion in 1945,
I began to see an attractive ensemble—sailors, whalers, girls who worked in the mills up the river, clambakes on near-by islands, an amusement park on the seaboard, things people could do in crowds, people who were strong and alive and lusty, people who had always been depicted on the stage as thin-lipped puritans—a libel I was anxious to refute ... as for the two leading characters, Julie with her courage and inner strength and outward simplicity seemed more indigenous to Maine than to Budapest. Liliom is, of course, an international character, indigenous to nowhere.
Rodgers and Hammerstein were also concerned about what they termed "the tunnel" of Molnár's second act—a series of gloomy scenes leading up to Liliom's suicide—followed by a dark ending. They also felt it would be difficult to set Liliom's motivation for the robbery to music. Molnár's opposition to having his works adapted was also an issue; he had famously turned down Giacomo Puccini when the great composer wished to transform Liliom into an opera, stating that he wanted the piece to be remembered as his, not Puccini's. In 1937, Molnár, who had recently emigrated to the United States, had declined another offer from Kurt Weill to adapt the play into a musical.
The pair continued to work on the preliminary ideas for a Liliom adaptation while pursuing other projects in late 1943 and early 1944—writing the film musical State Fair and producing I Remember Mama on Broadway. Meanwhile, the Theatre Guild took Molnár to see Oklahoma! Molnár stated that if Rodgers and Hammerstein could adapt Liliom as beautifully as they had modified Green Grow the Lilacs into Oklahoma!, he would be pleased to have them do it. The Guild obtained the rights from Molnár in October 1943. The playwright received one percent of the gross and $2,500 for "personal services". The duo insisted, as part of the contract, that Molnár permit them to make changes in the plot. At first, the playwright refused, but eventually yielded. Hammerstein later stated that if this point had not been won, "we could never have made Carousel."
In seeking to establish through song Liliom's motivation for the robbery, Rodgers remembered that he and Hart had a similar problem in Pal Joey. Rodgers and Hart had overcome the problem with a song that Joey sings to himself, "I'm Talking to My Pal". This inspired "Soliloquy". Both partners later told a story that "Soliloquy" was only intended to be a song about Liliom's dreams of a son, but that Rodgers, who had two daughters, insisted that Liliom consider that Julie might have a girl. However, the notes taken at their meeting of December 7, 1943 state: "Mr. Rodgers suggested a fine musical number for the end of the scene where Liliom discovers he is to be a father, in which he sings first with pride of the growth of a boy, and then suddenly realizes it might be a girl and changes completely."
Hammerstein and Rodgers returned to the Liliom project in mid-1944. Hammerstein was uneasy as he worked, fearing that no matter what they did, Molnár would disapprove of the results. Green Grow the Lilacs had been a little-known work; Liliom was a theatrical standard. Molnár's text also contained considerable commentary on the Hungarian politics of 1909 and the rigidity of that society. A dismissed carnival barker who hits his wife, attempts a robbery and commits suicide seemed an unlikely central character for a musical comedy. Hammerstein decided to use the words and story to make the audience sympathize with the lovers. He also built up the secondary couple, who are incidental to the plot in Liliom; they became Enoch Snow and Carrie Pipperidge. "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" was repurposed from a song, "A Real Nice Hayride", written for Oklahoma! but not used.
Molnár's ending was unsuitable, and after a couple of false starts, Hammerstein conceived the graduation scene that ends the musical. According to Frederick Nolan in his book on the team's works: "From that scene the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" sprang almost naturally." In spite of Hammerstein's simple lyrics for "You'll Never Walk Alone", Rodgers had great difficulty in setting it to music. Rodgers explained his rationale for the changed ending,
Liliom was a tragedy about a man who cannot learn to live with other people. The way Molnár wrote it, the man ends up hitting his daughter and then having to go back to purgatory, leaving his daughter helpless and hopeless. We couldn't accept that. The way we ended Carousel it may still be a tragedy but it's a hopeful one because in the final scene it is clear that the child has at last learned how to express herself and communicate with others.
When the pair decided to make "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" into an ensemble number, Hammerstein realized he had no idea what a clambake was like, and researched the matter. Based on his initial findings, he wrote the line, "First came codfish chowder". However, further research convinced him the proper term was "codhead chowder", a term unfamiliar to many playgoers. He decided to keep it as "codfish". When the song proceeded to discuss the lobsters consumed at the feast, Hammerstein wrote the line "We slit 'em down the back/And peppered 'em good". He was grieved to hear from a friend that lobsters are always slit down the front. The lyricist sent a researcher to a seafood restaurant and heard back that lobsters are always slit down the back. Hammerstein concluded that there is disagreement about which side of a lobster is the back. One error not caught involved the song "June Is Bustin' Out All Over", in which sheep are depicted as seeking to mate in late spring—they actually do so in the winter. Whenever this was brought to Hammerstein's attention, he told his informant that 1873 was a special year, in which sheep mated in the spring.
Rodgers early decided to dispense with an overture, feeling that the music was hard to hear over the banging of seats as latecomers settled themselves. In his autobiography, Rodgers complained that only the brass section can be heard during an overture because there are never enough strings in a musical's small orchestra. He determined to force the audience to concentrate from the beginning by opening with a pantomime scene accompanied by what became known as "The Carousel Waltz". The pantomime paralleled one in the Molnár play, which was also used to introduce the characters and situation to the audience. Author Ethan Mordden described the effectiveness of this opening:
Other characters catch our notice—Mr. Bascombe, the pompous mill owner, Mrs. Mullin, the widow who runs the carousel and, apparently, Billy; a dancing bear; an acrobat. But what draws us in is the intensity with which Julie regards Billy—the way she stands frozen, staring at him, while everyone else at the fair is swaying to the rhythm of Billy's spiel. And as Julie and Billy ride together on the swirling carousel, and the stage picture surges with the excitement of the crowd, and the orchestra storms to a climax, and the curtain falls, we realize that R & H have not only skipped the overture and the opening number but the exposition as well. They have plunged into the story, right into the middle of it, in the most intense first scene any musical ever had.
Casting and out-of-town tryouts
The casting for Carousel began when Oklahoma!s production team, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, was seeking a replacement for the part of Curly (the male lead in Oklahoma!). Lawrence Langner had heard, through a relative, of a California singer named John Raitt, who might be suitable for the part. Langner went to hear Raitt, then urged the others to bring Raitt to New York for an audition. Raitt asked to sing "Largo al factotum", Figaro's aria from The Barber of Seville, to warm up. The warmup was sufficient to convince the producers that not only had they found a Curly, they had found a Liliom (or Billy Bigelow, as the part was renamed). Theresa Helburn made another California discovery, Jan Clayton, a singer/actress who had made a few minor films for MGM. She was brought east and successfully auditioned for the part of Julie.
The producers sought to cast unknowns. Though many had played in previous Hammerstein or Rodgers works, only one, Jean Casto (cast as carousel owner Mrs. Mullin, and a veteran of Pal Joey), had ever played on Broadway before. It proved harder to cast the ensemble than the leads, due to the war—Rodgers told his casting director, John Fearnley, that the sole qualification for a dancing boy was that he be alive. Rodgers and Hammerstein reassembled much of the creative team that had made Oklahoma! a success, including director Rouben Mamoulian and choreographer Agnes de Mille. Miles White was the costume designer while Jo Mielziner (who had not worked on Oklahoma!) was the scenic and lighting designer. Even though Oklahoma! orchestrator Russell Bennett had informed Rodgers that he was unavailable to work on Carousel due to a radio contract, Rodgers insisted he do the work in his spare time. He orchestrated "The Carousel Waltz" and "(When I Marry) Mister Snow" before finally being replaced by Don Walker. A new member of the creative team was Trude Rittmann, who arranged the dance music. Rittmann initially felt that Rodgers mistrusted her because she was a woman, and found him difficult to work with, but the two worked together on Rodgers' shows until the 1970s.
Rehearsals began in January 1945; either Rodgers or Hammerstein was always present. Raitt was presented with the lyrics for "Soliloquy" on a five-foot long sheet of paper—the piece ran nearly eight minutes. Staging such a long solo number presented problems, and Raitt later stated that he felt that they were never fully addressed. At some point during rehearsals, Molnár came to see what they had done to his play. There are a number of variations on the story.Fordin, pp. 231–32 As Rodgers told it, while watching rehearsals with Hammerstein, the composer spotted Molnár in the rear of the theatre and whispered the news to his partner. Both sweated through an afternoon of rehearsal in which nothing seemed to go right. At the end, the two walked to the back of the theatre, expecting an angry reaction from Molnár. Instead, the playwright said enthusiastically, "What you have done is so beautiful. And you know what I like best? The ending!" Hammerstein wrote that Molnár became a regular attendee at rehearsals after that.
Like most of the pair's works, Carousel contains a lengthy ballet, "Billy Makes a Journey", in the second act, as Billy looks down to the Earth from "Up There" and observes his daughter. In the original production the ballet was choreographed by de Mille. It began with Billy looking down from heaven at his wife in labor, with the village women gathered for a "birthing". The ballet involved every character in the play, some of whom spoke lines of dialogue, and contained a number of subplots. The focus was on Louise, played by Bambi Linn, who at first almost soars in her dance, expressing the innocence of childhood. She is teased and mocked by her schoolmates, and Louise becomes attracted to the rough carnival people, who symbolize Billy's world. A youth from the carnival attempts to seduce Louise, as she discovers her own sexuality, but he decides she is more girl than woman, and he leaves her. After Julie comforts her, Louise goes to a children's party, where she is shunned. The carnival people reappear and form a ring around the children's party, with Louise lost between the two groups. At the end, the performers form a huge carousel with their bodies.
The play opened for tryouts in New Haven, Connecticut on March 22, 1945. The first act was well-received; the second act was not. Casto recalled that the second act finished about 1:30 a.m. The staff immediately sat down for a two-hour conference. Five scenes, half the ballet, and two songs were cut from the show as the result. John Fearnley commented, "Now I see why these people have hits. I never witnessed anything so brisk and brave in my life." De Mille said of this conference, "not three minutes had been wasted pleading for something cherished. Nor was there any idle joking. ... We cut and cut and cut and then we went to bed." By the time the company left New Haven, de Mille's ballet was down to forty minutes.
A major concern with the second act was the effectiveness of the characters He and She (later called by Rodgers "Mr. and Mrs. God"), before whom Billy appeared after his death. Mr. and Mrs. God were depicted as a New England minister and his wife, seen in their parlor.Block (ed.), p. 129. At this time, according to the cast sheet distributed during the Boston run, Dr. Seldon was listed as the "Minister". The couple was still part of the show at the Boston opening. Rodgers said to Hammerstein, "We've got to get God out of that parlor". When Hammerstein inquired where he should put the deity, Rodgers replied, "I don't care where you put Him. Put Him on a ladder for all I care, only get Him out of that parlor!" Hammerstein duly put Mr. God (renamed the Starkeeper) atop a ladder, and Mrs. God was removed from the show. Rodgers biographer Meryle Secrest terms this change a mistake, leading to a more fantastic afterlife, which was later criticized by The New Republic as "a Rotarian atmosphere congenial to audiences who seek not reality but escape from reality, not truth but escape from truth".
Hammerstein wrote that Molnár's advice, to combine two scenes into one, was key to pulling together the second act and represented "a more radical departure from the original than any change we had made". A reprise of "If I Loved You" was added in the second act, which Rodgers felt needed more music. Three weeks of tryouts in Boston followed the brief New Haven run, and the audience there gave the musical a warm reception. An even shorter version of the ballet was presented the final two weeks in Boston, but on the final night there, de Mille expanded it back to forty minutes, and it brought the house down, causing both Rodgers and Hammerstein to embrace her.
Synopsis
Act 1
Two young female millworkers in 1873 Maine visit the town's carousel after work. One of them, Julie Jordan, attracts the attention of the barker, Billy Bigelow ("The Carousel Waltz"). When Julie lets Billy put his arm around her during the ride, Mrs. Mullin, the widowed owner of the carousel, tells Julie never to return. Julie and her friend, Carrie Pipperidge, argue with Mrs. Mullin. Billy arrives and, seeing that Mrs. Mullin is jealous, mocks her; he is fired from his job. Billy, unconcerned, invites Julie to join him for a drink. As he goes to get his belongings, Carrie presses Julie about her feelings toward him, but Julie is evasive ("You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan"). Carrie has a beau too, fisherman Enoch Snow ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow"), to whom she is newly engaged. Billy returns for Julie as the departing Carrie warns that staying out late means the loss of Julie's job. Mr. Bascombe, owner of the mill, happens by along with a policeman, and offers to escort Julie to her home, but she refuses and is fired. Left alone, she and Billy talk about what life might be like if they were in love, but neither quite confesses to the growing attraction they feel for each other ("If I Loved You").
Over a month passes, and preparations for the summer clambake are under way ("June Is Bustin' Out All Over"). Julie and Billy, now married, live at Julie's cousin Nettie's spa. Julie confides in Carrie that Billy, frustrated over being unemployed, hit her. Carrie has happier news—she is engaged to Enoch, who enters as she discusses him ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow (reprise))". Billy arrives with his ne'er-do-well whaler friend, Jigger. The former barker is openly rude to Enoch and Julie, then leaves with Jigger, followed by a distraught Julie. Enoch tells Carrie that he expects to become rich selling herring and to have a large family, larger perhaps than Carrie is comfortable having ("When the Children Are Asleep").
Jigger and his shipmates, joined by Billy, then sing about life on the sea ("Blow High, Blow Low"). The whaler tries to recruit Billy to help with a robbery, but Billy declines, as the victim—Julie's former boss, Mr. Bascombe—might have to be killed. Mrs. Mullin enters and tries to tempt Billy back to the carousel (and to her). He would have to abandon Julie; a married barker cannot evoke the same sexual tension as one who is single. Billy reluctantly mulls it over as Julie arrives and the others leave. She tells him that she is pregnant, and Billy is overwhelmed with happiness, ending all thoughts of returning to the carousel. Once alone, Billy imagines the fun he will have with Bill Jr.—until he realizes that his child might be a girl, and reflects soberly that "you've got to be a father to a girl" ("Soliloquy"). Determined to provide financially for his future child, whatever the means, Billy decides to be Jigger's accomplice.
The whole town leaves for the clambake. Billy, who had earlier refused to go, agrees to join in, to Julie's delight, as he realizes that being seen at the clambake is integral to his and Jigger's alibi ("Act I Finale").
Act 2
Everyone reminisces about the huge meal and much fun ("This Was a Real Nice Clambake"). Jigger tries to seduce Carrie; Enoch walks in at the wrong moment, and declares that he is finished with her ("Geraniums In the Winder"), as Jigger jeers ("There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman"). The girls try to comfort Carrie, but for Julie all that matters is that "he's your feller and you love him" ("What's the Use of Wond'rin'?"). Julie sees Billy trying to sneak away with Jigger and, trying to stop him, feels the knife hidden in his shirt. She begs him to give it to her, but he refuses and leaves to commit the robbery.
As they wait, Jigger and Billy gamble with cards. They stake their shares of the anticipated robbery spoils. Billy loses: his participation is now pointless. Unknown to Billy and Jigger, Mr. Bascombe, the intended victim, has already deposited the mill's money. The robbery fails: Bascombe pulls a gun on Billy while Jigger escapes. Billy stabs himself with his knife; Julie arrives just in time for him to say his last words to her and die. Julie strokes his hair, finally able to tell him that she loved him. Carrie and Enoch, reunited by the crisis, attempt to console Julie; Nettie arrives and gives Julie the resolve to keep going despite her despair ("You'll Never Walk Alone").
Billy's defiant spirit ("The Highest Judge of All") is taken Up There to see the Starkeeper, a heavenly official. The Starkeeper tells Billy that the good he did in life was not enough to get into heaven, but so long as there is a person alive who remembers him, he can return for a day to try to do good to redeem himself. He informs Billy that fifteen years have passed on Earth since his suicide, and suggests that Billy can get himself into heaven if he helps his daughter, Louise. He helps Billy look down from heaven to see her (instrumental ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey"). Louise has grown up to be lonely and bitter. The local children ostracize her because her father was a thief and a wife-beater. In the dance, a young ruffian, much like her father at that age, flirts with her and abandons her as too young. The dance concludes, and Billy is anxious to return to Earth and help his daughter. He steals a star to take with him, as the Starkeeper pretends not to notice.
Outside Julie's cottage, Carrie describes her visit to New York with the now-wealthy Enoch. Carrie's husband and their many children enter to fetch her—the family must get ready for the high school graduation later that day. Enoch Jr., the oldest son, remains behind to talk with Louise, as Billy and the Heavenly Friend escorting him enter, invisible to the other characters. Louise confides in Enoch Jr. that she plans to run away from home with an acting troupe. He says that he will stop her by marrying her, but that his father will think her an unsuitable match. Louise is outraged: each insults the other's father, and Louise orders Enoch Jr. to go away. Billy, able to make himself visible at will, reveals himself to the sobbing Louise, pretending to be a friend of her father. He offers her a gift—the star he stole from heaven. She refuses it and, frustrated, he slaps her hand. He makes himself invisible, and Louise tells Julie what happened, stating that the slap miraculously felt like a kiss, not a blow—and Julie understands her perfectly. Louise retreats to the house, as Julie notices the star that Billy dropped; she picks it up and seems to feel Billy's presence ("If I Loved You (Reprise)").
Billy invisibly attends Louise's graduation, hoping for one last chance to help his daughter and redeem himself. The beloved town physician, Dr. Seldon (who resembles the Starkeeper) advises the graduating class not to rely on their parents' success or be held back by their failure (words directed at Louise). Seldon prompts everyone to sing an old song, "You'll Never Walk Alone". Billy, still invisible, whispers to Louise, telling her to believe Seldon's words, and when she tentatively reaches out to another girl, she learns she does not have to be an outcast. Billy goes to Julie, telling her at last that he loved her. As his widow and daughter join in the singing, Billy is taken to his heavenly reward.
Principal roles and notable performers
° denotes original Broadway cast
Musical numbers Act I"List of Songs", Carousel at the IBDB Database. Retrieved July 18, 2012
"The Carousel Waltz" – Orchestra
"You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan" – Carrie Pipperidge and Julie Jordan
"(When I Marry) Mister Snow" – Carrie
"If I Loved You" – Billy Bigelow and Julie
"June Is Bustin' Out All Over" – Nettie Fowler and Chorus
"(When I Marry) Mister Snow" (reprise) – Carrie, Enoch Snow and Female Chorus
"When the Children Are Asleep" – Enoch and Carrie
"Blow High, Blow Low" – Jigger Craigin, Billy and Male Chorus
"Soliloquy" – BillyAct II "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" – Carrie, Nettie, Julie, Enoch and Chorus
"Geraniums in the Winder" – Enoch *
"There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman" – Jigger and Chorus
"What's the Use of Wond'rin'?" – Julie
"You'll Never Walk Alone" – Nettie
"The Highest Judge of All" – Billy
Ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey" – Orchestra
"If I Loved You" (reprise) – Billy
Finale: "You'll Never Walk Alone" (reprise) – Company
Productions
Early productions
The original Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945. The dress rehearsal the day before had gone badly, and the pair feared the new work would not be well received. One successful last-minute change was to have de Mille choreograph the pantomime. The movement of the carnival crowd in the pantomime had been entrusted to Mamoulian, and his version was not working. Rodgers had injured his back the previous week, and he watched the opening from a stretcher propped in a box behind the curtain. Sedated with morphine, he could see only part of the stage. As he could not hear the audience's applause and laughter, he assumed the show was a failure. It was not until friends congratulated him later that evening that he realized that the curtain had been met by wild applause. Bambi Linn, who played Louise, was so enthusiastically received by the audience during her ballet that she was forced to break character, when she next appeared, and bow. Rodgers' daughter Mary caught sight of her friend, Stephen Sondheim, both teenagers then, across several rows; both had eyes wet with tears.
The original production ran for 890 performances, closing on May 24, 1947. The original cast included John Raitt (Billy), Jan Clayton (Julie), Jean Darling (Carrie), Eric Mattson (Enoch Snow), Christine Johnson (Nettie Fowler), Murvyn Vye (Jigger), Bambi Linn (Louise) and Russell Collins (Starkeeper). In December 1945, Clayton left to star in the Broadway revival of Show Boat and was replaced by Iva Withers; Raitt was replaced by Henry Michel in January 1947; Darling was replaced by Margot Moser.Hischak, p. 62
After closing on Broadway, the show went on a national tour for two years. It played for five months in Chicago alone, visited twenty states and two Canadian cities, covered and played to nearly two million people. The touring company had a four-week run at New York City Center in January 1949. Following the City Center run, the show was moved back to the Majestic Theatre in the hopes of filling the theatre until South Pacific opened in early April. However, ticket sales were mediocre, and the show closed almost a month early.
The musical premiered in the West End, London, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on June 7, 1950. The production was restaged by Jerome Whyte, with a cast that included Stephen Douglass (Billy), Iva Withers (Julie) and Margot Moser (Carrie). Carousel ran in London for 566 performances, remaining there for over a year and a half.
Subsequent productions
Carousel was revived in 1954 and 1957 at City Center, presented by the New York City Center Light Opera Company. Both times, the production featured Barbara Cook, though she played Carrie in 1954 and Julie in 1957 (playing alongside Howard Keel as Billy). The production was then taken to Belgium to be performed at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, with David Atkinson as Billy, Ruth Kobart as Nettie, and Clayton reprising the role of Julie, which she had originated.
In August 1965, Rodgers and the Music Theater of Lincoln Center produced Carousel for 47 performances. John Raitt reprised the role of Billy, with Jerry Orbach as Jigger and Reid Shelton as Enoch Snow. The roles of the Starkeeper and Dr. Seldon were played by Edward Everett Horton in his final stage appearance. The following year, New York City Center Light Opera Company brought Carousel back to City Center for 22 performances, with Bruce Yarnell as Billy and Constance Towers as Julie.
Nicholas Hytner directed a new production of Carousel in 1992, at London's Royal National Theatre, with choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan and designs by Bob Crowley. In this staging, the story begins at the mill, where Julie and Carrie work, with the music slowed down to emphasize the drudgery. After work ends, they move to the shipyards and then to the carnival. As they proceed on a revolving stage, carnival characters appear, and at last the carousel is assembled onstage for the girls to ride.Block, p. 175 Louise is seduced by the ruffian boy during her Act 2 ballet, set around the ruins of a carousel. Michael Hayden played Billy not as a large, gruff man, but as a frustrated smaller one, a time bomb waiting to explode. Hayden, Joanna Riding (Julie) and Janie Dee (Carrie) all won Olivier Awards for their performances. Patricia Routledge played Nettie. Enoch and Carrie were cast as an interracial couple whose eight children, according to the review in The New York Times, looked like "a walking United Colors of Benetton ad". Clive Rowe, as Enoch, was nominated for an Olivier Award. The production's limited run from December 1992 through March 1993 was a sellout. It re-opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London in September 1993, presented by Cameron Mackintosh, where it continued until May 1994.
The Hytner production moved to New York's Vivian Beaumont Theater, where it opened on March 24, 1994, and ran for 322 performances. This won five Tony Awards, including best musical revival, as well as awards for Hytner, MacMillan, Crowley and Audra McDonald (as Carrie). The cast also included Sally Murphy as Julie, Shirley Verrett as Nettie, Fisher Stevens as Jigger and Eddie Korbich as Enoch. One change made from the London to the New York production was to have Billy strike Louise across the face, rather than on the hand. According to Hayden, "He does the one unpardonable thing, the thing we can't forgive. It's a challenge for the audience to like him after that." The Hytner Carousel was presented in Japan in May 1995. A U.S. national tour with a scaled-down production began in February 1996 in Houston and closed in May 1997 in Providence, Rhode Island. Producers sought to feature young talent on the tour, with Patrick Wilson as Billy and Sarah Uriarte Berry, and later Jennifer Laura Thompson, as Julie.
A revival opened at London's Savoy Theatre on December 2, 2008, after a week of previews, starring Jeremiah James (Billy), Alexandra Silber (Julie) and Lesley Garrett (Nettie). The production received warm to mixed reviews. It closed in June 2009, a month early. Michael Coveney, writing in The Independent, admired Rodgers' music but stated, "Lindsay Posner's efficient revival doesn't hold a candle to the National Theatre 1992 version". A production at Theater Basel, Switzerland, in 2016 to 2017, with German dialogue, was directed by Alexander Charim and choreographed by Teresa Rotemberg. Bryony Dwyer, Christian Miedl and Cheryl Studer starred, respectively, as Julie Jordan, Billy Bigelow and Nettie Fowler.<ref>[http://operabase.com/diary.cgi?lang=en&code=wsba&date=20161215 "Richard Rodgers: Carousel"] , Diary: Theater Basel, Operabase.com. Retrieved on March 8, 2018</ref> A semi-staged revival by the English National Opera opened at the London Coliseum in 2017. The production was directed by Lonny Price, conducted by David Charles Abell, and starred Alfie Boe as Billy, Katherine Jenkins as Julie and Nicholas Lyndhurst as the Starkeeper. The production received mixed to positive reviews.
The third Broadway revival began previews in February 2018 at the Imperial Theatre and officially opened on April 12. It closed on September 16, 2018. The production starred Jessie Mueller, Joshua Henry, Renée Fleming, Lindsay Mendez and Alexander Gemignani. The production was directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Justin Peck. The songs "Geraniums in the Winder" and "There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman" were cut from this revival. Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times, "The tragic inevitability of Carousel has seldom come across as warmly or as chillingly as it does in this vividly reimagined revival. ... [W]ith thoughtful and powerful performances by Mr. Henry and Ms. Mueller, the love story at the show's center has never seemed quite as ill-starred or, at the same time, as sexy. ... [T]he Starkeeper ... assumes new visibility throughout, taking on the role of Billy's angelic supervisor." Brantley strongly praised the choreography, all the performances and the designers. He was unconvinced, however, by the "mother-daughter dialogue that falls so abrasively on contemporary ears", where Julie tries to justify loving an abusive man, and other scenes in Act 2, particularly those set in heaven, and the optimism of the final scene. Most of the reviewers agreed that while the choreography and performances (especially the singing) were excellent, characterizing the production as sexy and sumptuous, O'Brien's direction did little to help the show deal with modern sensibilities about men's treatment of women, instead indulging in nostalgia.
From July to September 2021 the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London is presenting a staging by its artistic director Timothy Sheader, with choreography by Drew McOnie. The cast includes Carly Bawden as Julie, Declan Bennett as Billy and Joanna Riding as Nettie.
Film, television and concert versions
[[File:Boothbay Harbor in Summer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where the location shots for Carousels movie version were filmed]]
A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. It follows the musical's story fairly closely, although a prologue, set in the Starkeeper's heaven, was added. The film was released only a few months after the release of the film version of Oklahoma! It garnered some good reviews, and the soundtrack recording was a best seller. As the same stars appeared in both pictures, however, the two films were often compared, generally to the disadvantage of Carousel. Thomas Hischak, in The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, later wondered "if the smaller number of Carousel stage revivals is the product of this often-lumbering [film] musical".
There was also an abridged (100 minute) 1967 network television version that starred Robert Goulet, with choreography by Edward Villella.
The New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version of the musical from February 28 to March 2, 2013, at Avery Fisher Hall. Kelli O'Hara played Julie, with Nathan Gunn as Billy, Stephanie Blythe as Nettie, Jessie Mueller as Carrie, Jason Danieley as Enoch, Shuler Hensley as Jigger, John Cullum as the Starkeeper, and Kate Burton as Mrs. Mullin. Tiler Peck danced the role of Louise to choreography by Warren Carlyle. The production was directed by John Rando and conducted by Rob Fisher. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, "this is as gorgeously sung a production of this sublime 1945 Broadway musical as you are ever likely to hear." It was broadcast as part of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center series, premiering on April 26, 2013.
Music and recordings
Musical treatment
Rodgers designed Carousel to be an almost continuous stream of music, especially in Act 1. In later years, Rodgers was asked if he had considered writing an opera. He stated that he had been sorely tempted to, but saw Carousel in operatic terms. He remembered, "We came very close to opera in the Majestic Theatre. ... There's much that is operatic in the music."
Rodgers uses music in Carousel in subtle ways to differentiate characters and tell the audience of their emotional state. In "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan", the music for the placid Carrie is characterized by even eighth-note rhythms, whereas the emotionally restless Julie's music is marked by dotted eighths and sixteenths; this rhythm will characterize her throughout the show. When Billy whistles a snatch of the song, he selects Julie's dotted notes rather than Carrie's. Reflecting the close association in the music between Julie and the as-yet unborn Louise, when Billy sings in "Soliloquy" of his daughter, who "gets hungry every night", he uses Julie's dotted rhythms. Such rhythms also characterize Julie's Act 2 song, "What's the Use of Wond'rin'". The stable love between Enoch and Carrie is strengthened by her willingness to let Enoch not only plan his entire life, but hers as well. This is reflected in "When the Children Are Asleep", where the two sing in close harmony, but Enoch musically interrupts his intended's turn at the chorus with the words "Dreams that won't be interrupted". Rodgers biographer Geoffrey Block, in his book on the Broadway musical, points out that though Billy may strike his wife, he allows her musical themes to become a part of him and never interrupts her music. Block suggests that, as reprehensible as Billy may be for his actions, Enoch requiring Carrie to act as "the little woman", and his having nine children with her (more than she had found acceptable in "When the Children are Asleep") can be considered to be even more abusive.
The twelve-minute "bench scene", in which Billy and Julie get to know each other and which culminates with "If I Loved You", according to Hischak, "is considered the most completely integrated piece of music-drama in the American musical theatre". The scene is almost entirely drawn from Molnár and is one extended musical piece; Stephen Sondheim described it as "probably the single most important moment in the revolution of contemporary musicals". "If I Loved You" has been recorded many times, by such diverse artists as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis Jr., Mario Lanza and Chad and Jeremy. The D-flat major theme that dominates the music for the second act ballet seems like a new melody to many audience members. It is, however, a greatly expanded development of a theme heard during "Soliloquy" at the line "I guess he'll call me 'The old man' ".
When the pair discussed the song that would become "Soliloquy", Rodgers improvised at the piano to give Hammerstein an idea of how he envisioned the song. When Hammerstein presented his collaborator with the lyrics after two weeks of work (Hammerstein always wrote the words first, then Rodgers would write the melodies), Rodgers wrote the music for the eight-minute song in two hours. "What's the Use of Wond'rin' ", one of Julie's songs, worked well in the show but was never as popular on the radio or for recording, and Hammerstein believed that the lack of popularity was because he had concluded the final line, "And all the rest is talk" with a hard consonant, which does not allow the singer a vocal climax.
Irving Berlin later stated that "You'll Never Walk Alone" had the same sort of effect on him as the 23rd Psalm. When singer Mel Tormé told Rodgers that "You'll Never Walk Alone" had made him cry, Rodgers nodded impatiently. "You're supposed to." The frequently recorded song has become a widely accepted hymn.Rodgers, p. 240 The cast recording of Carousel proved popular in Liverpool, like many Broadway albums, and in 1963, the Brian Epstein-managed band, Gerry and the Pacemakers had a number-one hit with the song. At the time, the top ten hits were played before Liverpool F.C. home matches; even after "You'll Never Walk Alone" dropped out of the top ten, fans continued to sing it, and it has become closely associated with the soccer team and the city of Liverpool. A BBC program, Soul Music, ranked it alongside "Silent Night" and "Abide With Me" in terms of its emotional impact and iconic status.
Recordings
The cast album of the 1945 Broadway production was issued on 78s, and the score was significantly cut—as was the 1950 London cast recording. Theatre historian John Kenrick notes of the 1945 recording that a number of songs had to be abridged to fit the 78 format, but that there is a small part of "Soliloquy" found on no other recording, as Rodgers cut it from the score immediately after the studio recording was made.Fick, David. "The Best Carousel Recording", June 11, 2009. Retrieved on April 7, 2016
A number of songs were cut for the 1956 film, but two of the deleted numbers had been recorded and were ultimately retained on the soundtrack album. The expanded CD version of the soundtrack, issued in 2001, contains all of the singing recorded for the film, including the cut portions, and nearly all of the dance music. The recording of the 1965 Lincoln Center revival featured Raitt reprising the role of Billy. Studio recordings of Carousels songs were released in 1956 (with Robert Merrill as Billy, Patrice Munsel as Julie, and Florence Henderson as Carrie), 1962 and 1987. The 1987 version featured a mix of opera and musical stars, including Samuel Ramey, Barbara Cook and Sarah Brightman. Kenrick recommends the 1962 studio recording for its outstanding cast, including Alfred Drake, Roberta Peters, Claramae Turner, Lee Venora, and Norman Treigle.
Both the London (1993) and New York (1994) cast albums of the Hytner production contain portions of dialogue that, according to Hischak, speak to the power of Michael Hayden's portrayal of Billy. Kenrick judges the 1994 recording the best all-around performance of Carousel on disc, despite uneven singing by Hayden, due to Sally Murphy's Julie and the strong supporting cast (calling Audra McDonald the best Carrie he has heard). The Stratford Festival issued a recording in 2015.
Critical reception and legacy
The musical received almost unanimous rave reviews after its opening in 1945. According to Hischak, reviews were not as exuberant as for Oklahoma! as the critics were not taken by surprise this time. John Chapman of the Daily News termed it "one of the finest musical plays I have ever seen and I shall remember it always". The New York Times's reviewer, Lewis Nichols, stated that "Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein 2d, who can do no wrong, have continued doing no wrong in adapting Liliom into a musical play. Their Carousel is on the whole delightful." Wilella Waldorf of the New York Post, however, complained, "Carousel seemed to us a rather long evening. The Oklahoma! formula is becoming a bit monotonous and so are Miss de Mille's ballets. All right, go ahead and shoot!"Suskin, Steven. Opening Night on Broadway. Schirmer Trade Books, 1990, p. 147. . Dance Magazine gave Linn plaudits for her role as Louise, stating, "Bambi doesn't come on until twenty minutes before eleven, and for the next forty minutes, she practically holds the audience in her hand". Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune also applauded the dancing: "It has waited for Miss de Mille to come through with peculiarly American dance patterns for a musical show to become as much a dance as a song show."
When the musical returned to New York in 1949, The New York Times reviewer Brooks Atkinson described Carousel as "a conspicuously superior musical play ... Carousel, which was warmly appreciated when it opened, seems like nothing less than a masterpiece now." In 1954, when Carousel was revived at City Center, Atkinson discussed the musical in his review:
Carousel has no comment to make on anything of topical importance. The theme is timeless and universal: the devotion of two people who love each other through thick and thin, complicated in this case by the wayward personality of the man, who cannot fulfill the responsibilities he has assumed. ... Billy is a bum, but Carousel recognizes the decency of his motives and admires his independence. There are no slick solutions in Carousel.
Stephen Sondheim noted the duo's ability to take the innovations of Oklahoma! and apply them to a serious setting: "Oklahoma! is about a picnic, Carousel is about life and death." Critic Eric Bentley, on the other hand, wrote that "the last scene of Carousel is an impertinence: I refuse to be lectured to by a musical comedy scriptwriter on the education of children, the nature of the good life, and the contribution of the American small town to the salvation of souls."New York Times critic Frank Rich said of the 1992 London production: "What is remarkable about Mr. Hytner's direction, aside from its unorthodox faith in the virtues of simplicity and stillness, is its ability to make a 1992 audience believe in Hammerstein's vision of redemption, which has it that a dead sinner can return to Earth to do godly good." The Hytner production in New York was hailed by many critics as a grittier Carousel, which they deemed more appropriate for the 1990s. Clive Barnes of the New York Post called it a "defining Carousel—hard-nosed, imaginative, and exciting."
Critic Michael Billington has commented that "lyrically [Carousel] comes perilously close to acceptance of the inevitability of domestic violence." BroadwayWorld.com stated in 2013 that Carousel is now "considered somewhat controversial in terms of its attitudes on domestic violence" because Julie chooses to stay with Billy despite the abuse; actress Kelli O'Hara noted that the domestic violence that Julie "chooses to deal with – is a real, existing and very complicated thing. And exploring it is an important part of healing it."
Rodgers considered Carousel his favorite of all his musicals and wrote, "it affects me deeply every time I see it performed". In 1999, Time magazine, in its "Best of the Century" list, named Carousel the Best Musical of the 20th century, writing that Rodgers and Hammerstein "set the standards for the 20th century musical, and this show features their most beautiful score and the most skillful and affecting example of their musical storytelling". Hammerstein's grandson, Oscar Andrew Hammerstein, in his book about his family, suggested that the wartime situation made Carousel's ending especially poignant to its original viewers, "Every American grieved the loss of a brother, son, father, or friend ... the audience empathized with [Billy's] all-too-human efforts to offer advice, to seek forgiveness, to complete an unfinished life, and to bid a proper good-bye from beyond the grave." Author and composer Ethan Mordden agreed with that perspective:
If Oklahoma! developed the moral argument for sending American boys overseas, Carousel offered consolation to those wives and mothers whose boys would only return in spirit. The meaning lay not in the tragedy of the present, but in the hope for a future where no one walks alone.
Awards and nominations
Original 1945 Broadway productionNote: The Tony Awards were not established until 1947, and so Carousel was not eligible to win any Tonys at its premiere.
1957 revival
1992 London revival
1994 Broadway revival
2018 Broadway revival
References
Bibliography
Block, Geoffrey. Enchanted Evenings: The Broadway Musical from Show Boat to Sondheim. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2004. .
Block, Geoffrey (ed.) The Richard Rodgers Reader. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2006. .
Bradley, Ian. You've Got to Have a Dream: The Message of the Broadway Musical. Louisville, Ky., Westminster John Knox Press, 2005. 978-0-664-22854-5.
Easton, Carol. No Intermission: The Life of Agnes DeMille. Jefferson, N.C.: Da Capo Press, 2000 (1st DaCapo Press edition). .
Fordin, Hugh. Getting to Know Him: A Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II. Jefferson, N.C.: Da Capo Press, 1995 reprint of 1986 edition. .
Hammerstein, Oscar Andrew. The Hammersteins: A Musical Theatre Family. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2010. .
Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. .
Hyland, William G. Richard Rodgers. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1998. .
Molnár, Ferenc. Liliom: A Legend in Seven Scenes and a Prologue. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1921.
Mordden, Ethan. "Rodgers & Hammerstein". New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992. .
Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2002. .
Rodgers, Richard. Musical Stages: An Autobiography. Jefferson, N.C. Da Capo Press, 2002 reprint of 1975 edition. .
Secrest, Meryle. Somewhere for Me: A Biography of Richard Rodgers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2001. .
External links
Carousel at guidetomusicaltheatre.com
Carousel info page on StageAgent.com – Carousel plot summary and character descriptions
(1967 TV adaptation)
1945 musicals
Broadway musicals
Musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein
West End musicals
Musicals based on plays
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Maine in fiction
Fiction set in 1873
Fiction about the afterlife
Plays set in Maine
Plays set in the 19th century
Tony Award-winning musicals | true | [
"What About Me? is the second album by UK duo Jamie Catto and Duncan Bridgeman under the name 1 Giant Leap. The duo travelled around the world recording vocals and music by artists of various genres. The DVD/CD version of the album was released in March 2009. A TV version was shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCD 2\n\nReferences\n\n2009 albums\n1 Giant Leap albums",
"\"No, Honestly\" is a song written, performed and produced by Lynsey de Paul, that was the theme for London Weekend Television's comedy series of the same name, although the single release was a slightly different version from that used for the TV theme.\n\nThe song was the first released on 18 October 1974 on the Jet Records label established by Don Arden. It peaked at No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart, and No. 4 on the Northern Ireland chart at the beginning of December that year. The B-side of the single was de Paul's version of \"Central Park Arrest\"; a hit earlier in the year that she had originally written for the female group, Thunderthighs. In 1975, de Paul received an Ivor Novello Award for Best Theme From a Radio or TV Production.\nAn instrumental version of the song was used as the theme for the second series, Yes, Honestly.\n\nIt was covered by the Brazilian singer Jeannie, on the various artists album, Discoteca Hippopotamus, in 1975. A Danish version of \"No Honestly\" was released as a single by Vivian in 1976. The Bruce Baxter Orchestra, The Ray Hartley Orchestra and The Starshine Orchestra have performed versions for albums of famous TV theme songs.\n\nReferences\n\n1974 songs\nLynsey de Paul songs\nSongs written by Lynsey de Paul\nJet Records singles\nComedy television theme songs"
]
|
[
"Miss Piggy",
"Relationship with Kermit"
]
| C_366ae5cb63534f22aef64cc18e9516ba_1 | When did Miss PIggy meet kermit? | 1 | When did Miss PIggy meet kermit? | Miss Piggy | Since the debut of The Muppet Show, the romantic relationship between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog has been subject to substantial coverage and commentary by the media. Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings. Eventually, in the films, Kermit began returning her affections and even (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan. However, subsequent events suggest that the marriage was simply fictional. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 years (1986) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted and the two get married again in this film. Miss Piggy and Kermit formally ended their romantic relationship on May 10, 1990. The decision was made by Jim Henson Productions and a publicity campaign titled "The Pig of the Nineties" was scheduled to follow. An autobiography of Piggy was expected to be published as part of the effort. However, shortly after the announcement on May 16, Jim Henson died and the campaign was dropped altogether. The two eventually resumed their relationship. In 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their romantic relationship for a second time. Some commentators said the relationship should end permanently since she regularly abused him. "In the end, it's better for everyone that Kermit and Piggy have gone their separate ways. For the frog, it means the end of a long, abusive relationship," wrote Noah Berlatsky in The New Republic. "Kermit continually lives in fear of his girlfriend, knowing that even simple misunderstandings or slips of the tongue will result in Miss Piggy erupting like a porcine Vesuvius," dating coach Harris O'Malley wrote in The Daily Dot. "On at least three separate incidents, she attempts to coerce Kermit into a relationship, beating him when he refuses. Other times she reacts with violence and rage whenever Kermit commits the 'sin' of breaking up with her, simply hugging a friend, talking to a woman, or even just standing too close to them." CANNOTANSWER | Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. | Miss Piggy is a Muppet character known for her breakout role in Jim Henson's The Muppet Show. Since her debut in 1976, Miss Piggy has been notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, tendency to use French phrases in her speech, and practice of karate. She was also known for her on-again/off-again relationship with Kermit the Frog, which began in 1976 and ended in 2015. Frank Oz performed the character from 1976 to 2000, 2002 and was succeeded by Eric Jacobson in 2001.
Miss Piggy was inspired by jazz singer Peggy Lee.
In 1996, TV Guide ranked her number 23 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll in the UK, Miss Piggy was ranked 29th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In 1996, a cook book entitled In the Kitchen With Miss Piggy: Fabulous Recipes from My Famous Celebrity Friends by Moi was released.
Characterization
Origins and description
In a 1979 interview with The New York Times, performer Frank Oz outlined Piggy's biography: "She grew up in a small town (most likely Keystone, Iowa); her father died when she was young and her mother wasn't that nice to her. She had to enter beauty contests to survive, as many single women do. She has a lot of vulnerability which she has to hide, because of her need to be a superstar". During development of The Muppet Show, Oz assigned a hook for each Muppet he performed; Miss Piggy's hook was a "truck driver wanting to be a woman". Oz has also stated that while Fozzie Bear is a two-dimensional character and Animal has no dimensions, Miss Piggy is one of the few Muppet characters to be fully realized in three dimensions.
Piggy, truly a diva in a class of her own, is convinced she is destined for stardom, and nothing will stand in her way. She has a capricious nature, at times determined to (and often succeeding in) conveying an image of feminine charm, but suddenly flying into a violent rage (accompanied by her trademark karate chop and "hi-yah!") whenever she thinks someone has insulted or thwarted her. Kermit the Frog has learned this all too well; when she is not smothering him in kisses, she is sending him flying through the air with a karate chop.
She loves wearing long gloves; Hildegarde, who used to wear them, once said, "Miss Piggy stole the gloves idea from me”.
Relationship with Kermit
Since the debut of The Muppet Show, the romantic relationship between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog has been subject to substantial coverage and commentary by the media. Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings. Eventually, in the films, Kermit began returning her affections and even (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan. However, subsequent events suggest that the marriage was simply fictional. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (1986) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted.
Miss Piggy and Kermit formally ended their romantic relationship on May 10, 1990. The decision was made by Jim Henson Productions and a publicity campaign titled "The Pig of the Nineties" was scheduled to follow. An autobiography of Piggy was expected to be published as part of the effort. However, shortly after the announcement on May 16, Jim Henson died and the campaign was dropped altogether. The two eventually resumed their relationship.
In 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their romantic relationship for a second time.
Performers
Frank Oz was Miss Piggy's principal performer from her early appearances on The Muppet Show until his departure from the cast in 2000; his last known performance as Piggy was an appearance on The Today Show. Oz's earliest known performance as Piggy was actually in a 1974 appearance on The Tonight Show. Richard Hunt occasionally performed Miss Piggy during the first season of The Muppet Show, alternating with Oz. In 2002, Eric Jacobson was cast as the new performer of Miss Piggy, and his first public debut as the character was performed via satellite at the 2001 MuppetFest. Jacobson has remained Piggy's principal performer since then, openly describing the role as "one of the most famous drag acts in the business."
During Oz's tenure as the character, other performers would step in. Jerry Nelson performed Piggy in 1974 for a brief appearance on Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. Fran Brill performed Piggy for The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, a pilot for The Muppet Show. Kevin Clash and Peter Linz puppeteered Piggy for most of the filming of Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets from Space, respectively, with Oz dubbing in Piggy's voice in post production. Victor Yerrid briefly performed Piggy in Muppets Ahoy!, a 2006 stage show for the Disney Cruise Line. In Muppet Babies, Piggy's voice was provided by voice actress Laurie O'Brien. Voice actor Hal Rayle provided her voice for a short-lived spin-off series, Little Muppet Monsters. Melanie Harrison voices Baby Piggy on the 2018 reboot of Muppet Babies.
History
The first known appearance of Miss Piggy was on the Herb Alpert television special Herb Alpert and the TJB, broadcast on October 13, 1974, on ABC. Miss Piggy's voice was noticeably more demure and soft, singing with Herb, "I Can't Give You Anything but Love." The first draft of the puppet was an unnamed blonde, beady-eyed pig who appeared briefly in the 1975 pilot special The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, in a sketch called "Return to Beneath the Planet of the Pigs." She was unnamed in that show, but by the time The Muppet Show began in 1976, she had assumed something resembling her classic look—a pig with large blue eyes, a flowing silver gown, satin white long gloves, blue sheer shawl, and a hopelessly romantic persona.
The Muppet Show
Miss Piggy began as a minor chorus pig on The Muppet Show, but gradually developed into one of the central characters of the series, as the writers and producers of The Muppet Show recognized that a lovelorn pig could be more than a one-note running gag. She spawned a huge fad during the late 1970s and early 1980s and eclipsed Kermit and the other Muppets in popularity at that time, selling far more merchandise and writing a book entitled Miss Piggy's Guide to Life that, unlike any of Kermit's books, wound up on top of the New York Times Bestseller List.
Miss Piggy's personality and voice were seen and heard in other female characters performed by Frank Oz before the character's debut. For instance, a Sesame Street Muppet skit from 1971 featured Snow White performed by Frank Oz and acting (as well as sounding) like Miss Piggy. Another sound-alike came from a contestant in a Guy Smiley sketch called "The Mystery Mix-Up Game".
In The Muppet Show episode 106, Piggy is referred to by the full name "Piggy Lee" and in episode 116, Piggy tells guest star Avery Schreiber that Piggy is short for "Pigathius", "from the Greek, meaning "river of passion". Also during the Jim Nabors episode when asked what (astrological) sign she was born under she replied that she was not born under a sign, she was born over one, "Becker's Butcher shop". She portrayed "Wonder Pig", a spoof of Wonder Woman in episode 419 while Lynda Carter sang "The Rubberband Man" and "Orange Colored Sky".
Foo-Foo
In the series, Miss Piggy owned a pet; a white Toy poodle dog named Foo-Foo (performed by Steve Whitmire) who is one of the few characters that does not speak. Piggy is often seen as very tender towards her, although to the point of sickly saccharine baby talk. On The Muppet Show, Foo-Foo was portrayed as both a muppet and a real dog in different shots. Foo-Foo mostly appears as a sidekick to Miss Piggy in most movies and specials.
Films and television series
Miss Piggy has appeared in all the Muppet films and television series following The Muppet Show. In The Muppet Movie, she has just won a beauty contest when she first meets Kermit and joins the Muppets. In The Great Muppet Caper, Miss Piggy plays an aspiring fashion model who gets caught up in a screwball-comedy misunderstanding involving a gang of jewel thieves. Piggy proves she has a talent for tap dancing, seemingly without knowing it. She and Kermit also kiss (on the lips, yet slightly covered) while Miss Piggy is a prisoner in jail; Miss Piggy ends up wearing Kermit's fake mustache, while Kermit has X-marks on his upper lip.
Eventually, in the films, Kermit started returning her affections and (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan, though subsequent events suggest that it was only their characters in the movie that married, and that their relationship is really the same as ever. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (which taped in 1985) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This special aired two years after The Muppets Take Manhattan. This is really the only indication outside of a movie that Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog were married. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted and the two get married again in this film.
In The Muppet Christmas Carol, she appears as Mrs. Cratchit, to Kermit's Bob Cratchit.
In Muppet Treasure Island, the part of crazed Ben Gunn was adapted to fit Miss Piggy, and "Benjamina" Gunn was revealed to be Captain Smollett's (played by Kermit) former lover. The two share a tender moment dueting on "Love Led Us Here".
Her part is significant but supporting in Muppets from Space, as the plucky news reporter eager to scoop the news on her friend Gonzo's bizarre alien encounters.
In the TV-movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, a take on the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life, the characters are seen in an alternate universe, one without Kermit. Miss Piggy becomes a spinster cat lady, doing "psychic" readings on the phone.
In The Muppets, Miss Piggy is shown to be residing in Paris, having become the plus-size editor for Vogue after the Muppets disbanded, and after she left Kermit in Los Angeles and run off with a wealthy lynx.
In Muppets Most Wanted, having rejoined the Muppets on a global tour, she nearly marries Constantine in London, after he poses as Kermit.
In the TV series The Muppets, Miss Piggy hosts the late-night talk show Up Late with Miss Piggy.
In Muppets Now, she hosts the segment "Lifesty(le) with Miss Piggy".
In Muppets Haunted Mansion, she appears as herself dressed as Kermit for Halloween (with Kermit dressed as Piggy) and later appears as Madame Pigota.
Other appearances
In 1987, Miss Piggy was a guest star on Dolly Parton's musical variety show, Dolly, singing and performing with Parton, while at the same time secretly attempting to steal the show from her host, mostly by sabotaging Parton's musical segments and attempting to trick producers into giving her more solo spots. Parton, annoyed at being undermined by Miss Piggy, told another of her guests, Juice Newton, that they might be "having ham sandwiches after the show".
Miss Piggy sang with the Jonas Brothers as "Joan S. Jonas", with Ashley Tisdale during the number "Bop to the Top", and with the Cheetah Girls performing "Dance Me If You Can" as a part of Studio DC: Almost Live. A running gag from those first two episodes involved Miss Piggy looking for "Zacky" Efron. Miss Piggy made a special guest appearance on Take Two with Phineas and Ferb and sang "Spa Day" with Phineas and Ferb.
Miss Piggy made a number of appearances in 2011 and 2012 to promote The Muppets. Miss Piggy made a special guest appearance on the Disney Channel Original Series So Random! alongside Sterling Knight (who made a special cameo appearance on The Muppets). She was the first guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno November 4, 2011, appeared on Chelsea Lately on November 21, 2011, and sang "Dance with Me Tonight" with Olly Murs on the UK The X Factor on November 27, 2011. On November 19, 2011, Miss Piggy, alongside her fellow Muppets and Jason Segel, participated in the opening monologue of Saturday Night Live by singing "I Can't Believe I'm Hosting SNL".
Miss Piggy and her fellow Muppets made a guest appearance on the Halloween 2011 episode of WWE Raw.
In an episode aired January 19, 2012, Miss Piggy appeared on Project Runway: All Stars Season 1 as a guest judge for clothes designed for her character in the movie. She also appeared on the British morning breakfast show This Morning alongside Kermit, Rizzo, and Beaker. On February 9, 2012, Miss Piggy appeared on Lawro's Predictions on BBC Football's website to predict the coming week's Premier League matches. Along with Kermit the Frog, they made only three predictions including a 63–25 win for Liverpool against Manchester United. She also starred in E! Fashion Police.
On Friday, March 15, 2013, Miss Piggy appeared on the UK telethon Comic Relief to reveal the cash total and introduce boy band One Direction. She was in Dream House 2013. On December 6, 2013, she performed 'Somethin' Stupid' alongside Robbie Williams at the London Palladium. In 2015, Miss Piggy received a Sackler Center First Award from the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. An essay was written for Time magazine as if by Miss Piggy, titled "Why I Am a Feminist Pig", explaining why she deserved the award.
In 2014, Miss Piggy appeared in an advertisement for Wonderful Pistachios.
Miss Piggy had her own luxury brand featured on QVC, "Moi by Miss Piggy". The name had previously been used by a perfume released in 1998.
Albums
The Muppet Movie (soundtrack) (1979)
The Great Muppet Caper (soundtrack) (1981)
The Muppets Take Manhattan (soundtrack) (1984)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (soundtrack) (1992)
Muppet Treasure Island (soundtrack) (1996)
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (soundtrack) (2005)
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (soundtrack) (2008)
The Muppets (soundtrack) (2011)
Muppets Most Wanted (soundtrack) (2014)
Filmography
The Muppet Show (1976–1981) (TV)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
Muppet Babies (1984–1991) (TV)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) – Appearance as Emily Cratchit
Muppet Treasure Island (1996) – Appearance as Benjamina Gunn
Muppets Tonight (1996–1998) (TV)
Muppets from Space (1999)
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) (TV)
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005) (TV) – Appearance as Herself and the Wicked Witch of the West, Good Witch of the North, Glinda the Good Witch, Wicked Witch of the East
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008) (TV)
Studio DC: Almost Live (2008) (TV)
The Muppets (2011)
Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular (2013) (TV)
Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
The Muppets (2015–2016) (TV)
Muppet Babies (2018–present) (TV)
Muppets Now (2020) (Disney+)
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2021) (Paramount+)
References
External links
at Disney.com
Tough Pigs: Transcripts of Miss Piggy and Kermit interviews
The Muppets characters
Fictional pigs
Fictional actors
Fictional characters from Iowa
Fictional feminists and women's rights activists
Fictional singers
Fictional models
Fictional beauty queens
Fictional television personalities
Fictional karateka
Television characters introduced in 1974
Female characters in television | true | [
"Kermit Unpigged is a comedy album released by The Jim Henson Company through BMG Kidz in 1994, and the last album released by Jim Henson Records. The record's title is a parody of the MTV series MTV Unplugged, and the cover is a parody of Eric Clapton's Unplugged album cover as well. The album consists of Kermit the Frog and the other Muppets getting lost at a recording studio and encountering celebrities including Linda Ronstadt, with whom Kermit sings \"All I Have to Do Is Dream\", Vince Gill who sings \"Daydream\" with Kermit, Jimmy Buffett who sings \"Mr. Spaceman\" with Gonzo, and Ozzy Osbourne with whom Miss Piggy sings \"Born to Be Wild\". The album ends with the Muppets meeting back up and singing the Beatles song \"All Together Now\".\n\nThe album reached #20 on Billboards Top Kid Audio chart.\n\nTrack listing\n \"She Drives Me Crazy\" - Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy\n \"Daydream\" - Vince Gill and Kermit the Frog\n \"On Broadway\" - George Benson, Clifford and the Rhythm Rats\n \"All I Have to Do Is Dream\" - Linda Ronstadt and Kermit the Frog\n \"Born to Be Wild\" - Ozzy Osbourne and Miss Piggy\n \"Mr. Spaceman\" - Jimmy Buffett, The Great Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat\n \"Bein' Green\" - Don Henley and Kermit the Frog\n \"Wild Thing\" - Animal, Floyd Pepper and Kermit the Frog\n \"Can't Get Along Without You\" - Kermit the Frog and Robin \n \"All Together Now\" - The Muppets with Harry Smith\n\nReferences \n\n1994 albums\nThe Muppets albums\n1990s comedy albums",
"The Muppet Show is a comic book series based on the variety television series of the same title created by Jim Henson and featuring The Muppets. The series was written and drawn by Roger Langridge and published by Boom Kids!, an imprint of Boom! Studios. In 2011, the Boom! license with Disney Publishing Worldwide expired. Disney's own comic book publishing subsidiary, Marvel Comics, renamed the series Muppets and published four issues in 2012.\n\nIssues\nRoger Langridge originally made a special preview for the comic which was originally to be used in the Disney Adventures magazine, which was cancelled in November 2007.\n\n Preview Special - The show is about to start and Kermit the Frog thinks the guest star hasn't shown up yet, when Kermit hears a knock at the door. When he opens the door, he finds a baby. The show continues as they try to calm the baby down. Eventually, the \"baby\" reveals that he's not really a baby, but the scheduled guest star is Babyface Magee, Midget Acrobat. He'd been hit on the head and left ga-ga, regaining consciousness only minutes ago. The culprit responsible turned out to be Sweetums in an attempt to take Babyface Magee's spot. Sweetums is found on-stage singing during the closing number where he then reveals that his mommy is in the audience, and he wanted to surprise her. Kermit the Frog tries to think of a way to give Sweetums something to do that doesn't involve singing, and soon hires him to throw bricks at hecklers.\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, Scooter, Statler and Waldorf, Sweetums, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, The Rodent Doo-Wop All-Stars, Babyface Magee, Sweetums' Mommy, Mildred Huxtetter, Zoot, Janice, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Whatnots, Pigs, Generic Muppet Monsters, Bird Dancers, Bert from Sesame Street\n\nThe first two-story arcs are renumbered from One, this was changed after the second story arc.\n\nMeet the Muppets (4 issues)\n Issue #1: Kermit's Story - When Kermit receives a mysterious letter and starts strumming an old tune on his banjo, Robin realizes that his uncle misses the swamp. With their beloved leader down in the dumps, the whole Muppet gang does its best to try to improve Kermit's spirits. The cast tries to cheer Kermit up, but in the end, it's Robin's insistence that his uncle play through to the end of \"The Pond Where I Was Born\" on his banjo that finally helps Kermit realize that even though the theater is his home now, the pond will \"always be a part of me. Wherever I should roam.\" Other sketches include a \"Muppet News Flash\", a new musical number called \"Bang, Boom, Splat and Pow\", a cooking segment with the Swedish Chef, and \"Pigs in Space\".\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, Scooter, Robin the Frog, The Muppet Newsman, Statler and Waldorf, the Medium, Pops, Floyd Pepper, Four Little Hop-Toads, Rowlf the Dog, the Zimmer Twins, Male Koozebanian Creature, Female Koozebanian Creature, Swedish Chef, Sam Eagle, Beauregard, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Zoot\n Issue #2: Fozzie's Story - When the Cheese Manufacturers' Convention sours on Fozzie Bear's comedy act, he tries to reinvent himself by looking to the past for inspiration. Unfortunately, his Shakespearean homage ends in tragedy, his music hall routine lands him in the \"Veterinarian's Hospital\" number when Miss Piggy finds out that Kermit has canceled her \"Suffragette, Crepe Suzette\" number for it, and a slapstick performance conceived by Gonzo leaves him with nothing but pie on his face. But when Rowlf suggests during a last-ditch beatnik sketch that Fozzie just be himself, the bear actually succeeds, bringing even Statler and Waldorf to tears of laughter! Other sketches include a musical number called \"In My Merry Oldsmobile\" by Johnnie Steele and Lucille, \"The Ubiquitous Quilp\", and \"Pigs in Space\".\n Characters - Fozzie Bear, Kermit the Frog, Gonzo the Great, Miss Piggy, Scooter, Rowlf the Dog, Statler and Waldorf, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Janice, Johnnie Steele and Lucille, Humorous Cheese, the Ubiquitous Quilp, Crocodile, Rats, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork\n Issue #3: Gonzo's Story - Osbert J. Smedley, the theater's insurance agent, comes to the theater for some routine questioning. A busy Kermit has Scooter answer Smedley's questions. Mr. Smedley needs to know what species everybody in the theater is, but Scooter's not sure what Gonzo is. Scooter asks Gonzo what he is, but Gonzo states that he's never really thought about it before. Scooter asks around, but nobody else is sure. Eventually, Rizzo comes to the conclusion that Gonzo is a \"Gonzo\". Scooter gives Smedley the answer, but then after realising who Gonzo is, he realizes that having Gonzo in the theater would raise the premium up to five thousand percent. Gonzo assures a nervous Smedley that his act is risk-free, and offers to let Smedley test out his act, which would involve Smedley getting inside a cannon. A frightened Smedley then claims that there was an error and that the insurance company owes the theater 32 cents, and rushes off just before the big finale, which ends up sending Gonzo to the hospital. At the hospital, Scooter begs Gonzo to tell him what he is. Gonzo's reply: \"I'm an artist.\" Other sketches include \"Chicken Lake\" by Gonzo and the chickens, \"Bear on Patrol\", \"Gumshoe McGurk, Private Eye\" with Gonzo in the title role, \"Pigs in Space\", \"Twinkle Twinkle Little Rat\" with Gonzo, Rizzo, and the rats, and \"Extravagonzo!\" (the finale with Gonzo being fired from a cannon).\n Characters - Gonzo the Great, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Scooter, Rizzo the Rat, Camilla the Chicken, Statler and Waldorf, Osbert J. Smedley, Sam the Eagle, Marsupial, The Masked Phantom and her nephew, Link Hogthrob, Bunsen Honeydew, The Swedish Chef, Animal, Floyd Pepper, Beaker, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Space Bug, Chickens, Rats\n Issue #4: Piggy's Story - The guest star is Madame Rhonda, a psychic. She gives fortunes to various Muppets backstage. When she reads Miss Piggy's fortune, she tells her that she'll lose something valuable and green, referring to her money (as she takes Piggy's purse when Piggy isn't looking), but she thinks Madam Rhonda is talking about Kermit. Miss Piggy soon gets jealous when she sees Kermit talking to the other female Muppets. Meanwhile, Kermit, who doesn't believe in Madame Rhonda's fortune telling, eventually lets Fozzie and Gonzo talk him into getting his fortune told. Later, Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Madame Rhonda end up in jail, while a police officer explains what happened to his boss. As shown in flashback form, Miss Piggy sees Madame Rhonda reading Kermit's palm and karate chops them both. Miss Piggy then finds out that Madame Rhonda had taken her purse. Madame Rhonda admits to her psychic powers being a scam, and Kermit decides not to press charges on Miss Piggy for karate chopping him. Since the theater is only a short distance away, he decides to walk back with Miss Piggy, but then they remember that Miss Piggy is supposed to be in the closing number. They rush back to the theater just in time for Miss Piggy to sing the final line. Other sketches include \"An Editorial by Sam the Eagle\" revolving around gullibility, \"Veterinarian's Hospital\", The Talking Houses sketch, the Muppet Labs sketch, and \"Pigs in Space\".\n Characters - Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, Scooter, Rowlf the Dog, Statler and Waldorf, Sam Eagle, Madame Rhonda, Janice, Floyd Pepper, Rizzo the Rat, Animal, Link Hogthrob, Annie Sue, Lew Zealand, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Sweetums, Talking Houses, Beauregard, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Officer Hogg, Pigs, Bigfoot\n\nThe Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson (4 issues)\n Issue #1: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral - Scooter discovers old documents which reveal that a cache of treasure is hidden somewhere within the Muppet Theater, and when Rizzo the Rat overhears this, the news spreads like wildfire. Animal begins acting very strangely - he's now refined and well-mannered! Meanwhile, Kermit is acting suspiciously cool. Sketches include \"Muppet Sports\", a cooking segment the Swedish Chef, Wayne and Wanda singing \"When the Lusitania Went Down\", \"Muppet Labs\", \"Pigs in Space\", \"At the Dance\", and a musical number by Miss Piggy backed by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem with special guest drummer Ninja Rogers.\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, Scooter, Rizzo the Rat, Animal, Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Zoot, Janice, Beauregard, Pops, Ninja Rogers, Louis Kazagger, Gladys, Swedish Chef, Sam Eagle, Wayne and Wanda, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Lew Zealand, Statler and Waldorf, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Ringmaster, Mitch Dumpling, Scorchy Brownfinger, Tarzan, Walrus, Kangaroo, Rats, Whatnots, Pigs\n Issue #2: You May Meet a Stranger - Hypnotist Creepy McBoo tries to cure Animal. Kermit comes back and reveals he hired the look-alike Kismit to act like him for a sketch. The Electric Mayhem tries to get Animal back to his crazy self. Mahna Mahna performs with the Snowths.\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Rizzo the Rat, Gonzo the Great, Sweetums, Animal, Floyd Pepper, Janice, Zoot, The Muppet Newsman, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Hillbillies, Mahna Mahna, The Snowths, Annie Sue, Link Hogthrob, Fozzie Bear, Scooter\n Issue #3: Follow the Money - Due to the buried treasure, Kermit decides to have a pirate-themed closing number. He instructs Gonzo to go to the library and do some research on who Peg-Leg Wilson was. Meanwhile, it's revealed that Kismet and Rizzo have been working together and planning on splitting the treasure, but then Kismet decides that he'll split it with whoever finds the treasure first, who could be the dwarves he has working for him. Kismet also reveals that he's after Miss Piggy's jewelry. Kismet comes to Piggy's rescue in a melodrama \"The Perils of Piggy\" and tells her that he wants to see her in her jewelry. Miss Piggy is soon dressed in a lot of gold jewelry, but the dwarves run after her. They soon realize that the gold and jewelry are fake, and they leave her locked up behind the wall. With Miss Piggy seemingly missing, Link talks Kermit into using the robotic Piggy that was in the show's \"Pigs in Space\" sketch during the closing number \"H.M.S. Pinafore\" in which the cast sings \"I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General\", using a very expensive set on loan. Unfortunately, the robotic Piggy runs amok and destroys the set, costing Kermit thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, The Electric Mayhem attempt to get Animal back to normal by instructing him to hit several fleas thrown at his drums, expecting him to become a wild drummer again. However, Animal has become a Buddhist and is not allowed to harm living beings. The fleas put on an act on Animal's drum set \"Julius Prunes Amazing Flea Circus\" and they later give Animal a trophy for being the only guy who was ever kind to them.\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo the Great, Kismet the Toad, Fozzie Bear, Rizzo the Rat, Rats, Dwarves, Animal, Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Janice, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Statler and Waldorf, Mildred Huxtetter, Uncle Deadly, Wayne, Julius Prune, Fleas, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Sweetums\n Issue #4: Be It Ever So Humble... - The search for the treasure starts to cause damage to the Muppet Theater. Meanwhile, The Electric Mayhem decides to drop Animal as their drummer, replacing him with M.A.M.M.A. A saddened Animal recalls that Bunsen told him that he can stop his treatment whenever he wants, and Animal gives up his pills, quickly becoming his old self again. Kermit finds Rizzo and reminds him that the Muppet Theater is more than just a theater, it's Rizzo's home. Rizzo tries to tell the other rats to stop, but they won't listen. Meanwhile, Kismet tricks Bunsen and Beaker into leaving the laboratory so that he can steal Bunsen's latest invention, x-ray glasses, and use it to find the treasure. Kismet finds that the treasure is in the basement. However, as soon as he finds the treasure, Miss Piggy shows up with a cop telling him to arrest Kismet for replacing her jewels with shabby fake replacements. Kismet tells her that the originals turned out to be fake as well, but Piggy is aware of this. She just thought that hers were the best fakes money could buy. A monster named Rumpelstiltskin is ordered by a dwarf to smash a pillar, which will destroy the whole Muppet Theater and make the treasure easy to find (not knowing that it had been found). Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo all tell him that if he wants to break down the theater, he'd have to get through them. Rumpelstiltskin is about to do so anyway, until Miss Piggy informs everybody that the treasure's been found. As they are about to open the treasure chest, Animal crashes through the theater on a construction ball, destroying the Muppet Theater. All that's in the treasure chest are letters written by Peg-Leg Wilson and his wife which after reading the letters, makes them realize that the Muppet Theater itself was the treasure. Soon, the stamps on all the letters end up being worth exactly the same amount as the costs to repair the Muppet Theater, and Kermit decides to take The Muppet Show on the road, but can only afford to travel to four towns. Other sketches include \"A Young Frog's Guide to Stamp Collecting\", \"Muppet Labs\", \"Veterinarian's Hospital\", and an act from Gonzo.\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, Rizzo the Rat, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Animal, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Janice, Zoot, Kismet the Toad, Scooter, Dwarves, Rumpelstiltskin, Statler and Waldorf, M.A.M.M.A., Robin the Frog, Sweetums, Rats, Camilla the Chicken, Vince Shabby, Peg-Leg Wilson\n\nAfter \"Peg-Leg Wilson\", The Muppet Show comic book continued as an ongoing series, and started with a new #0.\n\nOngoing series\n\nPigs in Space: The Movie (1 issue)\n Issue #0 - Fozzie and Rizzo try to pitch a movie idea for \"Pigs in Space\" to a bunch of film producers (which at the end turn out to be Statler and Waldorf).\n Characters - Fozzie Bear, Rizzo the Rat, Link Hogthrob, Miss Piggy, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Statler and Waldorf, The Muppet Newsman, Kermit the Frog, Koozebanians, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, Sweetums, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Chickens, Gonzo the Great\n\nOn the Road (3 issues)\n Issue #1: Watch That Tiger - With the Muppet Theater in disarray after the events of \"The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson\", the Muppet gang decides to take their show on the road while the Muppet Theater is being rebuilt. Is the world ready for traveling Muppet minstrels? \"The Muppet Roadshow\" makes its first stop in Little Gideon, Ohio. Miss Piggy is afraid that the show won't work without a theater, and Kermit the Frog is worried that he won't make enough money to pay Mister Weazell (who owns the land they're performing on). To make matters worse, Fozzie decides to take his act solo and a tiger has escaped. Can the Muppet Roadshow gain an audience...and more importantly, a profit? Other sketches include a patent-medicine style version of \"Veterinarian's Hospital\", \"Country Cooking with The Swedish Chef\", a performance of \"Whispering\" by Sweetums and Robin the Frog backed by The Acoustic Mayhem, a \"Muppet News Flash\", a rendition of \"The Muppet Show Theme\", and a brief backup called \"Alphabear\" featuring Fozzie's solo act.\n Characters - The Muppet Newsman, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo the Great, Bags O'Gravy, Fozzie Bear, Hillbilly Cousins of Statler and Waldorf, Robin the Frog, Sweetums, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Mister Weazell, Sam Eagle, Rizzo the Rat, Chickens, Swedish Chef, Ogre, Scooter, Statler and Waldorf\n Issue #2: His Wackiness, Clint Wacky! - The Muppets hire Clint Wacky as a temporary replacement for Fozzie, and the Muppets also pick up Clint Wacky's writers Mr. Stadler and Mr. Waltorf. They perform at Little Statwald, home to only two families (Statler and Waldorf's families). Clint Wacky tells insulting jokes which the audience likes, but Kermit and Scooter decide they don't want the show to be known for insulting the audience. Scooter offers to write new material for Mr. Wacky, but Clint turns it down, stating that he gets compensation if his material gets rewritten or if he gets fired, but since it's okay for Clint Wacky to quit at any time, the Muppets try to find a way to get him to leave. Eventually, Rizzo the Rat tricks Clint into thinking that Hollywood finally wants him, and Clint rushes away. However, this means that the show is without a closing comedian. Since Scooter had written plenty of comedy material, he goes on-stage. At first he has no luck, but then Dr. Teeth tells him to lose the script and improvise, and Scooter ends up succeeding with the audience. Other sketches include \"The Woodland Gerbils\", \"Pigs in Space\", \"The Talking Caravans\", and Fozzie Bear in \"Garbage\".\n Issue #3: Box Clever - The Muppets finally return to the Muppet Theater and put on their first show at the newly-rebuilt Muppet Theater. A package addressed to Fozzie (who hasn't gotten back yet) arrives as well. The various Muppets want to know what's in the package, but Kermit suggests that they wait until Fozzie comes back. Eventually, it's decided to put the package in the basement, but everybody (including Kermit) sneaks down to try to open it. Eventually, they decide to open the package. It turns out that Fozzie was in the package (he had enough money to mail himself, but mistakenly addressed it to himself) and Fozzie joins the Muppets for the closing number. Statler and Waldorf are excited about Fozzie's return so they can throw stuff at him. Meanwhile, Gonzo decides to raise money for charity by traveling in a number of ways (covered by Louis Kazagger) including running, moving bathtub, and cannon. He makes it back to the Muppet Theater during the closing number. Gonzo had planned on giving the money to the \"Chessington Wasp Society\". But due to a scandal, Gonzo changes his mind. Fozzie suggests giving the money to a charity for retired gentlemen theater patrons. Other sketches include \"Muppet Labs\", \"Veterinarian's Hospital\", \"Pigs in Space\", and \"At the Dance\".\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Pops, Scooter, Louis Kazagger, Gonzo the Great, Camilla the Chicken, Beauregard, Statler and Waldorf, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Janice, Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Gorgon Heap, Rizzo the Rat, Mildred Huxtetter, Sweetums, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Animal, Floyd Pepper, Frankenstein\n\nFamily Reunion (4 issues)\n Issue #4 - The first issue of this arc features the return of Scooter's twin sister Skeeter (from Muppet Babies). Other sketches include \"Samlet\", \"Muppet Labs\", and \"Pigs in Space\".\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Scooter, Skeeter, Celestial Beings, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Gary Mayo, Sam Eagle, Pops, Anson Anderson, Sweetums, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork\n Issue #5 - Miss Piggy's nephews Andy and Randy Pig come to stay for a week. They're given some minor tasks to do and they manage to screw up all of them. Also in this issue are a song by Bobby Benson's Baby Band called \"The Girl with the Goo-Goo Eyes\" a cooking segment with the Swedish Chef, a visit to the planet Koozebane, \"Veterinarian's Hospital\", \"Pigs in Space\", and the closing number \"Pigmalion\".\n Characters - Celestial Beings, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Andy and Randy Pig, Skeeter, Scooter, Bobby Benson, The Babies, Swedish Chef, Rowlf the Dog, Janice, Link Hogthrob, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great\n Issue #6 - Skeeter and Robin believe that Robin is being sent to an orphanage. Also in this issue are \"Walk Like a Chicken\" with Gonzo and the Chickens, The Frog Scouts in an all-mime production of \"Death of a Salesman\", Wayne and Wanda singing \"Mighty Like a Rose\", \"Pigs in Space\", and a closing number featuring Kermit and Robin, backed by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Dustbin as well as an appearance by Beauregard's cousin Mo.\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Robin the Frog, Celestial Beings, Skeeter, Cross-Eyed Woman, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Scooter, Gonzo the Great, Chickens, Frog Scouts, Wayne and Wanda, Beauregard, Floyd Pepper, Zoot, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, The Gogolala Jubilee Jugband, Dr. Teeth, Janice, Animal, Cousin Mo\n Issue #7 - Fozzie's mom appears at the theater to fix up an old acquaintance from Fozzie's childhood days. Fozzie told his mother that he was a famous detective and had a girlfriend. He then must pretend to be a detective and makes Skeeter pretend to be his girlfriend. Other sketches include \"Wormwood in Bohemia\", a poem by Rowlf, \"Pigs in Space\", \"Sweet, Sweet Music\", and \"The Adventures of Baron Munchfozzen\".\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Celestial Beings, Skeeter, Rizzo the Rat, Ma Bear, Wormwood Soames, Dimples McSquirt, Rowlf the Dog, Beauregard, Miss Piggy, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Dora, Scooter, Gonzo the Great, Pops\n\nMuppet Mash\n Issue #8 Part 1: Chickens of the Night - Just as Gonzo returns from his vacation in Transylvania, the Muppets are following the latest trend in entertainment by putting on a vampire-themed show. However, because Gonzo now looks and acts differently than usual, everyone starts wondering if he happens to actually be a vampire! Other sketches include \"Casey Was a Bat\", \"Henhouse of Horror\", \"Gourmet Time with The Swedish Chef\", \"Veterinarian's Hospital\" with Fozzie as the patient, \"Link Hogthrob: Monster Smasher\", and \"Interview with a Gonzo.\"\n Characters - Gonzo the Great, Pops, Kermit the Frog, Statler and Waldorf, Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Camilla the Chicken, Floyd Pepper, Janice, Scooter, Sam Eagle, Dr. Teeth, Swedish Chef, Rowlf the Dog, Hilda, Wuffles, Animal, Bunsen Honeydew, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Beauregard, Hunchback, Rizzo the Rat\n Issue #9 Part 2: That's a Wrap - Statler and Waldorf discover that their favorite act, Calistoga Cleo and the Pharaohs, are going to be performing on The Muppet Show. Other sketches include a monologue from Fozzie Bear, \"In the Praise of Older Men\", \"Muppet Labs\", \"Link Hogthrob, Monster Smasher\", and \"The Pyramid of Geezer\".\n Characters - Statler and Waldorf, Kermit the Frog, Mrs. Keppel, Calistoga Cleo and the Pharaohs, Miss Piggy, Poob, Fozzie Bear, Scooter, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Floyd Pepper, Gonzo the Great, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Janice, Pops\n Issue 10: Part 3: Monster Munch - Legendary singer Howlin' Jack Talbot is the musical guest on The Muppet Show. Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem are pleased to be performing with Howlin' Jack Talbot. During the song, Howlin' Jack Talbot leaves the stage and a wolf appears on stage causing the Electric Mayhem to think that Howlin' Jack Talbot is a werewolf. Other sketches include \"Little Red Riding Hood\", \"Doggone Dallas Blues\", \"Muppet Labs\", \"Crypt-Kicker Kate\", \"Link Hogthrob, Monster Smasher\", and \"The Monster Munch\".\n Characters - Mildred Huxtetter, Pops, Howlin' Jack Talbot, Dr. Teeth, Janice, Floyd Pepper, Zoot, Animal, Rizzo the Rat, Wuffles, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Statler and Waldorf, Scooter, Miss Piggy, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Lonesome Stranger, Sweetums, Gonzo the Great\n Issue #11: The Curse of Beaker - Dr. Bunsen Honeydew decides to invent a robot version of Beaker in order to give the real Beaker a break from his work.\n\nThe Four Seasons\n Issue #12: Spring Muppets - Colonel Marmaduke Bunch and Meredith Gorilla guest star. Floyd Pepper refers to them as \"the greatest primate-based song-and-dance act in showbiz\". Meredith and Animal fall for each other to the dismay of her former lover, Bruce. Animal ends up leaving her after she ruins his drum set from playing too rough, and she gets back together with Bruce.\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Animal, Colonel Marmaduke Bunch, Meredith the Gorilla, Floyd Pepper, Dr. Teeth, Janice, Zoot, Scooter, Statler and Waldorf\n Issue #13: Summer Muppets - The Muppets do a show at the beach. Before they head for the beach, Fozzie gets a letter from The Whatnot Theater offering him a summer position. Fozzie accepts, but since he and Scooter were supposed to do an act together, Scooter has to audition a replacement. Although it's summer, it eventually snows right as Scooter found a replacement in Frosty the Polar Bear. Meanwhile, at the Whatnot Theater, Fozzie finds that the cast is very similar to the Muppets like Dermot the Dog (a dog parody of Kermit the Frog), Miss Tiggy (a tiger parody of Miss Piggy), Doctor Tongue, Bonzo the Great (a monkey version of Gonzo), a carrot parody of Animal who plays the spoons, and a British bulldog parody of Sam the Eagle (right down to wearing the Union Jack flag). Fozzie learns that his gig is as a replacement for the resident beaver Ozzy (who's leaving because of a bigger opportunity). Fozzie eventually returns to the Muppets since many of the Whatnots believe their show to be what performers do until something better comes along while Fozzie always saw what he does as what he is, but wouldn't have it any other way.\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Scooter, The Whatnot Show Performers (Dermont the Dog, Miss Tiggy, Ozzy Beaver, Bonzo the Great, Dr. Tongue, a carrot parody of Animal, a British bulldog parody of Sam Eagle), Frosty the Polar Bear, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Statler and Waldorf, Beauregard, Pepe the King Prawn\n Issue #14: Fall Muppets - Pops gets a letter from the Stage Doorman Union informing him that union rules require him to retire at his age, something he doesn't really want to do. Pops trains his nephew Nat Crotchet to take over his duties while Gonzo gets the gang together for a meeting where they intend to switch Pops' birth certificate and then distract the union before they notice that the name is not his. However, nobody at the theater has their birth certificate except for Miss Piggy (who's not thrilled with having to use her birth certificate, yet she also has to go through several files to find it). Eventually, Pops finds his birth certificate, and it turns out he's five years younger than he thought he was (Pops had stopped celebrating his birthday and forgot how old he actually was) and doesn't need to retire. Nat Crotchet reveals to Kermit that Pops lied about his age when he joined the army, but suffered memory loss and mistakenly thought he really was the age he lied about being. Nat had found Pops' real birth certificate and came to switch it in his office for Pops to find, a skill he had learned when he was a spy (which he had failed to mention to the others).\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Pops, Nat Crotchet, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Fozzie Bear, Statler and Waldorf, Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Animal, Janice, Zoot\n Issue #15: Winter Muppets - For Christmas, Miss Piggy orders mistletoe and schemes to get Kermit under the mistletoe with her. Meanwhile, Kermit doesn't want to get Miss Piggy a gift (as Piggy will assume that anything that he gets her will have some significance). He decides the Muppets will all have Secret Santas, but Kermit ends up drawing Miss Piggy's name and vice versa.\n Characters - Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Scooter, Fozzie Bear, Statler and Waldorf, Sam Eagle, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Rowlf the Dog, Sweetums, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Bobby Benson\n\nSpin-off titles\n\nMuppet Robin Hood (4 issues)\nAn adaption of Robin Hood with Kermit the Frog starring as Robin of Loxley as he and his Merry Men takes on Prince John (played by Johnny Fiama), the Sheriff of Nottingham (played by Sam Eagle) and the wicked Gonzo of Gisbourne (played by Gonzo the Great).\n\nCast\n Kermit the Frog - Robin Hood\n Sam Eagle - Sheriff of Nottingham\n Gonzo the Great - Gonzo of Gisbourne\n Robin the Frog - Squirt\n Miss Piggy - Maid Marian\n Hilda - Maid Marian's Customer (issue #1)\n Sweetums - Little John\n Louis Kazagger - Himself (issue #1)\n Scooter - Much the Miller's Son\n Janice - Willa Scarlet\n Rowlf the Dog - Alan-a-Dale\n Lew Zealand - Rich the Fishmonger\n Swedish Chef - Himself\n Mildred Huxtetter - Maid Marian's Lady-in-Waiting (issues #2 and 3)\n Johnny Fiama - Prince John (issues #2-4)\n Sal Minella - Sir Sal (issues #2-4)\n Link Hogthrob - Sir Swineman of the Sword (issue #2)\n Fozzie Bear - Friar Tuck (issues #2-4)\n Uncle Deadly - Captain of the Guard (issue #2)\n Behemoth - Guard (issue #2)\n Blue Frackle - Guard (issue #2)\n Green Frackle - Guard (issue #2)\n Pepe the King Prawn - King Richard (issue #3)\n Dr. Teeth - Crusader (issue #3)\n Floyd Pepper - Crusader (issue #3)\n Zoot - Crusader (issue #3)\n Animal - Crusader (issue #3)\n Bunsen Honeydew - Himself (issue #3)\n Beaker - Himself (issue #3)\n Pops - Archery Contest Staff (issue #3)\n Clifford - Archery Contest Staff (issue #3)\n Crazy Harry - Archer (issue #3)\n Shakey Sanchez - Archer (issue #3)\n George the Janitor - Archer (issue #3)\n Mahna Mahna - Archer (issue #3)\n Bobo the Bear - Archer (issue #3)\n The Muppet Newsman - Narrator\n Statler and Waldorf - Legendary Immortal Knights\n\nCameo appearances by Nigel (the one from Muppets Tonight, issue #2), Wayne and Wanda (issue #2), Bean Bunny (issue #3), the Snowths (issue #3), Lubbock Lou (issue #3), Gramps (issue #3), Zeke (issue #3), Beauregard (issue #4), Spamela Hamderson (issue #4), Fleet Scribbler (issue #4), and Andy and Randy Pig (issue #4)\n\nMuppet Peter Pan (4 issues)\nAn adaption of Peter Pan with Kermit the Frog in the title role, Miss Piggy as Piggytink, Janice, Scooter, and Bean Bunny as the Darling children, and Gonzo as Captain Gonzo.\n\nCast\n Kermit the Frog - Peter Pan\n Miss Piggy - Piggytink\n Janice - Wendy Darling\n Scooter - John Darling\n Bean Bunny - Michael Darling\n Gonzo the Great - Captain Gonzo\n Sam Eagle - Narrator, Mr. Darling\n Camilla the Chicken - Nana\n Rizzo the Rat - Mr. Smee\n Sweetums - Mr. Starkey\n Bunsen Honeydew - Pirate\n Beaker - Pirate\n Lew Zealand - Pirate\n Statler and Waldorf - Pirates\n Floyd Pepper - Firecheeks Floyd\n Dr. Teeth - His High Grooviness Dr. Goldentooth\n Zoot - Zoot Runningmouth\n Animal - He-Who-Runs-With-Sharks\n Swedish Chef - Wagon-Chef\n Fozzie Bear - Tootles\n Rowlf the Dog - Slightly\n Pepe the King Prawn - Nibs\n Louis Kazagger - Himself\n\nMuppet King Arthur (4 issues)\nAn adaption of King Arthur with Kermit the Frog in the title role.\n\nCast\n Kermit the Frog - King Arthur\n Miss Piggy - Morgana le Fay\n Sam Eagle - Sir Sam of Eagle\n Robin the Frog - Mordred\n Janice - Lady of the Lake\n Rowlf the Dog - Merlin\n Fozzie Bear - Sir Percival\n Gonzo the Great - Sir Lancelot\n Camilla the Chicken - Lady Guinevere\n Animal - Sir Gawain\n\nCameo appearances by Delbert the La Choy Dragon (on a shield), a Skeksis from The Dark Crystal, Lew Zealand, Zoot, Floyd Pepper, Dr. Teeth, Slim Wilson, Statler and Waldorf, Pigs, Penguins, Rizzo the Rat, Seymour the Elephant, Foo-Foo, Sweetums, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Clueless Morgan, Catgut the Cat from The Muppet Musicians of Bremen, Leroy the Donkey from The Muppet Musicians of Bremen, T.R. the Rooster from The Muppet Musicians of Bremen, Rover Joe the Dog from The Muppet Musicians of Bremen, Mahna Mahna, the Snowths, Beauregard, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Gaffer the Cat, Sir Cumnavigate, Teporter, Sir Mount, Crickets, Geri and the Atrics, Baskerville the Hound, Sir Render, Susan Boil, Swedish Chef, Sal Minella, Bobo the Bear, Hilda, Mildred Huxtetter, Angel Marie, Doglion, Camels, Camel Lot Owner, Tin Man, a Dragon, Scooter, Pepe the King Prawn, Professor Phineas A. Plot, Angus McGonagle, Lips, Quongo the Gorilla, Thog, Kangaroo, Marvin Suggs, Louis Kazagger, Crazy Harry, Uncle Deadly, Bobby Benson, Koozebanian Phoob, Mean Mama, Lou, Gladys, Jim, Pops, Whatnots, Frackles, Cows, and Horses.\n\nMuppet Snow White (4 issues)\nAn adaptation of Snow White with Spamela Hamderson as the title character.\n\nCast\n Spamela Hamderson as Snow White\n Miss Piggy as the Queen\n Kermit the Frog as the Prince\n Fozzie Bear as the Magic Mirror\n Gonzo the Great as Jacob Grimm\n Rizzo the Rat as Wilhem Grimm\n Dr. Teeth as Doc\n Floyd Pepper as Grumpy\n Janice as Happy\n Animal as Sneezy\n Zoot as Sleepy\n Lips as Bashful\n Scooter as Dopey\n Rowlf the Dog as the Replacement Dopey\n Sweetums as the Huntsman\n Pepe the King Prawn as Spamela's Agent\n Bobo the Bear as Himself\n Statler and Waldorf as Uncle Grumpier and Grumpiest\n Link Hogthrob as the King\n Big Mean Carl as Sir Carl the Big Mean Dwarf Eater\n\nCameo appearances by Foo-Foo, Beauregard, Sam Eagle, Uncle Deadly, Crazy Harry, Dead Tom from Muppet Treasure Island, Headless Bill from Muppet Treasure Island, Marvin Suggs, Angus McGonagle, Bobby Benson, Johnny Fiama, Wayne and Wanda, Mahna Mahna, The Snowths, Sal Minella, Bad Polly, Clueless Morgan, Mad Monty, Annie Sue, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Thog, Doglion, Timmy Monster, The Mutations, Behemoth, Beautiful Day Monster, Blue Frackle, Green Frackle, Big V, Gorgon Heap, Luncheon Counter Monster, and the Dragon from Sleeping Beauty.\n\nThere were also brief glimpses of Ace Yu from Dog City, Bugsy Them from Dog City, Clifford, Mean Mama, Beard from The Jim Henson Hour, Slim Wilson, the Yoda Muppet from It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, Ernst Stavros Grouper (mention only), Howard Tubman, Rhonda the Raccoon from Jim Henson's Animal Show, Morton the Beaver from Jim Henson's Animal Show, Carter, Baskerville the Hound, Angel Marie, and Banana Nose Maldonado.\n\nMuppet Sherlock Holmes (4 issues)\nAn adaption of Sherlock Holmes with Gonzo as the title character, Fozzie Bear as Dr. Watson, Kermit the Frog as Inspector Lestrade, and Miss Piggy in various female leads.\n\nCast\n\n Gonzo the Great as Sherlock Holmes\n Fozzie Bear as Dr. Watson\n Kermit the Frog as Inspector Lestrade\n Miss Piggy as Irene Adler, Nurse Placibo, various female leads\n Janice as Helen Stoneleigh\n Rowlf the Dog as Mycroft Holmes\n Wayne as Julia Stoneleigh's fiancé\n Bunsen Honeydew\n Beaker\n Wanda as Julia Stoneleigh\n Wolfgang the Seal from Sesame Street\n Angus McGonagle\n Rizzo the Rat as Dr. Roylott\n Nigel the Conductor as Dr. Roylott's butler\n Link Hogthrob as Duke Wilhelm Ornstein\n Pepe the King Prawn as Jabes Wilson\n Uncle Deadly as Duncan Ross/Professor James Moriarty\n Sam Eagle as Mr. Musgrove\n Bean Bunny as Spaulding\n\nCameo appearances by Animal, Floyd Pepper, Mahna Mahna, and Scooter and Skeeter.\n\nReception\nDan Crown of IGN gave the first issue an 8.2 out of ten, saying \"The idea of using a sketch comedy show as a vehicle for various and unique comic strips is borderline inspired. This book isn't just funny, in some ways it's revolutionary.\"\n\nEye on Comics gave the first issue a 9/10.\n\nSee also\n List of comics based on television programs\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n The Muppet Show Comic Book #1 at BOOM! Studios.com\n \n Welcoming the Muppets Back to Comics, Newsarama, January 27, 2009\n \n \n\nComics based on television series\nBoom! Studios titles\nThe Muppets"
]
|
[
"Miss Piggy",
"Relationship with Kermit",
"When did Miss PIggy meet kermit?",
"Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed."
]
| C_366ae5cb63534f22aef64cc18e9516ba_1 | What kind of relationship did they have? | 2 | What kind of relationship did Miss Piggy and Kermit have? | Miss Piggy | Since the debut of The Muppet Show, the romantic relationship between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog has been subject to substantial coverage and commentary by the media. Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings. Eventually, in the films, Kermit began returning her affections and even (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan. However, subsequent events suggest that the marriage was simply fictional. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 years (1986) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted and the two get married again in this film. Miss Piggy and Kermit formally ended their romantic relationship on May 10, 1990. The decision was made by Jim Henson Productions and a publicity campaign titled "The Pig of the Nineties" was scheduled to follow. An autobiography of Piggy was expected to be published as part of the effort. However, shortly after the announcement on May 16, Jim Henson died and the campaign was dropped altogether. The two eventually resumed their relationship. In 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their romantic relationship for a second time. Some commentators said the relationship should end permanently since she regularly abused him. "In the end, it's better for everyone that Kermit and Piggy have gone their separate ways. For the frog, it means the end of a long, abusive relationship," wrote Noah Berlatsky in The New Republic. "Kermit continually lives in fear of his girlfriend, knowing that even simple misunderstandings or slips of the tongue will result in Miss Piggy erupting like a porcine Vesuvius," dating coach Harris O'Malley wrote in The Daily Dot. "On at least three separate incidents, she attempts to coerce Kermit into a relationship, beating him when he refuses. Other times she reacts with violence and rage whenever Kermit commits the 'sin' of breaking up with her, simply hugging a friend, talking to a woman, or even just standing too close to them." CANNOTANSWER | Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings. | Miss Piggy is a Muppet character known for her breakout role in Jim Henson's The Muppet Show. Since her debut in 1976, Miss Piggy has been notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, tendency to use French phrases in her speech, and practice of karate. She was also known for her on-again/off-again relationship with Kermit the Frog, which began in 1976 and ended in 2015. Frank Oz performed the character from 1976 to 2000, 2002 and was succeeded by Eric Jacobson in 2001.
Miss Piggy was inspired by jazz singer Peggy Lee.
In 1996, TV Guide ranked her number 23 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll in the UK, Miss Piggy was ranked 29th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In 1996, a cook book entitled In the Kitchen With Miss Piggy: Fabulous Recipes from My Famous Celebrity Friends by Moi was released.
Characterization
Origins and description
In a 1979 interview with The New York Times, performer Frank Oz outlined Piggy's biography: "She grew up in a small town (most likely Keystone, Iowa); her father died when she was young and her mother wasn't that nice to her. She had to enter beauty contests to survive, as many single women do. She has a lot of vulnerability which she has to hide, because of her need to be a superstar". During development of The Muppet Show, Oz assigned a hook for each Muppet he performed; Miss Piggy's hook was a "truck driver wanting to be a woman". Oz has also stated that while Fozzie Bear is a two-dimensional character and Animal has no dimensions, Miss Piggy is one of the few Muppet characters to be fully realized in three dimensions.
Piggy, truly a diva in a class of her own, is convinced she is destined for stardom, and nothing will stand in her way. She has a capricious nature, at times determined to (and often succeeding in) conveying an image of feminine charm, but suddenly flying into a violent rage (accompanied by her trademark karate chop and "hi-yah!") whenever she thinks someone has insulted or thwarted her. Kermit the Frog has learned this all too well; when she is not smothering him in kisses, she is sending him flying through the air with a karate chop.
She loves wearing long gloves; Hildegarde, who used to wear them, once said, "Miss Piggy stole the gloves idea from me”.
Relationship with Kermit
Since the debut of The Muppet Show, the romantic relationship between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog has been subject to substantial coverage and commentary by the media. Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings. Eventually, in the films, Kermit began returning her affections and even (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan. However, subsequent events suggest that the marriage was simply fictional. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (1986) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted.
Miss Piggy and Kermit formally ended their romantic relationship on May 10, 1990. The decision was made by Jim Henson Productions and a publicity campaign titled "The Pig of the Nineties" was scheduled to follow. An autobiography of Piggy was expected to be published as part of the effort. However, shortly after the announcement on May 16, Jim Henson died and the campaign was dropped altogether. The two eventually resumed their relationship.
In 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their romantic relationship for a second time.
Performers
Frank Oz was Miss Piggy's principal performer from her early appearances on The Muppet Show until his departure from the cast in 2000; his last known performance as Piggy was an appearance on The Today Show. Oz's earliest known performance as Piggy was actually in a 1974 appearance on The Tonight Show. Richard Hunt occasionally performed Miss Piggy during the first season of The Muppet Show, alternating with Oz. In 2002, Eric Jacobson was cast as the new performer of Miss Piggy, and his first public debut as the character was performed via satellite at the 2001 MuppetFest. Jacobson has remained Piggy's principal performer since then, openly describing the role as "one of the most famous drag acts in the business."
During Oz's tenure as the character, other performers would step in. Jerry Nelson performed Piggy in 1974 for a brief appearance on Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. Fran Brill performed Piggy for The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, a pilot for The Muppet Show. Kevin Clash and Peter Linz puppeteered Piggy for most of the filming of Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets from Space, respectively, with Oz dubbing in Piggy's voice in post production. Victor Yerrid briefly performed Piggy in Muppets Ahoy!, a 2006 stage show for the Disney Cruise Line. In Muppet Babies, Piggy's voice was provided by voice actress Laurie O'Brien. Voice actor Hal Rayle provided her voice for a short-lived spin-off series, Little Muppet Monsters. Melanie Harrison voices Baby Piggy on the 2018 reboot of Muppet Babies.
History
The first known appearance of Miss Piggy was on the Herb Alpert television special Herb Alpert and the TJB, broadcast on October 13, 1974, on ABC. Miss Piggy's voice was noticeably more demure and soft, singing with Herb, "I Can't Give You Anything but Love." The first draft of the puppet was an unnamed blonde, beady-eyed pig who appeared briefly in the 1975 pilot special The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, in a sketch called "Return to Beneath the Planet of the Pigs." She was unnamed in that show, but by the time The Muppet Show began in 1976, she had assumed something resembling her classic look—a pig with large blue eyes, a flowing silver gown, satin white long gloves, blue sheer shawl, and a hopelessly romantic persona.
The Muppet Show
Miss Piggy began as a minor chorus pig on The Muppet Show, but gradually developed into one of the central characters of the series, as the writers and producers of The Muppet Show recognized that a lovelorn pig could be more than a one-note running gag. She spawned a huge fad during the late 1970s and early 1980s and eclipsed Kermit and the other Muppets in popularity at that time, selling far more merchandise and writing a book entitled Miss Piggy's Guide to Life that, unlike any of Kermit's books, wound up on top of the New York Times Bestseller List.
Miss Piggy's personality and voice were seen and heard in other female characters performed by Frank Oz before the character's debut. For instance, a Sesame Street Muppet skit from 1971 featured Snow White performed by Frank Oz and acting (as well as sounding) like Miss Piggy. Another sound-alike came from a contestant in a Guy Smiley sketch called "The Mystery Mix-Up Game".
In The Muppet Show episode 106, Piggy is referred to by the full name "Piggy Lee" and in episode 116, Piggy tells guest star Avery Schreiber that Piggy is short for "Pigathius", "from the Greek, meaning "river of passion". Also during the Jim Nabors episode when asked what (astrological) sign she was born under she replied that she was not born under a sign, she was born over one, "Becker's Butcher shop". She portrayed "Wonder Pig", a spoof of Wonder Woman in episode 419 while Lynda Carter sang "The Rubberband Man" and "Orange Colored Sky".
Foo-Foo
In the series, Miss Piggy owned a pet; a white Toy poodle dog named Foo-Foo (performed by Steve Whitmire) who is one of the few characters that does not speak. Piggy is often seen as very tender towards her, although to the point of sickly saccharine baby talk. On The Muppet Show, Foo-Foo was portrayed as both a muppet and a real dog in different shots. Foo-Foo mostly appears as a sidekick to Miss Piggy in most movies and specials.
Films and television series
Miss Piggy has appeared in all the Muppet films and television series following The Muppet Show. In The Muppet Movie, she has just won a beauty contest when she first meets Kermit and joins the Muppets. In The Great Muppet Caper, Miss Piggy plays an aspiring fashion model who gets caught up in a screwball-comedy misunderstanding involving a gang of jewel thieves. Piggy proves she has a talent for tap dancing, seemingly without knowing it. She and Kermit also kiss (on the lips, yet slightly covered) while Miss Piggy is a prisoner in jail; Miss Piggy ends up wearing Kermit's fake mustache, while Kermit has X-marks on his upper lip.
Eventually, in the films, Kermit started returning her affections and (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan, though subsequent events suggest that it was only their characters in the movie that married, and that their relationship is really the same as ever. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (which taped in 1985) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This special aired two years after The Muppets Take Manhattan. This is really the only indication outside of a movie that Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog were married. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted and the two get married again in this film.
In The Muppet Christmas Carol, she appears as Mrs. Cratchit, to Kermit's Bob Cratchit.
In Muppet Treasure Island, the part of crazed Ben Gunn was adapted to fit Miss Piggy, and "Benjamina" Gunn was revealed to be Captain Smollett's (played by Kermit) former lover. The two share a tender moment dueting on "Love Led Us Here".
Her part is significant but supporting in Muppets from Space, as the plucky news reporter eager to scoop the news on her friend Gonzo's bizarre alien encounters.
In the TV-movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, a take on the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life, the characters are seen in an alternate universe, one without Kermit. Miss Piggy becomes a spinster cat lady, doing "psychic" readings on the phone.
In The Muppets, Miss Piggy is shown to be residing in Paris, having become the plus-size editor for Vogue after the Muppets disbanded, and after she left Kermit in Los Angeles and run off with a wealthy lynx.
In Muppets Most Wanted, having rejoined the Muppets on a global tour, she nearly marries Constantine in London, after he poses as Kermit.
In the TV series The Muppets, Miss Piggy hosts the late-night talk show Up Late with Miss Piggy.
In Muppets Now, she hosts the segment "Lifesty(le) with Miss Piggy".
In Muppets Haunted Mansion, she appears as herself dressed as Kermit for Halloween (with Kermit dressed as Piggy) and later appears as Madame Pigota.
Other appearances
In 1987, Miss Piggy was a guest star on Dolly Parton's musical variety show, Dolly, singing and performing with Parton, while at the same time secretly attempting to steal the show from her host, mostly by sabotaging Parton's musical segments and attempting to trick producers into giving her more solo spots. Parton, annoyed at being undermined by Miss Piggy, told another of her guests, Juice Newton, that they might be "having ham sandwiches after the show".
Miss Piggy sang with the Jonas Brothers as "Joan S. Jonas", with Ashley Tisdale during the number "Bop to the Top", and with the Cheetah Girls performing "Dance Me If You Can" as a part of Studio DC: Almost Live. A running gag from those first two episodes involved Miss Piggy looking for "Zacky" Efron. Miss Piggy made a special guest appearance on Take Two with Phineas and Ferb and sang "Spa Day" with Phineas and Ferb.
Miss Piggy made a number of appearances in 2011 and 2012 to promote The Muppets. Miss Piggy made a special guest appearance on the Disney Channel Original Series So Random! alongside Sterling Knight (who made a special cameo appearance on The Muppets). She was the first guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno November 4, 2011, appeared on Chelsea Lately on November 21, 2011, and sang "Dance with Me Tonight" with Olly Murs on the UK The X Factor on November 27, 2011. On November 19, 2011, Miss Piggy, alongside her fellow Muppets and Jason Segel, participated in the opening monologue of Saturday Night Live by singing "I Can't Believe I'm Hosting SNL".
Miss Piggy and her fellow Muppets made a guest appearance on the Halloween 2011 episode of WWE Raw.
In an episode aired January 19, 2012, Miss Piggy appeared on Project Runway: All Stars Season 1 as a guest judge for clothes designed for her character in the movie. She also appeared on the British morning breakfast show This Morning alongside Kermit, Rizzo, and Beaker. On February 9, 2012, Miss Piggy appeared on Lawro's Predictions on BBC Football's website to predict the coming week's Premier League matches. Along with Kermit the Frog, they made only three predictions including a 63–25 win for Liverpool against Manchester United. She also starred in E! Fashion Police.
On Friday, March 15, 2013, Miss Piggy appeared on the UK telethon Comic Relief to reveal the cash total and introduce boy band One Direction. She was in Dream House 2013. On December 6, 2013, she performed 'Somethin' Stupid' alongside Robbie Williams at the London Palladium. In 2015, Miss Piggy received a Sackler Center First Award from the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. An essay was written for Time magazine as if by Miss Piggy, titled "Why I Am a Feminist Pig", explaining why she deserved the award.
In 2014, Miss Piggy appeared in an advertisement for Wonderful Pistachios.
Miss Piggy had her own luxury brand featured on QVC, "Moi by Miss Piggy". The name had previously been used by a perfume released in 1998.
Albums
The Muppet Movie (soundtrack) (1979)
The Great Muppet Caper (soundtrack) (1981)
The Muppets Take Manhattan (soundtrack) (1984)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (soundtrack) (1992)
Muppet Treasure Island (soundtrack) (1996)
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (soundtrack) (2005)
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (soundtrack) (2008)
The Muppets (soundtrack) (2011)
Muppets Most Wanted (soundtrack) (2014)
Filmography
The Muppet Show (1976–1981) (TV)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
Muppet Babies (1984–1991) (TV)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) – Appearance as Emily Cratchit
Muppet Treasure Island (1996) – Appearance as Benjamina Gunn
Muppets Tonight (1996–1998) (TV)
Muppets from Space (1999)
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) (TV)
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005) (TV) – Appearance as Herself and the Wicked Witch of the West, Good Witch of the North, Glinda the Good Witch, Wicked Witch of the East
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008) (TV)
Studio DC: Almost Live (2008) (TV)
The Muppets (2011)
Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular (2013) (TV)
Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
The Muppets (2015–2016) (TV)
Muppet Babies (2018–present) (TV)
Muppets Now (2020) (Disney+)
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2021) (Paramount+)
References
External links
at Disney.com
Tough Pigs: Transcripts of Miss Piggy and Kermit interviews
The Muppets characters
Fictional pigs
Fictional actors
Fictional characters from Iowa
Fictional feminists and women's rights activists
Fictional singers
Fictional models
Fictional beauty queens
Fictional television personalities
Fictional karateka
Television characters introduced in 1974
Female characters in television | true | [
"Charmers were English practitioners of a specific kind of folk magic, specialising in supernatural healing. Other folk magic traditions include those of the cunning folk, the toad doctors and the girdle-measurers.\n\nThe charming tradition is quite distinct from others, being based either on the charmer's possession of inherent healing ability by 'laying on of hands', or ownership of an object that had healing properties or possession of a charm or charms in verse, typically deriving from Biblical sources genuine or apocryphal. \nThe latter is the most common source of healing power among charmers.\n\nCharmers differ from cunning folk in two principal ways. They usually refused to charge a fee for their services (even refusing verbal thanks) though they did accept gifts in kind. They also did not attempt to heal those who believed themselves to be suffering from the effects of witchcraft or demonic possession. They restricted themselves to healing natural ailments, such as snakebite, toothache or burns. They would occasionally augment their charming with herbalism.\n\n\"There was no ambiguity about what charmers did. They were merely custodians of a God-given gift, not masters of equivocal magical forces. Consequently, people did not prosecute charmers as they did cunning-folk: there was little to accuse them of, as they imposed no charges and they did not provide faulty diagnoses since they did not diagnose.\"\n\nReferences\n\nEnglish folklore",
"\"Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House\" is a song co-written by Warren Haynes, Dennis Robbins and Bobby Boyd. It was originally recorded by Robbins himself in 1987 for MCA Records and charted at number 71 on the Billboard country charts. The B-side to Robbins' version was \"The Church on Cumberland Road,\" which was later a number one hit in 1989 for Shenandoah.\n\nThe song was later recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks for his album No Fences in 1991. His rendition was released as the album's third single and his fifth consecutive number one hit.\n\nContent\nThe song is a moderate up-tempo with a fiddle intro. Its lyrics describe the relationship between the narrator and his wife, whom he considers a perfect complement. The title is a double entendre, using poker hands to describe how well the couple complements each other, and that they plan to have children.\n\nIn his book Redneck Liberation: Country Music as Theology, author David Fillingim cited \"Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House\" as an \"upbeat honky-tonk romp\" that showed his \"more traditional country music styles\".\n\nBackground and Production\n\nGarth Brooks Version\nGarth provided the following background information on the song in the CD booklet liner notes from The Hits:\n\nThis song came to me through Jon Northrup. He was doing a demo deal, and \"Two of a Kind\" was one of the four songs he was pitching for a demo. When I heard it, I said, \"I wish you all the luck on your deal, but if for some reason it falls through, I'd love to have this.\" He called me three months later and told me I could have it if I wanted it. I immediately cut it. And to this day, even though it's a small, light-hearted song, it's one of the strongest parts of our live show. People just seem to connect with this song. This is a big point to writers and artists out there, especially myself, that sometimes intense gets the point across, but don't forget to show 'em your sense of humor.\n\nDennis Robbins Version\nDennis Robbins provided some background information about the song while on an interview on the Paul Leslie Hour:\n\nI did Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House on MCA. It charted, it got to around 62 on the chart and that dropped off. And I got a call one night from this guy and he said: “You don’t know me but my name is Garth Brooks. And I just got a record deal on Capitol Records and I heard a song that’s the best song I’ve heard since I’ve been in Nashville called “Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House”. And I was wondering if you’d put it on hold for me.” And I said: “Well, I’ll tell you what, you know I gave that song to Shenandoah, they just a number one, we had a number on hit with “The Church on Cumberland Road” and they called me for some more songs and that was one of the songs that I gave Marty Raybon with Shenandoah.” And so I said: “I tell you what, they should have let me know something by now and if you call me back tomorrow night about this time, I’ll find out tomorrow and I’ll have an answer for you tomorrow night if they’re gonna use that song or not.” And so I called Marty the next day and I asked him: “Hey, what’s up with the song? I mean are you guys thinking you’re gonna do it”? And he said: “Well Dennis we talked to our producer and we made a deal and an agreement with him that we weren’t gonna, you know we would have to listen to him when it came to picking the songs to record and he told us when he heard that song: “We’re not doing any Hank Williams sounding songs.” So I’m sorry, but we’re gonna have to pass on that.” And I said: “Okay man, well that’s fine.” And of course later on that night I got a callback from Garth and he asked me: “What did you found out about the song”? And I said: “Yeah, you got it and I won’t pitch it to anybody and I hope you have better luck with it than I did.” And he did that song pretty much, you can listen if you ever heard my version of it, he did it pretty much like the way I did it. So I was really impressed with it. I love his version of it, it was awesome.\n\nChart positions\n\nDennis Robbins Version\n\nGarth Brooks Version\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n1987 singles\n1991 singles\n1987 songs\nDennis Robbins songs\nGarth Brooks songs\nSongs written by Dennis Robbins\nSong recordings produced by Allen Reynolds\nMCA Records singles\nCapitol Records Nashville singles\nSongs written by Bobby Boyd (songwriter)"
]
|
[
"Miss Piggy",
"Relationship with Kermit",
"When did Miss PIggy meet kermit?",
"Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed.",
"What kind of relationship did they have?",
"Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings."
]
| C_366ae5cb63534f22aef64cc18e9516ba_1 | What did Miss Piggy think of this? | 3 | What did Miss Piggy think of Kermit rebuffing her feelings? | Miss Piggy | Since the debut of The Muppet Show, the romantic relationship between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog has been subject to substantial coverage and commentary by the media. Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings. Eventually, in the films, Kermit began returning her affections and even (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan. However, subsequent events suggest that the marriage was simply fictional. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 years (1986) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted and the two get married again in this film. Miss Piggy and Kermit formally ended their romantic relationship on May 10, 1990. The decision was made by Jim Henson Productions and a publicity campaign titled "The Pig of the Nineties" was scheduled to follow. An autobiography of Piggy was expected to be published as part of the effort. However, shortly after the announcement on May 16, Jim Henson died and the campaign was dropped altogether. The two eventually resumed their relationship. In 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their romantic relationship for a second time. Some commentators said the relationship should end permanently since she regularly abused him. "In the end, it's better for everyone that Kermit and Piggy have gone their separate ways. For the frog, it means the end of a long, abusive relationship," wrote Noah Berlatsky in The New Republic. "Kermit continually lives in fear of his girlfriend, knowing that even simple misunderstandings or slips of the tongue will result in Miss Piggy erupting like a porcine Vesuvius," dating coach Harris O'Malley wrote in The Daily Dot. "On at least three separate incidents, she attempts to coerce Kermit into a relationship, beating him when he refuses. Other times she reacts with violence and rage whenever Kermit commits the 'sin' of breaking up with her, simply hugging a friend, talking to a woman, or even just standing too close to them." CANNOTANSWER | On at least three separate incidents, she attempts to coerce Kermit into a relationship, beating him when he refuses. | Miss Piggy is a Muppet character known for her breakout role in Jim Henson's The Muppet Show. Since her debut in 1976, Miss Piggy has been notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, tendency to use French phrases in her speech, and practice of karate. She was also known for her on-again/off-again relationship with Kermit the Frog, which began in 1976 and ended in 2015. Frank Oz performed the character from 1976 to 2000, 2002 and was succeeded by Eric Jacobson in 2001.
Miss Piggy was inspired by jazz singer Peggy Lee.
In 1996, TV Guide ranked her number 23 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll in the UK, Miss Piggy was ranked 29th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In 1996, a cook book entitled In the Kitchen With Miss Piggy: Fabulous Recipes from My Famous Celebrity Friends by Moi was released.
Characterization
Origins and description
In a 1979 interview with The New York Times, performer Frank Oz outlined Piggy's biography: "She grew up in a small town (most likely Keystone, Iowa); her father died when she was young and her mother wasn't that nice to her. She had to enter beauty contests to survive, as many single women do. She has a lot of vulnerability which she has to hide, because of her need to be a superstar". During development of The Muppet Show, Oz assigned a hook for each Muppet he performed; Miss Piggy's hook was a "truck driver wanting to be a woman". Oz has also stated that while Fozzie Bear is a two-dimensional character and Animal has no dimensions, Miss Piggy is one of the few Muppet characters to be fully realized in three dimensions.
Piggy, truly a diva in a class of her own, is convinced she is destined for stardom, and nothing will stand in her way. She has a capricious nature, at times determined to (and often succeeding in) conveying an image of feminine charm, but suddenly flying into a violent rage (accompanied by her trademark karate chop and "hi-yah!") whenever she thinks someone has insulted or thwarted her. Kermit the Frog has learned this all too well; when she is not smothering him in kisses, she is sending him flying through the air with a karate chop.
She loves wearing long gloves; Hildegarde, who used to wear them, once said, "Miss Piggy stole the gloves idea from me”.
Relationship with Kermit
Since the debut of The Muppet Show, the romantic relationship between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog has been subject to substantial coverage and commentary by the media. Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings. Eventually, in the films, Kermit began returning her affections and even (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan. However, subsequent events suggest that the marriage was simply fictional. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (1986) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted.
Miss Piggy and Kermit formally ended their romantic relationship on May 10, 1990. The decision was made by Jim Henson Productions and a publicity campaign titled "The Pig of the Nineties" was scheduled to follow. An autobiography of Piggy was expected to be published as part of the effort. However, shortly after the announcement on May 16, Jim Henson died and the campaign was dropped altogether. The two eventually resumed their relationship.
In 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their romantic relationship for a second time.
Performers
Frank Oz was Miss Piggy's principal performer from her early appearances on The Muppet Show until his departure from the cast in 2000; his last known performance as Piggy was an appearance on The Today Show. Oz's earliest known performance as Piggy was actually in a 1974 appearance on The Tonight Show. Richard Hunt occasionally performed Miss Piggy during the first season of The Muppet Show, alternating with Oz. In 2002, Eric Jacobson was cast as the new performer of Miss Piggy, and his first public debut as the character was performed via satellite at the 2001 MuppetFest. Jacobson has remained Piggy's principal performer since then, openly describing the role as "one of the most famous drag acts in the business."
During Oz's tenure as the character, other performers would step in. Jerry Nelson performed Piggy in 1974 for a brief appearance on Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. Fran Brill performed Piggy for The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, a pilot for The Muppet Show. Kevin Clash and Peter Linz puppeteered Piggy for most of the filming of Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets from Space, respectively, with Oz dubbing in Piggy's voice in post production. Victor Yerrid briefly performed Piggy in Muppets Ahoy!, a 2006 stage show for the Disney Cruise Line. In Muppet Babies, Piggy's voice was provided by voice actress Laurie O'Brien. Voice actor Hal Rayle provided her voice for a short-lived spin-off series, Little Muppet Monsters. Melanie Harrison voices Baby Piggy on the 2018 reboot of Muppet Babies.
History
The first known appearance of Miss Piggy was on the Herb Alpert television special Herb Alpert and the TJB, broadcast on October 13, 1974, on ABC. Miss Piggy's voice was noticeably more demure and soft, singing with Herb, "I Can't Give You Anything but Love." The first draft of the puppet was an unnamed blonde, beady-eyed pig who appeared briefly in the 1975 pilot special The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, in a sketch called "Return to Beneath the Planet of the Pigs." She was unnamed in that show, but by the time The Muppet Show began in 1976, she had assumed something resembling her classic look—a pig with large blue eyes, a flowing silver gown, satin white long gloves, blue sheer shawl, and a hopelessly romantic persona.
The Muppet Show
Miss Piggy began as a minor chorus pig on The Muppet Show, but gradually developed into one of the central characters of the series, as the writers and producers of The Muppet Show recognized that a lovelorn pig could be more than a one-note running gag. She spawned a huge fad during the late 1970s and early 1980s and eclipsed Kermit and the other Muppets in popularity at that time, selling far more merchandise and writing a book entitled Miss Piggy's Guide to Life that, unlike any of Kermit's books, wound up on top of the New York Times Bestseller List.
Miss Piggy's personality and voice were seen and heard in other female characters performed by Frank Oz before the character's debut. For instance, a Sesame Street Muppet skit from 1971 featured Snow White performed by Frank Oz and acting (as well as sounding) like Miss Piggy. Another sound-alike came from a contestant in a Guy Smiley sketch called "The Mystery Mix-Up Game".
In The Muppet Show episode 106, Piggy is referred to by the full name "Piggy Lee" and in episode 116, Piggy tells guest star Avery Schreiber that Piggy is short for "Pigathius", "from the Greek, meaning "river of passion". Also during the Jim Nabors episode when asked what (astrological) sign she was born under she replied that she was not born under a sign, she was born over one, "Becker's Butcher shop". She portrayed "Wonder Pig", a spoof of Wonder Woman in episode 419 while Lynda Carter sang "The Rubberband Man" and "Orange Colored Sky".
Foo-Foo
In the series, Miss Piggy owned a pet; a white Toy poodle dog named Foo-Foo (performed by Steve Whitmire) who is one of the few characters that does not speak. Piggy is often seen as very tender towards her, although to the point of sickly saccharine baby talk. On The Muppet Show, Foo-Foo was portrayed as both a muppet and a real dog in different shots. Foo-Foo mostly appears as a sidekick to Miss Piggy in most movies and specials.
Films and television series
Miss Piggy has appeared in all the Muppet films and television series following The Muppet Show. In The Muppet Movie, she has just won a beauty contest when she first meets Kermit and joins the Muppets. In The Great Muppet Caper, Miss Piggy plays an aspiring fashion model who gets caught up in a screwball-comedy misunderstanding involving a gang of jewel thieves. Piggy proves she has a talent for tap dancing, seemingly without knowing it. She and Kermit also kiss (on the lips, yet slightly covered) while Miss Piggy is a prisoner in jail; Miss Piggy ends up wearing Kermit's fake mustache, while Kermit has X-marks on his upper lip.
Eventually, in the films, Kermit started returning her affections and (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan, though subsequent events suggest that it was only their characters in the movie that married, and that their relationship is really the same as ever. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (which taped in 1985) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This special aired two years after The Muppets Take Manhattan. This is really the only indication outside of a movie that Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog were married. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted and the two get married again in this film.
In The Muppet Christmas Carol, she appears as Mrs. Cratchit, to Kermit's Bob Cratchit.
In Muppet Treasure Island, the part of crazed Ben Gunn was adapted to fit Miss Piggy, and "Benjamina" Gunn was revealed to be Captain Smollett's (played by Kermit) former lover. The two share a tender moment dueting on "Love Led Us Here".
Her part is significant but supporting in Muppets from Space, as the plucky news reporter eager to scoop the news on her friend Gonzo's bizarre alien encounters.
In the TV-movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, a take on the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life, the characters are seen in an alternate universe, one without Kermit. Miss Piggy becomes a spinster cat lady, doing "psychic" readings on the phone.
In The Muppets, Miss Piggy is shown to be residing in Paris, having become the plus-size editor for Vogue after the Muppets disbanded, and after she left Kermit in Los Angeles and run off with a wealthy lynx.
In Muppets Most Wanted, having rejoined the Muppets on a global tour, she nearly marries Constantine in London, after he poses as Kermit.
In the TV series The Muppets, Miss Piggy hosts the late-night talk show Up Late with Miss Piggy.
In Muppets Now, she hosts the segment "Lifesty(le) with Miss Piggy".
In Muppets Haunted Mansion, she appears as herself dressed as Kermit for Halloween (with Kermit dressed as Piggy) and later appears as Madame Pigota.
Other appearances
In 1987, Miss Piggy was a guest star on Dolly Parton's musical variety show, Dolly, singing and performing with Parton, while at the same time secretly attempting to steal the show from her host, mostly by sabotaging Parton's musical segments and attempting to trick producers into giving her more solo spots. Parton, annoyed at being undermined by Miss Piggy, told another of her guests, Juice Newton, that they might be "having ham sandwiches after the show".
Miss Piggy sang with the Jonas Brothers as "Joan S. Jonas", with Ashley Tisdale during the number "Bop to the Top", and with the Cheetah Girls performing "Dance Me If You Can" as a part of Studio DC: Almost Live. A running gag from those first two episodes involved Miss Piggy looking for "Zacky" Efron. Miss Piggy made a special guest appearance on Take Two with Phineas and Ferb and sang "Spa Day" with Phineas and Ferb.
Miss Piggy made a number of appearances in 2011 and 2012 to promote The Muppets. Miss Piggy made a special guest appearance on the Disney Channel Original Series So Random! alongside Sterling Knight (who made a special cameo appearance on The Muppets). She was the first guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno November 4, 2011, appeared on Chelsea Lately on November 21, 2011, and sang "Dance with Me Tonight" with Olly Murs on the UK The X Factor on November 27, 2011. On November 19, 2011, Miss Piggy, alongside her fellow Muppets and Jason Segel, participated in the opening monologue of Saturday Night Live by singing "I Can't Believe I'm Hosting SNL".
Miss Piggy and her fellow Muppets made a guest appearance on the Halloween 2011 episode of WWE Raw.
In an episode aired January 19, 2012, Miss Piggy appeared on Project Runway: All Stars Season 1 as a guest judge for clothes designed for her character in the movie. She also appeared on the British morning breakfast show This Morning alongside Kermit, Rizzo, and Beaker. On February 9, 2012, Miss Piggy appeared on Lawro's Predictions on BBC Football's website to predict the coming week's Premier League matches. Along with Kermit the Frog, they made only three predictions including a 63–25 win for Liverpool against Manchester United. She also starred in E! Fashion Police.
On Friday, March 15, 2013, Miss Piggy appeared on the UK telethon Comic Relief to reveal the cash total and introduce boy band One Direction. She was in Dream House 2013. On December 6, 2013, she performed 'Somethin' Stupid' alongside Robbie Williams at the London Palladium. In 2015, Miss Piggy received a Sackler Center First Award from the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. An essay was written for Time magazine as if by Miss Piggy, titled "Why I Am a Feminist Pig", explaining why she deserved the award.
In 2014, Miss Piggy appeared in an advertisement for Wonderful Pistachios.
Miss Piggy had her own luxury brand featured on QVC, "Moi by Miss Piggy". The name had previously been used by a perfume released in 1998.
Albums
The Muppet Movie (soundtrack) (1979)
The Great Muppet Caper (soundtrack) (1981)
The Muppets Take Manhattan (soundtrack) (1984)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (soundtrack) (1992)
Muppet Treasure Island (soundtrack) (1996)
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (soundtrack) (2005)
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (soundtrack) (2008)
The Muppets (soundtrack) (2011)
Muppets Most Wanted (soundtrack) (2014)
Filmography
The Muppet Show (1976–1981) (TV)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
Muppet Babies (1984–1991) (TV)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) – Appearance as Emily Cratchit
Muppet Treasure Island (1996) – Appearance as Benjamina Gunn
Muppets Tonight (1996–1998) (TV)
Muppets from Space (1999)
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) (TV)
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005) (TV) – Appearance as Herself and the Wicked Witch of the West, Good Witch of the North, Glinda the Good Witch, Wicked Witch of the East
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008) (TV)
Studio DC: Almost Live (2008) (TV)
The Muppets (2011)
Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular (2013) (TV)
Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
The Muppets (2015–2016) (TV)
Muppet Babies (2018–present) (TV)
Muppets Now (2020) (Disney+)
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2021) (Paramount+)
References
External links
at Disney.com
Tough Pigs: Transcripts of Miss Piggy and Kermit interviews
The Muppets characters
Fictional pigs
Fictional actors
Fictional characters from Iowa
Fictional feminists and women's rights activists
Fictional singers
Fictional models
Fictional beauty queens
Fictional television personalities
Fictional karateka
Television characters introduced in 1974
Female characters in television | false | [
"Miss Piggy is a Muppet character known for her breakout role in Jim Henson's The Muppet Show. Since her debut in 1976, Miss Piggy has been notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, tendency to use French phrases in her speech, and practice of karate. She was also known for her on-again/off-again relationship with Kermit the Frog, which began in 1976 and ended in 2015. Frank Oz performed the character from 1976 to 2000, 2002 and was succeeded by Eric Jacobson in 2001.\nMiss Piggy was inspired by jazz singer Peggy Lee.\n\nIn 1996, TV Guide ranked her number 23 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll in the UK, Miss Piggy was ranked 29th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In 1996, a cook book entitled In the Kitchen With Miss Piggy: Fabulous Recipes from My Famous Celebrity Friends by Moi was released.\n\nCharacterization\n\nOrigins and description\nIn a 1979 interview with The New York Times, performer Frank Oz outlined Piggy's biography: \"She grew up in a small town (most likely Keystone, Iowa); her father died when she was young and her mother wasn't that nice to her. She had to enter beauty contests to survive, as many single women do. She has a lot of vulnerability which she has to hide, because of her need to be a superstar\". During development of The Muppet Show, Oz assigned a hook for each Muppet he performed; Miss Piggy's hook was a \"truck driver wanting to be a woman\". Oz has also stated that while Fozzie Bear is a two-dimensional character and Animal has no dimensions, Miss Piggy is one of the few Muppet characters to be fully realized in three dimensions.\n\nPiggy, truly a diva in a class of her own, is convinced she is destined for stardom, and nothing will stand in her way. She has a capricious nature, at times determined to (and often succeeding in) conveying an image of feminine charm, but suddenly flying into a violent rage (accompanied by her trademark karate chop and \"hi-yah!\") whenever she thinks someone has insulted or thwarted her. Kermit the Frog has learned this all too well; when she is not smothering him in kisses, she is sending him flying through the air with a karate chop.\n\nShe loves wearing long gloves; Hildegarde, who used to wear them, once said, \"Miss Piggy stole the gloves idea from me”.\n\nRelationship with Kermit\nSince the debut of The Muppet Show, the romantic relationship between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog has been subject to substantial coverage and commentary by the media. Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings. Eventually, in the films, Kermit began returning her affections and even (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan. However, subsequent events suggest that the marriage was simply fictional. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (1986) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted.\n\nMiss Piggy and Kermit formally ended their romantic relationship on May 10, 1990. The decision was made by Jim Henson Productions and a publicity campaign titled \"The Pig of the Nineties\" was scheduled to follow. An autobiography of Piggy was expected to be published as part of the effort. However, shortly after the announcement on May 16, Jim Henson died and the campaign was dropped altogether. The two eventually resumed their relationship.\n\nIn 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their romantic relationship for a second time.\n\nPerformers\nFrank Oz was Miss Piggy's principal performer from her early appearances on The Muppet Show until his departure from the cast in 2000; his last known performance as Piggy was an appearance on The Today Show. Oz's earliest known performance as Piggy was actually in a 1974 appearance on The Tonight Show. Richard Hunt occasionally performed Miss Piggy during the first season of The Muppet Show, alternating with Oz. In 2002, Eric Jacobson was cast as the new performer of Miss Piggy, and his first public debut as the character was performed via satellite at the 2001 MuppetFest. Jacobson has remained Piggy's principal performer since then, openly describing the role as \"one of the most famous drag acts in the business.\"\n\nDuring Oz's tenure as the character, other performers would step in. Jerry Nelson performed Piggy in 1974 for a brief appearance on Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. Fran Brill performed Piggy for The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, a pilot for The Muppet Show. Kevin Clash and Peter Linz puppeteered Piggy for most of the filming of Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets from Space, respectively, with Oz dubbing in Piggy's voice in post production. Victor Yerrid briefly performed Piggy in Muppets Ahoy!, a 2006 stage show for the Disney Cruise Line. In Muppet Babies, Piggy's voice was provided by voice actress Laurie O'Brien. Voice actor Hal Rayle provided her voice for a short-lived spin-off series, Little Muppet Monsters. Melanie Harrison voices Baby Piggy on the 2018 reboot of Muppet Babies.\n\nHistory\nThe first known appearance of Miss Piggy was on the Herb Alpert television special Herb Alpert and the TJB, broadcast on October 13, 1974, on ABC. Miss Piggy's voice was noticeably more demure and soft, singing with Herb, \"I Can't Give You Anything but Love.\" The first draft of the puppet was an unnamed blonde, beady-eyed pig who appeared briefly in the 1975 pilot special The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, in a sketch called \"Return to Beneath the Planet of the Pigs.\" She was unnamed in that show, but by the time The Muppet Show began in 1976, she had assumed something resembling her classic look—a pig with large blue eyes, a flowing silver gown, satin white long gloves, blue sheer shawl, and a hopelessly romantic persona.\n\nThe Muppet Show\nMiss Piggy began as a minor chorus pig on The Muppet Show, but gradually developed into one of the central characters of the series, as the writers and producers of The Muppet Show recognized that a lovelorn pig could be more than a one-note running gag. She spawned a huge fad during the late 1970s and early 1980s and eclipsed Kermit and the other Muppets in popularity at that time, selling far more merchandise and writing a book entitled Miss Piggy's Guide to Life that, unlike any of Kermit's books, wound up on top of the New York Times Bestseller List.\n\nMiss Piggy's personality and voice were seen and heard in other female characters performed by Frank Oz before the character's debut. For instance, a Sesame Street Muppet skit from 1971 featured Snow White performed by Frank Oz and acting (as well as sounding) like Miss Piggy. Another sound-alike came from a contestant in a Guy Smiley sketch called \"The Mystery Mix-Up Game\".\n\nIn The Muppet Show episode 106, Piggy is referred to by the full name \"Piggy Lee\" and in episode 116, Piggy tells guest star Avery Schreiber that Piggy is short for \"Pigathius\", \"from the Greek, meaning \"river of passion\". Also during the Jim Nabors episode when asked what (astrological) sign she was born under she replied that she was not born under a sign, she was born over one, \"Becker's Butcher shop\". She portrayed \"Wonder Pig\", a spoof of Wonder Woman in episode 419 while Lynda Carter sang \"The Rubberband Man\" and \"Orange Colored Sky\".\n\nFoo-Foo\nIn the series, Miss Piggy owned a pet; a white Toy poodle dog named Foo-Foo (performed by Steve Whitmire) who is one of the few characters that does not speak. Piggy is often seen as very tender towards her, although to the point of sickly saccharine baby talk. On The Muppet Show, Foo-Foo was portrayed as both a muppet and a real dog in different shots. Foo-Foo mostly appears as a sidekick to Miss Piggy in most movies and specials.\n\nFilms and television series\nMiss Piggy has appeared in all the Muppet films and television series following The Muppet Show. In The Muppet Movie, she has just won a beauty contest when she first meets Kermit and joins the Muppets. In The Great Muppet Caper, Miss Piggy plays an aspiring fashion model who gets caught up in a screwball-comedy misunderstanding involving a gang of jewel thieves. Piggy proves she has a talent for tap dancing, seemingly without knowing it. She and Kermit also kiss (on the lips, yet slightly covered) while Miss Piggy is a prisoner in jail; Miss Piggy ends up wearing Kermit's fake mustache, while Kermit has X-marks on his upper lip.\n\nEventually, in the films, Kermit started returning her affections and (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan, though subsequent events suggest that it was only their characters in the movie that married, and that their relationship is really the same as ever. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (which taped in 1985) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This special aired two years after The Muppets Take Manhattan. This is really the only indication outside of a movie that Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog were married. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted and the two get married again in this film.\n\nIn The Muppet Christmas Carol, she appears as Mrs. Cratchit, to Kermit's Bob Cratchit.\n\nIn Muppet Treasure Island, the part of crazed Ben Gunn was adapted to fit Miss Piggy, and \"Benjamina\" Gunn was revealed to be Captain Smollett's (played by Kermit) former lover. The two share a tender moment dueting on \"Love Led Us Here\".\n\nHer part is significant but supporting in Muppets from Space, as the plucky news reporter eager to scoop the news on her friend Gonzo's bizarre alien encounters.\n\nIn the TV-movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, a take on the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life, the characters are seen in an alternate universe, one without Kermit. Miss Piggy becomes a spinster cat lady, doing \"psychic\" readings on the phone.\n\nIn The Muppets, Miss Piggy is shown to be residing in Paris, having become the plus-size editor for Vogue after the Muppets disbanded, and after she left Kermit in Los Angeles and run off with a wealthy lynx.\n\nIn Muppets Most Wanted, having rejoined the Muppets on a global tour, she nearly marries Constantine in London, after he poses as Kermit.\n\nIn the TV series The Muppets, Miss Piggy hosts the late-night talk show Up Late with Miss Piggy.\n\nIn Muppets Now, she hosts the segment \"Lifesty(le) with Miss Piggy\".\n\nIn Muppets Haunted Mansion, she appears as herself dressed as Kermit for Halloween (with Kermit dressed as Piggy) and later appears as Madame Pigota.\n\nOther appearances\nIn 1987, Miss Piggy was a guest star on Dolly Parton's musical variety show, Dolly, singing and performing with Parton, while at the same time secretly attempting to steal the show from her host, mostly by sabotaging Parton's musical segments and attempting to trick producers into giving her more solo spots. Parton, annoyed at being undermined by Miss Piggy, told another of her guests, Juice Newton, that they might be \"having ham sandwiches after the show\".\n\nMiss Piggy sang with the Jonas Brothers as \"Joan S. Jonas\", with Ashley Tisdale during the number \"Bop to the Top\", and with the Cheetah Girls performing \"Dance Me If You Can\" as a part of Studio DC: Almost Live. A running gag from those first two episodes involved Miss Piggy looking for \"Zacky\" Efron. Miss Piggy made a special guest appearance on Take Two with Phineas and Ferb and sang \"Spa Day\" with Phineas and Ferb.\n\nMiss Piggy made a number of appearances in 2011 and 2012 to promote The Muppets. Miss Piggy made a special guest appearance on the Disney Channel Original Series So Random! alongside Sterling Knight (who made a special cameo appearance on The Muppets). She was the first guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno November 4, 2011, appeared on Chelsea Lately on November 21, 2011, and sang \"Dance with Me Tonight\" with Olly Murs on the UK The X Factor on November 27, 2011. On November 19, 2011, Miss Piggy, alongside her fellow Muppets and Jason Segel, participated in the opening monologue of Saturday Night Live by singing \"I Can't Believe I'm Hosting SNL\".\n\nMiss Piggy and her fellow Muppets made a guest appearance on the Halloween 2011 episode of WWE Raw.\n\nIn an episode aired January 19, 2012, Miss Piggy appeared on Project Runway: All Stars Season 1 as a guest judge for clothes designed for her character in the movie. She also appeared on the British morning breakfast show This Morning alongside Kermit, Rizzo, and Beaker. On February 9, 2012, Miss Piggy appeared on Lawro's Predictions on BBC Football's website to predict the coming week's Premier League matches. Along with Kermit the Frog, they made only three predictions including a 63–25 win for Liverpool against Manchester United. She also starred in E! Fashion Police.\n\nOn Friday, March 15, 2013, Miss Piggy appeared on the UK telethon Comic Relief to reveal the cash total and introduce boy band One Direction. She was in Dream House 2013. On December 6, 2013, she performed 'Somethin' Stupid' alongside Robbie Williams at the London Palladium. In 2015, Miss Piggy received a Sackler Center First Award from the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. An essay was written for Time magazine as if by Miss Piggy, titled \"Why I Am a Feminist Pig\", explaining why she deserved the award.\n\nIn 2014, Miss Piggy appeared in an advertisement for Wonderful Pistachios.\n\nMiss Piggy had her own luxury brand featured on QVC, \"Moi by Miss Piggy\". The name had previously been used by a perfume released in 1998.\n\nAlbums\n\nThe Muppet Movie (soundtrack) (1979)\nThe Great Muppet Caper (soundtrack) (1981)\nThe Muppets Take Manhattan (soundtrack) (1984)\nThe Muppet Christmas Carol (soundtrack) (1992)\nMuppet Treasure Island (soundtrack) (1996)\nIt's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)\nThe Muppets' Wizard of Oz (soundtrack) (2005)\nA Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (soundtrack) (2008)\nThe Muppets (soundtrack) (2011)\nMuppets Most Wanted (soundtrack) (2014)\n\nFilmography\n\n The Muppet Show (1976–1981) (TV)\n The Muppet Movie (1979)\n The Great Muppet Caper (1981)\n The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)\n Muppet Babies (1984–1991) (TV)\n The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) – Appearance as Emily Cratchit\n Muppet Treasure Island (1996) – Appearance as Benjamina Gunn\n Muppets Tonight (1996–1998) (TV)\n Muppets from Space (1999)\n It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) (TV)\n The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005) (TV) – Appearance as Herself and the Wicked Witch of the West, Good Witch of the North, Glinda the Good Witch, Wicked Witch of the East\n A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008) (TV)\n Studio DC: Almost Live (2008) (TV)\n The Muppets (2011)\n Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular (2013) (TV)\n Muppets Most Wanted (2014)\n The Muppets (2015–2016) (TV)\n Muppet Babies (2018–present) (TV)\n Muppets Now (2020) (Disney+)\n RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2021) (Paramount+)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n at Disney.com\nTough Pigs: Transcripts of Miss Piggy and Kermit interviews\n\nThe Muppets characters\nFictional pigs\nFictional actors\nFictional characters from Iowa\nFictional feminists and women's rights activists\nFictional singers\nFictional models\nFictional beauty queens\nFictional television personalities\nFictional karateka\nTelevision characters introduced in 1974\nFemale characters in television",
"Piggy, piggie or piggies may refer to:\n\nAs a nickname\nDenis D'Amour (1959–2005), guitarist for the Canadian heavy metal band Voivod\nFan Chun Yip (born 1976), Hong Kong retired football goalkeeper\nPiggy French (born 1980), British equestrienne\nWard Lambert (1888–1958), American college men's basketball coach\nRobert Muldoon (1921–1992), 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand\nDavid Powell (rugby union) (born 1942), former England international rugby union player\nEdwin Simandl, owner of the Orange Tornadoes and Newark Tornadoes of the National Football League\nPiggy Ward (1867–1912), American professional baseball player\nRoscoe Word (American football guard) (1882–1942), American college football player and coach\nMark Riddell (born 1980), Australian former Rugby League Player, commentator.\n\nSlang\nDomestic pig\nGuinea pig\nToe\n\nFictional characters\n Miss Piggy, a Muppets character\n Piggy (Merrie Melodies), from the Merrie Melodies cartoons\n Piggy (Power Rangers), from Power Rangers: S.P.D.\n Piggy Malone, in the BBC television series The Two Ronnies\n Piggy the Penguin, in the animated series Eek! The Cat\n Piggy, a major character in the novel Lord of the Flies\n Piggy, in the 2003 novel Gone to the Dogs\n \"Piggies\", slang term for Pequeninos, an alien species in the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card\n Zhu Bajie, from the novel Journey to the West\n Sir Francis \"Piggy\" Beekman, in the 1953 movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes\n\nEntertainment\n Piggy D., stage name of guitarist Matt Montgomery (born 1975)\n \"Piggies\", a song written by George Harrison on the Beatles' White Album\n \"Piggy\" (song), by Nine Inch Nails from their album The Downward Spiral\n Piggy, a Roblox game\n\nOther uses\n Tip-cat, an outdoor game also called a piggy\n \"This Little Piggy\" or \"This Little Pig\" nursery rhyme\n\nSee also\n \n \n Piggybacking (disambiguation)\n Piglet (disambiguation)\n Pigi (disambiguation)\n\nLists of people by nickname"
]
|
[
"Miss Piggy",
"Relationship with Kermit",
"When did Miss PIggy meet kermit?",
"Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed.",
"What kind of relationship did they have?",
"Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings.",
"What did Miss Piggy think of this?",
"On at least three separate incidents, she attempts to coerce Kermit into a relationship, beating him when he refuses."
]
| C_366ae5cb63534f22aef64cc18e9516ba_1 | Did parents think that beating him was a bad thing? | 4 | Did parents think that Miss Piggy beating Kermit was a bad thing? | Miss Piggy | Since the debut of The Muppet Show, the romantic relationship between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog has been subject to substantial coverage and commentary by the media. Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings. Eventually, in the films, Kermit began returning her affections and even (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan. However, subsequent events suggest that the marriage was simply fictional. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 years (1986) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted and the two get married again in this film. Miss Piggy and Kermit formally ended their romantic relationship on May 10, 1990. The decision was made by Jim Henson Productions and a publicity campaign titled "The Pig of the Nineties" was scheduled to follow. An autobiography of Piggy was expected to be published as part of the effort. However, shortly after the announcement on May 16, Jim Henson died and the campaign was dropped altogether. The two eventually resumed their relationship. In 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their romantic relationship for a second time. Some commentators said the relationship should end permanently since she regularly abused him. "In the end, it's better for everyone that Kermit and Piggy have gone their separate ways. For the frog, it means the end of a long, abusive relationship," wrote Noah Berlatsky in The New Republic. "Kermit continually lives in fear of his girlfriend, knowing that even simple misunderstandings or slips of the tongue will result in Miss Piggy erupting like a porcine Vesuvius," dating coach Harris O'Malley wrote in The Daily Dot. "On at least three separate incidents, she attempts to coerce Kermit into a relationship, beating him when he refuses. Other times she reacts with violence and rage whenever Kermit commits the 'sin' of breaking up with her, simply hugging a friend, talking to a woman, or even just standing too close to them." CANNOTANSWER | Some commentators said the relationship should end permanently since she regularly abused him. | Miss Piggy is a Muppet character known for her breakout role in Jim Henson's The Muppet Show. Since her debut in 1976, Miss Piggy has been notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, tendency to use French phrases in her speech, and practice of karate. She was also known for her on-again/off-again relationship with Kermit the Frog, which began in 1976 and ended in 2015. Frank Oz performed the character from 1976 to 2000, 2002 and was succeeded by Eric Jacobson in 2001.
Miss Piggy was inspired by jazz singer Peggy Lee.
In 1996, TV Guide ranked her number 23 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll in the UK, Miss Piggy was ranked 29th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In 1996, a cook book entitled In the Kitchen With Miss Piggy: Fabulous Recipes from My Famous Celebrity Friends by Moi was released.
Characterization
Origins and description
In a 1979 interview with The New York Times, performer Frank Oz outlined Piggy's biography: "She grew up in a small town (most likely Keystone, Iowa); her father died when she was young and her mother wasn't that nice to her. She had to enter beauty contests to survive, as many single women do. She has a lot of vulnerability which she has to hide, because of her need to be a superstar". During development of The Muppet Show, Oz assigned a hook for each Muppet he performed; Miss Piggy's hook was a "truck driver wanting to be a woman". Oz has also stated that while Fozzie Bear is a two-dimensional character and Animal has no dimensions, Miss Piggy is one of the few Muppet characters to be fully realized in three dimensions.
Piggy, truly a diva in a class of her own, is convinced she is destined for stardom, and nothing will stand in her way. She has a capricious nature, at times determined to (and often succeeding in) conveying an image of feminine charm, but suddenly flying into a violent rage (accompanied by her trademark karate chop and "hi-yah!") whenever she thinks someone has insulted or thwarted her. Kermit the Frog has learned this all too well; when she is not smothering him in kisses, she is sending him flying through the air with a karate chop.
She loves wearing long gloves; Hildegarde, who used to wear them, once said, "Miss Piggy stole the gloves idea from me”.
Relationship with Kermit
Since the debut of The Muppet Show, the romantic relationship between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog has been subject to substantial coverage and commentary by the media. Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings. Eventually, in the films, Kermit began returning her affections and even (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan. However, subsequent events suggest that the marriage was simply fictional. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (1986) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted.
Miss Piggy and Kermit formally ended their romantic relationship on May 10, 1990. The decision was made by Jim Henson Productions and a publicity campaign titled "The Pig of the Nineties" was scheduled to follow. An autobiography of Piggy was expected to be published as part of the effort. However, shortly after the announcement on May 16, Jim Henson died and the campaign was dropped altogether. The two eventually resumed their relationship.
In 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their romantic relationship for a second time.
Performers
Frank Oz was Miss Piggy's principal performer from her early appearances on The Muppet Show until his departure from the cast in 2000; his last known performance as Piggy was an appearance on The Today Show. Oz's earliest known performance as Piggy was actually in a 1974 appearance on The Tonight Show. Richard Hunt occasionally performed Miss Piggy during the first season of The Muppet Show, alternating with Oz. In 2002, Eric Jacobson was cast as the new performer of Miss Piggy, and his first public debut as the character was performed via satellite at the 2001 MuppetFest. Jacobson has remained Piggy's principal performer since then, openly describing the role as "one of the most famous drag acts in the business."
During Oz's tenure as the character, other performers would step in. Jerry Nelson performed Piggy in 1974 for a brief appearance on Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. Fran Brill performed Piggy for The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, a pilot for The Muppet Show. Kevin Clash and Peter Linz puppeteered Piggy for most of the filming of Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets from Space, respectively, with Oz dubbing in Piggy's voice in post production. Victor Yerrid briefly performed Piggy in Muppets Ahoy!, a 2006 stage show for the Disney Cruise Line. In Muppet Babies, Piggy's voice was provided by voice actress Laurie O'Brien. Voice actor Hal Rayle provided her voice for a short-lived spin-off series, Little Muppet Monsters. Melanie Harrison voices Baby Piggy on the 2018 reboot of Muppet Babies.
History
The first known appearance of Miss Piggy was on the Herb Alpert television special Herb Alpert and the TJB, broadcast on October 13, 1974, on ABC. Miss Piggy's voice was noticeably more demure and soft, singing with Herb, "I Can't Give You Anything but Love." The first draft of the puppet was an unnamed blonde, beady-eyed pig who appeared briefly in the 1975 pilot special The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, in a sketch called "Return to Beneath the Planet of the Pigs." She was unnamed in that show, but by the time The Muppet Show began in 1976, she had assumed something resembling her classic look—a pig with large blue eyes, a flowing silver gown, satin white long gloves, blue sheer shawl, and a hopelessly romantic persona.
The Muppet Show
Miss Piggy began as a minor chorus pig on The Muppet Show, but gradually developed into one of the central characters of the series, as the writers and producers of The Muppet Show recognized that a lovelorn pig could be more than a one-note running gag. She spawned a huge fad during the late 1970s and early 1980s and eclipsed Kermit and the other Muppets in popularity at that time, selling far more merchandise and writing a book entitled Miss Piggy's Guide to Life that, unlike any of Kermit's books, wound up on top of the New York Times Bestseller List.
Miss Piggy's personality and voice were seen and heard in other female characters performed by Frank Oz before the character's debut. For instance, a Sesame Street Muppet skit from 1971 featured Snow White performed by Frank Oz and acting (as well as sounding) like Miss Piggy. Another sound-alike came from a contestant in a Guy Smiley sketch called "The Mystery Mix-Up Game".
In The Muppet Show episode 106, Piggy is referred to by the full name "Piggy Lee" and in episode 116, Piggy tells guest star Avery Schreiber that Piggy is short for "Pigathius", "from the Greek, meaning "river of passion". Also during the Jim Nabors episode when asked what (astrological) sign she was born under she replied that she was not born under a sign, she was born over one, "Becker's Butcher shop". She portrayed "Wonder Pig", a spoof of Wonder Woman in episode 419 while Lynda Carter sang "The Rubberband Man" and "Orange Colored Sky".
Foo-Foo
In the series, Miss Piggy owned a pet; a white Toy poodle dog named Foo-Foo (performed by Steve Whitmire) who is one of the few characters that does not speak. Piggy is often seen as very tender towards her, although to the point of sickly saccharine baby talk. On The Muppet Show, Foo-Foo was portrayed as both a muppet and a real dog in different shots. Foo-Foo mostly appears as a sidekick to Miss Piggy in most movies and specials.
Films and television series
Miss Piggy has appeared in all the Muppet films and television series following The Muppet Show. In The Muppet Movie, she has just won a beauty contest when she first meets Kermit and joins the Muppets. In The Great Muppet Caper, Miss Piggy plays an aspiring fashion model who gets caught up in a screwball-comedy misunderstanding involving a gang of jewel thieves. Piggy proves she has a talent for tap dancing, seemingly without knowing it. She and Kermit also kiss (on the lips, yet slightly covered) while Miss Piggy is a prisoner in jail; Miss Piggy ends up wearing Kermit's fake mustache, while Kermit has X-marks on his upper lip.
Eventually, in the films, Kermit started returning her affections and (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan, though subsequent events suggest that it was only their characters in the movie that married, and that their relationship is really the same as ever. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (which taped in 1985) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This special aired two years after The Muppets Take Manhattan. This is really the only indication outside of a movie that Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog were married. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted and the two get married again in this film.
In The Muppet Christmas Carol, she appears as Mrs. Cratchit, to Kermit's Bob Cratchit.
In Muppet Treasure Island, the part of crazed Ben Gunn was adapted to fit Miss Piggy, and "Benjamina" Gunn was revealed to be Captain Smollett's (played by Kermit) former lover. The two share a tender moment dueting on "Love Led Us Here".
Her part is significant but supporting in Muppets from Space, as the plucky news reporter eager to scoop the news on her friend Gonzo's bizarre alien encounters.
In the TV-movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, a take on the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life, the characters are seen in an alternate universe, one without Kermit. Miss Piggy becomes a spinster cat lady, doing "psychic" readings on the phone.
In The Muppets, Miss Piggy is shown to be residing in Paris, having become the plus-size editor for Vogue after the Muppets disbanded, and after she left Kermit in Los Angeles and run off with a wealthy lynx.
In Muppets Most Wanted, having rejoined the Muppets on a global tour, she nearly marries Constantine in London, after he poses as Kermit.
In the TV series The Muppets, Miss Piggy hosts the late-night talk show Up Late with Miss Piggy.
In Muppets Now, she hosts the segment "Lifesty(le) with Miss Piggy".
In Muppets Haunted Mansion, she appears as herself dressed as Kermit for Halloween (with Kermit dressed as Piggy) and later appears as Madame Pigota.
Other appearances
In 1987, Miss Piggy was a guest star on Dolly Parton's musical variety show, Dolly, singing and performing with Parton, while at the same time secretly attempting to steal the show from her host, mostly by sabotaging Parton's musical segments and attempting to trick producers into giving her more solo spots. Parton, annoyed at being undermined by Miss Piggy, told another of her guests, Juice Newton, that they might be "having ham sandwiches after the show".
Miss Piggy sang with the Jonas Brothers as "Joan S. Jonas", with Ashley Tisdale during the number "Bop to the Top", and with the Cheetah Girls performing "Dance Me If You Can" as a part of Studio DC: Almost Live. A running gag from those first two episodes involved Miss Piggy looking for "Zacky" Efron. Miss Piggy made a special guest appearance on Take Two with Phineas and Ferb and sang "Spa Day" with Phineas and Ferb.
Miss Piggy made a number of appearances in 2011 and 2012 to promote The Muppets. Miss Piggy made a special guest appearance on the Disney Channel Original Series So Random! alongside Sterling Knight (who made a special cameo appearance on The Muppets). She was the first guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno November 4, 2011, appeared on Chelsea Lately on November 21, 2011, and sang "Dance with Me Tonight" with Olly Murs on the UK The X Factor on November 27, 2011. On November 19, 2011, Miss Piggy, alongside her fellow Muppets and Jason Segel, participated in the opening monologue of Saturday Night Live by singing "I Can't Believe I'm Hosting SNL".
Miss Piggy and her fellow Muppets made a guest appearance on the Halloween 2011 episode of WWE Raw.
In an episode aired January 19, 2012, Miss Piggy appeared on Project Runway: All Stars Season 1 as a guest judge for clothes designed for her character in the movie. She also appeared on the British morning breakfast show This Morning alongside Kermit, Rizzo, and Beaker. On February 9, 2012, Miss Piggy appeared on Lawro's Predictions on BBC Football's website to predict the coming week's Premier League matches. Along with Kermit the Frog, they made only three predictions including a 63–25 win for Liverpool against Manchester United. She also starred in E! Fashion Police.
On Friday, March 15, 2013, Miss Piggy appeared on the UK telethon Comic Relief to reveal the cash total and introduce boy band One Direction. She was in Dream House 2013. On December 6, 2013, she performed 'Somethin' Stupid' alongside Robbie Williams at the London Palladium. In 2015, Miss Piggy received a Sackler Center First Award from the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. An essay was written for Time magazine as if by Miss Piggy, titled "Why I Am a Feminist Pig", explaining why she deserved the award.
In 2014, Miss Piggy appeared in an advertisement for Wonderful Pistachios.
Miss Piggy had her own luxury brand featured on QVC, "Moi by Miss Piggy". The name had previously been used by a perfume released in 1998.
Albums
The Muppet Movie (soundtrack) (1979)
The Great Muppet Caper (soundtrack) (1981)
The Muppets Take Manhattan (soundtrack) (1984)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (soundtrack) (1992)
Muppet Treasure Island (soundtrack) (1996)
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (soundtrack) (2005)
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (soundtrack) (2008)
The Muppets (soundtrack) (2011)
Muppets Most Wanted (soundtrack) (2014)
Filmography
The Muppet Show (1976–1981) (TV)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
Muppet Babies (1984–1991) (TV)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) – Appearance as Emily Cratchit
Muppet Treasure Island (1996) – Appearance as Benjamina Gunn
Muppets Tonight (1996–1998) (TV)
Muppets from Space (1999)
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) (TV)
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005) (TV) – Appearance as Herself and the Wicked Witch of the West, Good Witch of the North, Glinda the Good Witch, Wicked Witch of the East
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008) (TV)
Studio DC: Almost Live (2008) (TV)
The Muppets (2011)
Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular (2013) (TV)
Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
The Muppets (2015–2016) (TV)
Muppet Babies (2018–present) (TV)
Muppets Now (2020) (Disney+)
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2021) (Paramount+)
References
External links
at Disney.com
Tough Pigs: Transcripts of Miss Piggy and Kermit interviews
The Muppets characters
Fictional pigs
Fictional actors
Fictional characters from Iowa
Fictional feminists and women's rights activists
Fictional singers
Fictional models
Fictional beauty queens
Fictional television personalities
Fictional karateka
Television characters introduced in 1974
Female characters in television | false | [
"\"Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing\" is a song by American musician Chris Isaak, released as the first track to the 1995 album Forever Blue. Filled with sensuality and erotic imagery, the song was described by Isaak as a declaration to \"somebody who is so evil and twisted and bad, and yet, you still want them\". The title evokes how \"That’s a bad bad thing\" is used by both parents scolding misbehaving children and adults during sexual intercourse. In September 1999, a remix of the song peaked at number nine on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, outperforming the number-27 peak of the original. In the United States, the 1999 reissue reached number three on the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart.\n\nBackground\nSimilar to how Isaak's \"Wicked Game\" only became a success following its inclusion in Wild at Heart (1990), the song got most of its mainstream recognition after being featured in the 1999 Stanley Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Kubrick heard the song as Kidman listened to Isaak's music to liven up during rehearsals. Isaak was asked for his approval as he prepared to perform on The Tonight Show, and immediately agreed once he was told it was for Kubrick, who Isaak declared \"hasn't done a film I didn't like\". The singer said he always considered \"Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing\" ripe for soundtracks due to being \"kind of a strange piece of work, with a really driving beat and a manic energy that I thought would probably work well for some visuals\". David Kahne remixed the track for the Eyes Wide Shut trailers and television spots, and the redone version was released as a radio single on June 22, 1999. Isaak has approved of the remix, feeling it was \"more rocking and everything sounds louder\".\n\nMusic video\nThe music video of the song was commissioned after its inclusion on Eyes Wide Shut, and directed by Herb Ritts, who also did the video for Isaak's \"Wicked Game\". It features French model Laetitia Casta videotaped in a motel room gyrating sexually being watched by Isaak. Casta was dressed in lingerie and wore a black wig throughout the video. In July 1999, VH1 aired two versions of the music video, the censored version was played before 9 p.m. and the uncensored version was played after 9 p.m. The video was initially regarded as too steamy by the network. The video was ranked number 28 on VH1's 50 Sexiest Video Moments.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n1994 songs\n1995 singles\n1999 singles\nChris Isaak songs\nMusic videos directed by Herb Ritts\nReprise Records singles\nSong recordings produced by Erik Jacobsen\nSongs written by Chris Isaak\nWarner Music Group singles",
"William Henry Lancaster (November 17, 1947 – January 4, 1997) was an American screenwriter and actor.\n\nEarly life\nHe was born November 17, 1947, in Los Angeles, California, the son of Burt Lancaster (1913–1994) and Norma Anderson (1917–1988). He contracted polio at an early age, leaving one of his legs shorter than the other.\n\nCareer\nLancaster, a look-alike for his famous father at the time, guest-starred in an episode of the television series The Big Valley in 1967. In 1973, Lancaster played the role of \"King\", the boyfriend of a murdered college coed in The Midnight Man, a mystery film starring and co-directed by his father, released in 1974. \n \nLancaster's best-known work is his adapted screenplay for John Carpenter's The Thing. He also penned the original screenplays for The Bad News Bears films.\n\nIn 1982, he worked on a first-draft script of an adaptation of Stephen King's novel Firestarter for Carpenter to direct. Months later of the same year, Carpenter hired Bill Phillips to work on a rewrite of Lancaster's draft. When The Thing did not match the studio's financial expectations, Universal replaced Carpenter with Mark L. Lester and both drafts were scrapped in favor of Stanley Mann's draft.\n\nLancaster is featured in the documentary The Thing: Terror Takes Shape, found on the collector's edition DVD of The Thing. Lancaster states that he did not think Who Goes There? was a \"great\" story, but that he responded to the tale's sense of claustrophobia and paranoia. The documentary is dedicated to him.\n\nPersonal life\nLancaster was married to Kippie Kovacs, daughter of the comedian Ernie Kovacs. They had one child, daughter Keigh Kristin.\n\nDeath\nLancaster died of a heart attack at the age of 49. His ashes were buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, where his father's ashes are also interred. The ashes of his daughter Keigh, who died in 2017 at age 51, were buried with her father's in the same plot.\n\nFilmography\n\nScreenplays\nThe Bad News Bears (1976)\nThe Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978) (Also co-producer)\nThe Thing (1982)\nFirestarter (1984) (earlier unused screenplay)\n\nActing\nThe Big Valley (1967) – Second Boy\nMoses the Lawgiver (1974, TV Mini-Series) – Young Moses\nThe Midnight Man (1974) – King\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n1947 births\n1997 deaths\nAmerican male screenwriters\nWriters from Los Angeles\nMale actors from Greater Los Angeles\n20th-century American male actors\nBurials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery\nScreenwriters from California\n20th-century American male writers\n20th-century American screenwriters"
]
|
[
"Miss Piggy",
"Relationship with Kermit",
"When did Miss PIggy meet kermit?",
"Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed.",
"What kind of relationship did they have?",
"Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings.",
"What did Miss Piggy think of this?",
"On at least three separate incidents, she attempts to coerce Kermit into a relationship, beating him when he refuses.",
"Did parents think that beating him was a bad thing?",
"Some commentators said the relationship should end permanently since she regularly abused him."
]
| C_366ae5cb63534f22aef64cc18e9516ba_1 | What did the network or writers do about the complaints? | 5 | What did the network or writers do about complaints from parents about Miss Piggy beating Kermit? | Miss Piggy | Since the debut of The Muppet Show, the romantic relationship between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog has been subject to substantial coverage and commentary by the media. Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings. Eventually, in the films, Kermit began returning her affections and even (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan. However, subsequent events suggest that the marriage was simply fictional. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 years (1986) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted and the two get married again in this film. Miss Piggy and Kermit formally ended their romantic relationship on May 10, 1990. The decision was made by Jim Henson Productions and a publicity campaign titled "The Pig of the Nineties" was scheduled to follow. An autobiography of Piggy was expected to be published as part of the effort. However, shortly after the announcement on May 16, Jim Henson died and the campaign was dropped altogether. The two eventually resumed their relationship. In 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their romantic relationship for a second time. Some commentators said the relationship should end permanently since she regularly abused him. "In the end, it's better for everyone that Kermit and Piggy have gone their separate ways. For the frog, it means the end of a long, abusive relationship," wrote Noah Berlatsky in The New Republic. "Kermit continually lives in fear of his girlfriend, knowing that even simple misunderstandings or slips of the tongue will result in Miss Piggy erupting like a porcine Vesuvius," dating coach Harris O'Malley wrote in The Daily Dot. "On at least three separate incidents, she attempts to coerce Kermit into a relationship, beating him when he refuses. Other times she reacts with violence and rage whenever Kermit commits the 'sin' of breaking up with her, simply hugging a friend, talking to a woman, or even just standing too close to them." CANNOTANSWER | In 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their romantic relationship for a second time. | Miss Piggy is a Muppet character known for her breakout role in Jim Henson's The Muppet Show. Since her debut in 1976, Miss Piggy has been notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, tendency to use French phrases in her speech, and practice of karate. She was also known for her on-again/off-again relationship with Kermit the Frog, which began in 1976 and ended in 2015. Frank Oz performed the character from 1976 to 2000, 2002 and was succeeded by Eric Jacobson in 2001.
Miss Piggy was inspired by jazz singer Peggy Lee.
In 1996, TV Guide ranked her number 23 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll in the UK, Miss Piggy was ranked 29th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In 1996, a cook book entitled In the Kitchen With Miss Piggy: Fabulous Recipes from My Famous Celebrity Friends by Moi was released.
Characterization
Origins and description
In a 1979 interview with The New York Times, performer Frank Oz outlined Piggy's biography: "She grew up in a small town (most likely Keystone, Iowa); her father died when she was young and her mother wasn't that nice to her. She had to enter beauty contests to survive, as many single women do. She has a lot of vulnerability which she has to hide, because of her need to be a superstar". During development of The Muppet Show, Oz assigned a hook for each Muppet he performed; Miss Piggy's hook was a "truck driver wanting to be a woman". Oz has also stated that while Fozzie Bear is a two-dimensional character and Animal has no dimensions, Miss Piggy is one of the few Muppet characters to be fully realized in three dimensions.
Piggy, truly a diva in a class of her own, is convinced she is destined for stardom, and nothing will stand in her way. She has a capricious nature, at times determined to (and often succeeding in) conveying an image of feminine charm, but suddenly flying into a violent rage (accompanied by her trademark karate chop and "hi-yah!") whenever she thinks someone has insulted or thwarted her. Kermit the Frog has learned this all too well; when she is not smothering him in kisses, she is sending him flying through the air with a karate chop.
She loves wearing long gloves; Hildegarde, who used to wear them, once said, "Miss Piggy stole the gloves idea from me”.
Relationship with Kermit
Since the debut of The Muppet Show, the romantic relationship between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog has been subject to substantial coverage and commentary by the media. Throughout The Muppet Show's run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings. Eventually, in the films, Kermit began returning her affections and even (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan. However, subsequent events suggest that the marriage was simply fictional. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (1986) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted.
Miss Piggy and Kermit formally ended their romantic relationship on May 10, 1990. The decision was made by Jim Henson Productions and a publicity campaign titled "The Pig of the Nineties" was scheduled to follow. An autobiography of Piggy was expected to be published as part of the effort. However, shortly after the announcement on May 16, Jim Henson died and the campaign was dropped altogether. The two eventually resumed their relationship.
In 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their romantic relationship for a second time.
Performers
Frank Oz was Miss Piggy's principal performer from her early appearances on The Muppet Show until his departure from the cast in 2000; his last known performance as Piggy was an appearance on The Today Show. Oz's earliest known performance as Piggy was actually in a 1974 appearance on The Tonight Show. Richard Hunt occasionally performed Miss Piggy during the first season of The Muppet Show, alternating with Oz. In 2002, Eric Jacobson was cast as the new performer of Miss Piggy, and his first public debut as the character was performed via satellite at the 2001 MuppetFest. Jacobson has remained Piggy's principal performer since then, openly describing the role as "one of the most famous drag acts in the business."
During Oz's tenure as the character, other performers would step in. Jerry Nelson performed Piggy in 1974 for a brief appearance on Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. Fran Brill performed Piggy for The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, a pilot for The Muppet Show. Kevin Clash and Peter Linz puppeteered Piggy for most of the filming of Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets from Space, respectively, with Oz dubbing in Piggy's voice in post production. Victor Yerrid briefly performed Piggy in Muppets Ahoy!, a 2006 stage show for the Disney Cruise Line. In Muppet Babies, Piggy's voice was provided by voice actress Laurie O'Brien. Voice actor Hal Rayle provided her voice for a short-lived spin-off series, Little Muppet Monsters. Melanie Harrison voices Baby Piggy on the 2018 reboot of Muppet Babies.
History
The first known appearance of Miss Piggy was on the Herb Alpert television special Herb Alpert and the TJB, broadcast on October 13, 1974, on ABC. Miss Piggy's voice was noticeably more demure and soft, singing with Herb, "I Can't Give You Anything but Love." The first draft of the puppet was an unnamed blonde, beady-eyed pig who appeared briefly in the 1975 pilot special The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, in a sketch called "Return to Beneath the Planet of the Pigs." She was unnamed in that show, but by the time The Muppet Show began in 1976, she had assumed something resembling her classic look—a pig with large blue eyes, a flowing silver gown, satin white long gloves, blue sheer shawl, and a hopelessly romantic persona.
The Muppet Show
Miss Piggy began as a minor chorus pig on The Muppet Show, but gradually developed into one of the central characters of the series, as the writers and producers of The Muppet Show recognized that a lovelorn pig could be more than a one-note running gag. She spawned a huge fad during the late 1970s and early 1980s and eclipsed Kermit and the other Muppets in popularity at that time, selling far more merchandise and writing a book entitled Miss Piggy's Guide to Life that, unlike any of Kermit's books, wound up on top of the New York Times Bestseller List.
Miss Piggy's personality and voice were seen and heard in other female characters performed by Frank Oz before the character's debut. For instance, a Sesame Street Muppet skit from 1971 featured Snow White performed by Frank Oz and acting (as well as sounding) like Miss Piggy. Another sound-alike came from a contestant in a Guy Smiley sketch called "The Mystery Mix-Up Game".
In The Muppet Show episode 106, Piggy is referred to by the full name "Piggy Lee" and in episode 116, Piggy tells guest star Avery Schreiber that Piggy is short for "Pigathius", "from the Greek, meaning "river of passion". Also during the Jim Nabors episode when asked what (astrological) sign she was born under she replied that she was not born under a sign, she was born over one, "Becker's Butcher shop". She portrayed "Wonder Pig", a spoof of Wonder Woman in episode 419 while Lynda Carter sang "The Rubberband Man" and "Orange Colored Sky".
Foo-Foo
In the series, Miss Piggy owned a pet; a white Toy poodle dog named Foo-Foo (performed by Steve Whitmire) who is one of the few characters that does not speak. Piggy is often seen as very tender towards her, although to the point of sickly saccharine baby talk. On The Muppet Show, Foo-Foo was portrayed as both a muppet and a real dog in different shots. Foo-Foo mostly appears as a sidekick to Miss Piggy in most movies and specials.
Films and television series
Miss Piggy has appeared in all the Muppet films and television series following The Muppet Show. In The Muppet Movie, she has just won a beauty contest when she first meets Kermit and joins the Muppets. In The Great Muppet Caper, Miss Piggy plays an aspiring fashion model who gets caught up in a screwball-comedy misunderstanding involving a gang of jewel thieves. Piggy proves she has a talent for tap dancing, seemingly without knowing it. She and Kermit also kiss (on the lips, yet slightly covered) while Miss Piggy is a prisoner in jail; Miss Piggy ends up wearing Kermit's fake mustache, while Kermit has X-marks on his upper lip.
Eventually, in the films, Kermit started returning her affections and (unwittingly) marries her in The Muppets Take Manhattan, though subsequent events suggest that it was only their characters in the movie that married, and that their relationship is really the same as ever. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (which taped in 1985) that Kermit was a happily-married frog. This special aired two years after The Muppets Take Manhattan. This is really the only indication outside of a movie that Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog were married. This marriage isn't referenced in Muppets Most Wanted and the two get married again in this film.
In The Muppet Christmas Carol, she appears as Mrs. Cratchit, to Kermit's Bob Cratchit.
In Muppet Treasure Island, the part of crazed Ben Gunn was adapted to fit Miss Piggy, and "Benjamina" Gunn was revealed to be Captain Smollett's (played by Kermit) former lover. The two share a tender moment dueting on "Love Led Us Here".
Her part is significant but supporting in Muppets from Space, as the plucky news reporter eager to scoop the news on her friend Gonzo's bizarre alien encounters.
In the TV-movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, a take on the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life, the characters are seen in an alternate universe, one without Kermit. Miss Piggy becomes a spinster cat lady, doing "psychic" readings on the phone.
In The Muppets, Miss Piggy is shown to be residing in Paris, having become the plus-size editor for Vogue after the Muppets disbanded, and after she left Kermit in Los Angeles and run off with a wealthy lynx.
In Muppets Most Wanted, having rejoined the Muppets on a global tour, she nearly marries Constantine in London, after he poses as Kermit.
In the TV series The Muppets, Miss Piggy hosts the late-night talk show Up Late with Miss Piggy.
In Muppets Now, she hosts the segment "Lifesty(le) with Miss Piggy".
In Muppets Haunted Mansion, she appears as herself dressed as Kermit for Halloween (with Kermit dressed as Piggy) and later appears as Madame Pigota.
Other appearances
In 1987, Miss Piggy was a guest star on Dolly Parton's musical variety show, Dolly, singing and performing with Parton, while at the same time secretly attempting to steal the show from her host, mostly by sabotaging Parton's musical segments and attempting to trick producers into giving her more solo spots. Parton, annoyed at being undermined by Miss Piggy, told another of her guests, Juice Newton, that they might be "having ham sandwiches after the show".
Miss Piggy sang with the Jonas Brothers as "Joan S. Jonas", with Ashley Tisdale during the number "Bop to the Top", and with the Cheetah Girls performing "Dance Me If You Can" as a part of Studio DC: Almost Live. A running gag from those first two episodes involved Miss Piggy looking for "Zacky" Efron. Miss Piggy made a special guest appearance on Take Two with Phineas and Ferb and sang "Spa Day" with Phineas and Ferb.
Miss Piggy made a number of appearances in 2011 and 2012 to promote The Muppets. Miss Piggy made a special guest appearance on the Disney Channel Original Series So Random! alongside Sterling Knight (who made a special cameo appearance on The Muppets). She was the first guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno November 4, 2011, appeared on Chelsea Lately on November 21, 2011, and sang "Dance with Me Tonight" with Olly Murs on the UK The X Factor on November 27, 2011. On November 19, 2011, Miss Piggy, alongside her fellow Muppets and Jason Segel, participated in the opening monologue of Saturday Night Live by singing "I Can't Believe I'm Hosting SNL".
Miss Piggy and her fellow Muppets made a guest appearance on the Halloween 2011 episode of WWE Raw.
In an episode aired January 19, 2012, Miss Piggy appeared on Project Runway: All Stars Season 1 as a guest judge for clothes designed for her character in the movie. She also appeared on the British morning breakfast show This Morning alongside Kermit, Rizzo, and Beaker. On February 9, 2012, Miss Piggy appeared on Lawro's Predictions on BBC Football's website to predict the coming week's Premier League matches. Along with Kermit the Frog, they made only three predictions including a 63–25 win for Liverpool against Manchester United. She also starred in E! Fashion Police.
On Friday, March 15, 2013, Miss Piggy appeared on the UK telethon Comic Relief to reveal the cash total and introduce boy band One Direction. She was in Dream House 2013. On December 6, 2013, she performed 'Somethin' Stupid' alongside Robbie Williams at the London Palladium. In 2015, Miss Piggy received a Sackler Center First Award from the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. An essay was written for Time magazine as if by Miss Piggy, titled "Why I Am a Feminist Pig", explaining why she deserved the award.
In 2014, Miss Piggy appeared in an advertisement for Wonderful Pistachios.
Miss Piggy had her own luxury brand featured on QVC, "Moi by Miss Piggy". The name had previously been used by a perfume released in 1998.
Albums
The Muppet Movie (soundtrack) (1979)
The Great Muppet Caper (soundtrack) (1981)
The Muppets Take Manhattan (soundtrack) (1984)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (soundtrack) (1992)
Muppet Treasure Island (soundtrack) (1996)
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (soundtrack) (2005)
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (soundtrack) (2008)
The Muppets (soundtrack) (2011)
Muppets Most Wanted (soundtrack) (2014)
Filmography
The Muppet Show (1976–1981) (TV)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
Muppet Babies (1984–1991) (TV)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) – Appearance as Emily Cratchit
Muppet Treasure Island (1996) – Appearance as Benjamina Gunn
Muppets Tonight (1996–1998) (TV)
Muppets from Space (1999)
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) (TV)
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005) (TV) – Appearance as Herself and the Wicked Witch of the West, Good Witch of the North, Glinda the Good Witch, Wicked Witch of the East
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008) (TV)
Studio DC: Almost Live (2008) (TV)
The Muppets (2011)
Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular (2013) (TV)
Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
The Muppets (2015–2016) (TV)
Muppet Babies (2018–present) (TV)
Muppets Now (2020) (Disney+)
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2021) (Paramount+)
References
External links
at Disney.com
Tough Pigs: Transcripts of Miss Piggy and Kermit interviews
The Muppets characters
Fictional pigs
Fictional actors
Fictional characters from Iowa
Fictional feminists and women's rights activists
Fictional singers
Fictional models
Fictional beauty queens
Fictional television personalities
Fictional karateka
Television characters introduced in 1974
Female characters in television | true | [
"Helith Network (or just \"Helith\") is a hacker collective active since 1999 and is a globally spread community. It is suspected that Helith is affiliated to specialists in the field of malware and network security.\n\nName\n\nThe origin of the name came from accident German where the word Helith means \"Heroes\". It was chosen because the group beliefs that nobody cares for those who are poor or those who did not had the same chances like studied hackers. It was also chosen to point out that the members just do what they are ready to do even if it conflicts with laws or civil restrictions like beliefs or ethics.\n\nThe origin of the name may be traced to the fact that \"Helith\" was founded in Germany and thus accident German was chosen for the group name. Some of the founding members of Helith shared a belief and talked during a Chaos Communication Congress Congress in 1998-1999 in Germany at an improved round table conference about what needs to get done to reach this goal. At the conference Rembrandt was chosen to be the public link for Helith and thus making him the poster child and victim for federal forces. It is not known who is member of \"Helith\" nor how many members do exist or what they do in detail because very few information get public and Rembrandt itself is a very problematic character like Theo de Raadt.\n\nHistory\nHelith was founded in 1998-1999 in the Berlin area as a location for its members to share information without judging anybody about how they make their living or for whom they work. Their computer hardware and work on various projects like John the Ripper (partly SSE2 code, porting to OpenBSD), metasploit, medusa, hydra or nmap. In time, the members of \"Helith\" released several security advisories affecting even the most secure OpenSource Operating System OpenBSD, PF firewall, OpenSSH, NetBSD and vendors like Netgear or Nortel. On July 30, 2007, Washington Post reporter Brian Krebs wrote an article partly about \"Helith\" cracking the Deutsche Bank internal network.\n\nThe global links of Helith reach least from Germany where it was founded, to Russia, Romania, Columbia, several African countries and the USA.\n\nMembers\nHelith Network membership varied but included at various times:\n benkei,\n ConCode,\n Cyneox,\n Rembrandt,\n Rott_En,\n noptrix,\n Skyout,\n Zarathu\n\nA lot other members might be active but are not disclosed.\nThe list was created during research with Google and visiting the Helith-Website.\n\nExternal links\n Washington Post article \n Current Helith Website \n ExploitDB posted Advisory of Helith about PF \n NetBSD security Advisory about a Bug in PF \n ExploitDB posted Advisory of Helith about a common WiMax router \n\nHacker groups",
"The Judicial Complaints Reviewer is a Scottish official who is responsible for reviewing the handling of complaints against the judiciary of Scotland by the Judicial Office for Scotland. The post was established in 2011 as a result of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008. The Reviewer is appointed by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, with the approval of the Lord President of the Court of Session. The Reviewer's services are open to those who have complained about the conduct of a member of the judiciary, and also to members of the judiciary who have been the subject of a complaint.\n\nThe first Judicial Complaints Reviewer was Moi Ali, 2011-2014 and the second was Gillian Thompson; who was appointed on 1 September 2014. The third reviewer takes up the role on 1 September 2017.\n\nRemit and jurisdiction\nComplaints about the conduct, both within and outwith the courts of Scotland, of judicial officer holders in Scotland are made to the Lord President through the Judicial Office for Scotland. However, the Judicial Office does not consider complaints about judicial decisions which are dealt with through appeals.\n\nThe office of the Judicial Complaints Reviewer was established by Section 30 of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 The Reviewer's role is to review how complaints regarding members of the judiciary have been handled by the Judicial Office for Scotland in accordance with the complaint rules laid down by the Lord President. As of May 2017, complaints should be handled in line with Complaints About the Judiciary (Scotland) Rules 2017. She cannot change the outcome of the investigation, overturn a decision, or initiate redress. However, where she finds a fault in the process she passes a referral to the Lord President who then makes decision.\n\nJudicial Complaints Reviewer\n\nMoi Ali became the first ever JCR on 1 September 2011. She established the office and pushed for greater powers, claiming that the role was \"window-dressing\" and the judicial watchdog had no teeth. She did not seek reappointment after the end of her three-year term, as she was dissatisfied with the powers of the role. Gillian Thompson became the second Judicial Complaints Reviewer on 1 September 2014, and she too did not serve a second term of office.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n2011 establishments in Scotland\n2011 in British law\nComplaints organizations\nGovernment agencies established in 2011\nJudiciary of Scotland\nOmbudsmen in Scotland\nJudicial misconduct"
]
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